Are your songs written at the moment of passion, or after you've had time to sit back and analyze what's happened?
I have never understood how a song could take someone a long time to develop. [I'm not sure] whether that says something about the song, or perhaps I am [just] prolific...but to answer you, it's usually passion and stream of consciousness, and as a matter of fact, I just wrote a song about answering questions from interviews after I finished this sentence. Bad joke. Good question.

The Deep South is known more for turning out anthem-driven bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd than intelligent, emotionally honest pop rock. Did you have to reach outside of your local environment for influences to cultivate your sound?
Absolutely. No question. I would probably search for other influences even if they were here but I am terribly attracted to beautiful sounding melody and noise. Those two don't meet very often in the south, although we have shared a few shows with bands that can hold there [sic] own. We are far from Morrisey down here, yet I have watched an eighty year old man play acoustic and been on the verge of tears.

How would you characterize your relationship with the South? (Do you sometimes feel restrained, etc.)
I am unsure whether feeling restrained is attached to the south or just being an unheard artist. I am convinced that there are painters with their most beautiful work under their bed with the understanding that the dream will never come to life. Most days, I don't think our music is a dream or at least an unattainable one. So I listen to my wife, believe my work, and I press on...the south brought my wife to me and I hope I can bring the music to the listener and without being pretentious, maybe, to the frustrated artist.

And finally, what other up-and-coming bands would you recommend?
Leaves, Longwave, The Walkmen, Interpol, Sigur ros, Reindeer section, [and] nada surf.