I kind of got into music in middle school, although at the time I didn't know it as punk music so much as just rock music.

I love Chicago. It was an awesome place to grow up. It's a big city but it doesn't feel like one. I can't imagine that if I had kids I would raise them anywhere else besides Chicago.

I started playing guitar when I was in eighth grade, and that led to trying to write songs and trying to figure out how to play in bands. That led to meeting people, and getting into the local punk rock scene, and going to shows. So that was how I really got into the culture of it.

I'm not ashamed to say that I really loved some of the hair metal bands of the '80s.