I tend to write a pretty half and half split of, like, slow, morose things and then sort of more upbeat stuff. — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I don't like the idea of a singer-songwriter record. I don't picture myself that way, and it's not my favorite sort of… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
The real challenge of writing songs isn't just writing a bunch of parts - like a verse, chorus, verse - but making… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I've always sort of felt like what the Shins is, I guess, is a vehicle for my writing. — James Mercer Copy Share Image
As a child, I lived in Germany at the Ramstein air force base, where my dad sang at a nightclub in Kaiserslautern.… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I'm trying to avoid having regrets about missing opportunities. That would be the worst thing. Like having an audience waiting, and not… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
For some reason, it seems like pop writers, it's like they just get worse or something over time. And then you're really… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I most enjoy sitting down with the acoustic guitar and just fiddling around and trying to come up with something like a… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
Lyrically, I think I'm frustrated with this whole process of trying to figure out what I believe about the world and life.… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
So happy that Broken Bells is a thing in my life and really cool in so many ways. Not only, like, as… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I do like talking with friends about big concepts, you know, the stuff that will ruin a party. To me, the party hasn't begun… — James Mercer Copy Share
Horrible dates are when you're with people who are immature and can't really be comfortable in their own skin. — James Mercer Copy Share
I'm real happy. I've been lucky in love, and I've got a wonderful kid now, and things have been going well. — James Mercer Copy Share
The fact that I'm often pushing my voice as hard as I can is from playing in nightclubs in Albuquerque where you don't have… — James Mercer Copy Share
I really [enjoy] working with new people and just sort of the freshness of it. ... I [want] to have those new conversations, musically… — James Mercer Copy Share
Meeting Perry Farrel was kind of cool. He's such an icon, and I was such a fan of Jane's Addiction. — James Mercer Copy Share
My dad and I get into it all the time. He loves to discuss politics much more than I do and we have pretty… — James Mercer Copy Share
For the longest time, I didn't even want to admit I was serious about music. Before the Shins, I would tell myself, 'Oh, I'm… — James Mercer Copy Share
I tend to write a pretty half and half split of, like, slow, morose things and then sort of more upbeat stuff. — James Mercer Copy Share
If you're 14 and you're skinny, you can't be on the football team, basically. It's just not even really possible. But skating is something… — James Mercer Copy Share
I think that what's funny is that I seem to be taking up the roles that I remember my dad having - for some… — James Mercer Copy Share
One thing that I've struggled with has been a certain amount of animosity toward the whole human race. — James Mercer Copy Share
For some reason, it seems like pop writers, it's like they just get worse or something over time. And then you're really jealous of… — James Mercer Copy Share
I think that was going on with bands like The Strokes was that the idea of the band, a real band, was making a… — James Mercer Copy Share
