My favourite piece of music is actually 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' as a whole. For me, it's the most perfect and brilliant example of rock song writing.
John Gourley
Right after we recorded 'Satanic Satanist' and 'American Ghetto' here in Boston, we decided we'd grow our hair out. This is - was - like the Beatles thing. I wanted to see these pictures later in life.
We're just nerds that play music. Because we get played on the radio and have a Vitaminwater ad with Aaron Paul dancing on a treadmill, people are going to say we sold out. I don't write music for that. I write music for me.
Portland is where all the fringe groups went to escape. Where the outliers brought that DIY, punk rock attitude and made the city their own.
We lived out in the middle of nowhere - the most random places - because of my father's work. We spent a lot of time in the car on long drives, just to get anywhere. We listened to oldies rock on the car radio, and the most-played group on oldies rock radio is the Beatles.
I was a shy kid growing up, and I liked the idea of playing under this alter ego: like, I could be Ziggy Stardust, but I also knew I could never be Ziggy Stardust.
Portugal. The Man, to me, doesn't have any real ties. We try to change things up with every album, really progress, and let things happen.
Poor Ron Paul. He means well. He really does. But there's something about him. I don't know what it is. From falling victim to Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno to that old-man shuffle, he just seems like kind of a... like kind of a sissy.
My dad just left high school in '69, went to Woodstock, and after half a year of college for architecture, just took off for Alaska. He bought a van and went straight into the mountains and built a cabin.
The worst gift I have ever gotten on Christmas is going to see Tim Allen in 'The Santa Clause.'
Whether it be tour posters, album packaging, videos, stage design, etc., the visual aspect of music is very important to us.
Weird Al was something that kids would listen to. It's funny, super funny, smart. It's just kind of jokey. I remember hearing 'Smells Like Nirvana' before hearing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' That's how it really worked. I think it's just such a cool thing how he introduced us to so many cool bands. Even Queen - 'Another One Rides the Bus.'
I'm just not into the shady side of the music industry. Give credit where credit's due.
There's something about Detroit, man: there's a serious vibe there. It could be that blue-collar, working-class-mentality person who lives out there. There's just something about it. It reminds me of Alaska. Texas has the same thing. Detroit is a little heavier than both.
Money messes up everything. It ruins art. The second you start putting price tags on this stuff, it's... Art isn't for just the wealthy. It's for everybody to enjoy.
My dad would come to pick me up from high school in a beaver-skin cap, big gloves, his parka and everything. It was so funny to see him show up - his beard all frozen from being out with the dogs.
The period in the name - huge mistake, I know. We didn't think about that. We never thought we were going to be written up in magazines. The second we saw it in print, like, what a mistake, man.
Some New York bands you'll see rocking Ones or Dunks and things like that, but it is weird that the sneakerhead thing has become so massive. Personally, I think it's really silly.
To me, sci-fi has the most amazing style.
I went to so many sleepovers where these parents were reading the 'Book of Revelation' before bed and things like that. I would listen to that stuff, and I would sit there and say to myself, 'If God is so great and so good, why is there this list of rules?' Like, you go to hell if you don't believe in him and hold him up above everyone else.
I grew up in Alaska, okay? My dad graduated high school and went straight to the mountains. He had $300 and staked a claim. He didn't even have enough to put a title on the land: just had the records that he bought before he moved.
I like work, I like song writing, and I like the history of Atlantic Records. They've sat in the studio with so many artists - like Ray Charles, for example - and created something amazing. As a label, they seem to be great at growing bands rather than telling you how to do it.
As an artist, you can't expect a producer to just bring you a record. If you walk in and say, 'I want Kanye West's 'Power,' it just doesn't work that way.
We started playing music because of the Wu-Tang Clan.
I feel like rock n' roll has become very tame.
Great musicians need great producers. The Beatles had George Martin.
Nike is obviously more sporty than Adidas. I always associate Adidas with Beastie Boys and Run-DMC.
I love Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who are from New Zealand, living in Portland.
I would watch 'Sesame Street' and see neighborhoods and kids with other kids to play with, and I just didn't have that. You know, we were on a lake. We just didn't have that stuff.
The Alaskan summers are one of the most amazing things you can see.
The reason I got into music was obviously because of bands like The Beatles and Pink Floyd, things like that.
It's OK to fail once in awhile.
I think we're pretty spiritual people, the band in general. We're not a bunch of hippies or anything like that, but we like to work together and work with people. We believe that positive energy is pretty necessary in life, although it's not always easy to maintain.
The whole band is from Alaska. It's like growing up anywhere else.
There are some athletes who I feel like are just looking for likes, and then there are people who are just real.
We went to Japan and stayed an extra day just to go shopping. New York is one of those places where we never get that. If we're there, we're working.
I've never been the type of person that puts things on a shelf or, like, needs to clean my sneakers every day. I just wear what I like.
My dad builds houses, and, for the earlier portion of my life anyway, we moved around quite a bit. It took us to some just really amazing places.
I think there are really great movements happening in Portland. It's nice being in a place that supports itself and stands on its own.
I've never been to a beach party before. We have gravel-pit parties in Alaska.
Getting nominated for a Grammy is as high as it gets for us.
We tour, we do the distance from friends and family, not really knowing how to connect with people on the same level. I've understood now, as much as we tour, we live day-to-day, so our lives are much different than the people who stay at home and go home every night.
Growing up, I just always doodled, which is the worst word for it. I would just draw things in class, get yelled at by my teachers, get my drawings taken away. That stuff happened all the time.
We grew up in Alaska and will rep The North Face all day long.
Portugal is like Ziggy Stardust. The period is there, so you know that it's not the country, it's Portugal. The 'Man' states, 'He's the man.'
It's funny, because I had no intention of being in a band because I was so shy. But I loved playing music and loved writing songs. I always thought I'd be in the background and, if I did get into a band, be a backup musician.
I bought a book with guitar tabs and forced myself to learn. I would go to school and then come home and sit in my room for hours figuring out the songs.
It's so perfectly Alaska to be like, 'Dad we're going to the Grammys,' and for him to be like, 'Oh, well that's great, Johnny. All right, gotta go back to work.'
When I was in high school and first starting to drive by myself, I listened to Wu Tang in the car, and I recognized their soul and R&B roots.
We have an amazing job. We get to travel around the world and experience different cultures and just learn so many things.
