I suppose, if someone was into baseball for an extended period of time during their formative years, they're always going to be… — James Mercer Baseball Copy Share Image
Honestly, humans are social creatures that really crave intimacy, and I think that the friends I have who are trying to somehow… — James Mercer Alone Copy Share Image
My dad and I get into it all the time. He loves to discuss politics much more than I do and we… — James Mercer Communication 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
There is pressure that comes with everything being a big deal. I remember thinking, 'I need to survive the Shins. I don't… — James Mercer Being 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 Aesthetic Copy Share Image
I've never been one to think it was cheating to sample this or to loop the drum part there - I've always… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I think that once you start writing songs, you start developing a library of ideas that you can go and take from,… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
My extended family is very political and very polar with each other, and it's put a bad taste in my mouth. All… — 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 think that was going on with bands like The Strokes was that the idea of the band, a real band, was… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
You have to keep the recording process open. If you make too many decisions before you go in, you can lose out… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
When I started The Shins, it really was just me, alone, but it was still The Shins. I was totally recording stuff… — James Mercer Alone 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 remember being in high school, and you had to draw those lines and define yourself. I don't think when I was… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I know that there are a lot of sort of silly things that one thinks as a music listener about bands. I… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
The fact that I'm often pushing my voice as hard as I can is from playing in nightclubs in Albuquerque where you… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
There's no real reason for me to be so obsessed with trying to understand the true nature of things. You can live… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I think perfect dates involve walking a lot, and not a bunch of driving around in cars. Ideally, you can walk together… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
The Shins is, in a way, a recording project that turned into a live band. So I don't really keep myself beholden… — James Mercer Copy Share Image
I've never gone through an audition process or anything. In most of my decisions like that, I just kind of feel it… — James Mercer Audition 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
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
