John: Films, bands, plants, TV...
Steven: Comics, fanzines... We just come up with obscure topics, a lot of the time, to write about. It's important to write about different things; when you're in a band it gets boring if you keep singing about love and drugs.
Kinda like the song "Fake DIY"?
Steven: That song may be more relevant in Britain, in that we're talking about how major labels are manipulating the system to their own advantage. It's probably true here too, to a certain extent. The British music industry is completely fucked up right now, 'cause bands will have hit singles with the minimalist effort. We like to talk about subjects like this, that may be taboo in a different way, just to keep it interesting. Being influenced by being awkward and absurd is great.
John: It makes you think about other things, too.
Steven: I've been influenced by records enough already. I don't need more influence by them, I just wanna take drugs (laughs), you know, influence from experience.
Well, what are some of your favorite records?
John: Most stuff I like is American anyways.
Steven: I like anything that tries to bring different things together in a new way. Prodigy is one of my favorite bands. I know they're starting to break over here. They're inspired.
Do you like Atari Teenage Riot?
Both: Oh yeah!
Steven: They're one of my favorite bands as well.
John: We're going to play with them on Thursday at SXSW in Texas.
Steven: I love that punk techno, it's fucking fast as fuck, ya know? There's some of what we do in there too — but we do it on the pop side, you know, we do have radio friendly songs, but our new stuff is noisier. The more we record, the more techniques we learn. Recording an album is a scary thing, you know, like when you have to do vocals. I guess we've grown up and are more comfortable when we're recording.