Art Alexakis quotes:

I have my dark side like anybody, you know, depression, anxiety... and I write about gritty, real-life stuff.

Forgiveness is hard for me, man. It is for most American-Western males. It's a sign of weakness.

I've always loved aggressive, hard, noisy, yet melodic bands, and at the same time I've always loved 'Blue' by Joni Mitchell.

People's perceptions of me have nothing to do with reality. I'm basically just your average dork.

Being a child that grew up with a single mom back in the '70s, Father's Day to me was always a very uncomfortable time. At school, we would make Father's Day cards for our dads, and I usually mailed one to my dad, and he hardly ever responded.

Being a parent is not just about how you treat your child; it's also about how you treat the other parent. If you treat that person with respect, that's fine, that's the way to go. But if you don't, you're not being the parent you could be.

One of the things about being a boy, especially growing up without a father, is you really don't have that role model to teach you how to do things.

I saw Cheap Trick play 'In Color,' and it was awesome.

I still fall back a lot on my Les Paul, and there is just no getting away from a Les Paul and a hot pickup.

When some people get angry, they turn into victims, but when I get angry, I turn to action.

I'm a 50-year-old guy making music for over 20 years. I've been writing songs since I was 20, so it's really been 30 years, and it's always been personal, but I've always told stories.

I'm a pretty tenacious person; I get that from my mom. So sometimes, I use dark humor. I can't take myself too seriously.

Santa Monica was a big song, and I always knew it would be radio friendly. But its not a defining song for me, though for a lot of people it is.

You don't have control of the car, but you can drive it. Life takes you where it wants you to go and where you need to go.

Being a musician, especially at the major label where you work for so long, it becomes a cycle. Write a record, make a record, tour. It's just this cycle, and I don't think there's any life built into it with time to assimilate what's going on in front of you and what's going on in your head.

My frustration has always been that I'm a Christian, but I don't buy into, never have bought into, the belief that Jesus and God are these men who just dictate that this is how you have to live your life or you are going to burn in hell.

Success to me is being able to do what I love, make a living at it and to support myself and the ones I love.

I have a pet peeve about bands that don't play their hits. I think it's kind of selfish.

I loved hard-rock bands, and I loved songwriters who told stories.

I like acting when I can pick my own roles, and I do. It's fun. I like being creative, and it's a creative process.

I think the fact that Napster is stealing recorded music is something that we have to stop. It's taking money out of my kid's mouth. That's the way I look at it. It's wrong. It's inherently wrong. It's stealing.

I like acting, but I like filmmaking better. I went to film school. I want to make films.

I'm a 'Power of Now' kind of guy, always have been. I don't really hang on to a lot of pictures. I have pictures of my daughters.

If you live in L.A. long enough, you get into having a cool car.

I'm not a politician. I'm not running for office. I can say what I think.

Any artist manages his own business along with his manager. Every band should.

Maybe I'll work for a label someday, write some fiction, nonfiction. Someday I'd like to go back to school and get my teaching degree. I want to be a grandpa. I want to have more kids.

Do not trust anybody but yourself. If people want to help you, fine. Put it on paper and understand exactly what every word says.

I like older people; I think older people have a lot of flavor.

I wish I could come home to a life that looks like a TV show. I wish I could see my television family waiting for me, where no one fights and no one screams, no one lies and no one leaves.

As a songwriter, I do kind of look at 'Santa Monica' as a thing outside of itself, because it isn't just my song. This is a song a lot of people tell me is a part of their high school or college years. That means a lot to me.

Santa Monica' was a big song, and I always knew it would be radio friendly. But it's not a defining song for me, though for a lot of people it is.

For the most part, I don't like people who soapbox.

My favorite drive is Highway 101 in California between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. I love the 101; Highway 1 is too windy, and 5 is too boring - the 101 is just right. It's like the Mama Bear of scenic drives.

The thing I love about Myspace is it's a safe place where I can talk to fans every day.

I think I write very good songs. But I don't know if anybody could record my songs with as much fervor. They sound good sung by me, and they especially sound good with my band.

My goal is to make my kids as happy as possible.

I've always cared about the world. That's never been an issue. But with learning how to smile, it's been learning how to feel comfortable within my own skin, and to feel accepted, and to feel empowered, and to feel worthy.

A lot of people do not like singer-songwriters, and a lot of people who like them do not like hard rock. It's either-or.

Living isn't a simple thing...no one said it's supposed to be.

I just wanna be a rock star!

I don't talk about my past; people ask me about it. I've done things I'm ashamed of, but one thing I can honestly say is that things I've done that I regret, I've never done twice. I work really hard at that.

Being a child that grew up with a single mom back in the 70s, Fathers Day to me was always a very uncomfortable time. At school, we would make Fathers Day cards for our dads, and I usually mailed one to my dad, and he hardly ever responded.

If you cant say it in three minutes, I dont want to know about it.

You dont have control of the car, but you can drive it. Life takes you where it wants you to go and where you need to go.

I grew up in a family full of yellers. People screaming and chaos goin' on, I feel right at home in it. I've really worked on myself with anger management. I try to save that for the stage.

The world's most effeminate heterosexual, Daniel Johns