Claire asks... What the start of writing a song for you?
“Usually I’ll pick up the guitar and something will just happen. I'll just kind of noodle around and a chord progression will happen, or a riff will just happen. Occasionally I'll dream something. I'll be sleeping, and the whole thing will kind of just happen, and then I’ve got to wake up and record it. But it usually it starts with the guitar, with the riff or with the chord progression, and then the melody will pop out. And then the last thing is usually the lyrics.
“To me, songwriting is like fishing. You just sit there and you keep casting the line, see what comes back in. For me, my average is about one out of every 10 times I cast a line, I'll catch something that I think is worthy of building on. I am pretty hard on myself. I'm not going to start working on something if I'm not really excited about it. I just don't see the point. Life's too short. So there are some days when I don't catch any fish and I just put the guitar away and move on. But then there are the days where you can have a few different ideas that happen. And those are the days when there's nothing better. It's such a high.”
Mike asks... If you could jam with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
“Stevie Wonder. That's how I learned to sing. Although I guess technically I did. We were at some thing, me and Slash, and they were singing Happy Birthday Muhammad Ali. He was playing piano and Slash and I were there on the stage with him. So, technically, I jammed with Stevie Wonder.
“Other than that, I’d really love to do something with Devin Townsend. He’s brilliant. There’s a lot of music to work with there, and I think that's why I find him so compelling. He’s able to do so many different things. It's such a rare talent. And he’s just a sweetheart. He doesn't know how good he is. It's like, ‘Do you understand how amazing you are?’ ‘No…’”
Sami asks... Does pineapple go on pizza?
“Back when I still ate pizza, I would say yes. When I was a kid I liked pineapple and Canadian bacon on there, so yes, it does. I am not opposed to that.”
Matt asks... You seem like a very mellow dude. True?
“Yeah, I think I'm pretty mellow. There was a time when if you cut me off in traffic, sometimes that would trigger me, and sometimes I get a little worked up, but I'm a human. The beauty of being able to be in a rock band is you can get any sort of frustration you have out. Having all those outlets allows me to be pretty chill day to day. My blood pressure is pretty good, so I'm proud of that!”
Lawrence asks... You're offered $2 million to play a party for Donald Trump. Do you do it?
“Oh, man… You know, since I totally shy away from all things politics, with music, I wouldn't do it. That's the line I won't cross.”