One of my favorite things about Fucked Up is how each release has a thematic art series built around it. I look at the cover of Glass Boys and the expression of the statue on it looks to be one of terror, to me. What does the statute say to you?
It’s about putting the front of being a strong person and a grown man and being fragile on the inside.

Do you think the statue expresses any emotion?
Yeah, he looks scared and bewildered about where he is. I think part of getting older and growing up is being uncomfortable where you are.

Are you comfortable with where you are at right now? Are you achieving what you are trying to achieve?
With us, I think it was about trying to get somewhere. That’s sort of why I’ve always been a little bewildered. We never expected or wanted to be in a band this long. I think we’re all pretty happy to be here.

You say that you’re happy to be where you are, but the theme around Fucked Up is that it’s a band of inner-conflict. Is the inner-conflict overstated?
Yeah, I think it’s very overstated. Sometimes, we are just more vocal about things that every band has to deal with.

What’s a Fucked Up writing session like?
Well, we would all get together in a practice space. I think it was two years ago when we were writing these songs. We treated it like a day job. Every day we would go in for three or four hours. We’d write a song a day usually and ended up with like 40 or 50 songs. We sat on them for a year, and fixed them, and made sort of amendments. It’s always so long from when we record them to when they’re out.

What’s the purpose of sitting on songs for so long? A lot bands like to bang stuff out and get it out really quickly.
Just so you have a better chance at making songs the best they can be. You can write a song, and you might not like a part a few months later. We have just recorded stuff in the studio. But, with an album, we like to make sure the arraignments are right, and chop lengths down.

You know, one of my favorite bands is the Melvins and another one of my favorite bands is OFF! They release stuff very quickly. I know OFF! Bangs out stuff so quickly because they don’t want to lose spontaneity. Are you worried about that?
I think we’re not really like- we’re probably the least spontaneous people in general. As far as being a band, even though as a punk band, we might be considered crazier live, the live show is where the spontaneity comes out. Recording, we’re very careful. Just the recording of the guitar tracks takes a long time. Even in our lives, things are plotted out. Even if we recorded things live on the floor, we’d still have to go back in a put on like six more guitar tracks.

You know Mike, one of the things that I find most fascinating about you is that you seem to plan things very far out in advance. Are you a tactical person?
I think as far as the band goes, we’ve just been lucky that it ends up looking like that. With the Zodiac thing for example, it probably seems like we had twelve years of planning. But really, that just came about by accident because we were recording on Chinese New Year one day. It probably looks like that, with the seven inch covers being the same. Most of it is coincidence.

Let’s bring it back to the new album. You know, Fucked Up is on top of the world right now. The fans love what you are doing. The critics love what you are doing. The band is fairly big. Are you uncomfortable in the position that you are in?
I think it’s less about being uncomfortable as it is about being confused. None of us had aspirations to be musicians. We thought that we’d be in a cool hardcore band for a couple of years. Being musicians is nothing that we tried to do. This record is about after unpacking 13 years, we’re the kind of people that you’d never expect to be in a band like this. We have questions and it’s confusing for us- it’s about looking back at how we got here.

What do you mean that you’re not the type of person to be in a band like Fucked Up? Do you mean that you’re not a stereotypical "rock and roller" that parties all the time?
I just mean that when you see some people, you can tell that they are definitely meant to be in a band. Damian is one thing. Damian is meant to be on stage. We’re not one of those bands that wears all the same clothes. With them, you can tell from the moment that they started making music, they were meant to be in band. I think we’re good at making music. But performance and writing songs are two entirely different things. I think that if you had asked any of us 10 years ago if we were going to be in a touring band , it would seem far fetched.

But, isn’t that part of Fucked Up’s charm? Isn’t that why Fucked Up is such an unusual band?
I think so, yeah. We’ve definitely grown into the underdog thing. Being a hardcore band that gets press and and visibility. We’re not big on visibility. We don’t have a banner on stage. There’s nothing extra to us- there’s no choreography or anything. It feels random and accidental.

This might be a cliché question, but it’s particularly fitting for this conversation. What would 15-year-old Mike say to 34-year-old Mike?
That’s the thing. There’s a line on the record, "I’m a reflection of a dream that I had when I was 15." That’s definitely something you have to think about. As a regular person, you’re always reflecting and wondering if you have become the version of what you thought you would become when you were a kid. When you’re a 15 year old, it’s when you have the most respect and awe for musicians and bands. The bands that you listen to then are the ones that you hold closest to your heart. So, I think 15 year old me would have love how this all ended up.

Well, that’s gotta be great! You won! Are you enjoying that you have become what 15 year old you wanted you to be?
Yeah, well, the trick is that you don’t realize all the stuff that goes into it. Ten years of struggling and all the stress. You just see the posters on your lockers and all the good stuff. Yeah, you on, but there is all this extra baggage that you don’t know about, which holds true in life.

Then, was all the hard work worth it?
I think it’s been worth it. we became the kind of band that we all wanted to be in. We’re not a huge band, but we don’t have to face the tough questions for the most part. It’s not this all-consuming thing that overtakes every aspect of your life. We’re in a pretty good place, I think.

What were you like as a 15 year old? What were you up to? Were you skateboarding? Playing video games? Going out on dates?
At 15, I liked music. I listened to Metallica and Nirvana and stuff like that. I liked sports. I skated a little, but I wasn’t very good. I played hockey.

How have your interests grown or changed since then?
I basically do the band and watch football.

You mean international football, not American football?
Yeah, soccer.

What is your go-to team?
Liverpool.

Oh! Liverpool! That’s quite… the… uh… I don’t know anything about soccer so I am trying to bluff my way through sports talk… Mike, are you having fun with this whole Fucked Up thing?
I have a different relationship with fun than what most people do. So, I think I’m having a version of fun.

What do you mean by that? Do you mean that you are having "accomplishments?"
That’s a good way of putting it. I’m enjoying the accomplishments. For me, it’s not necessarily about having a "good" time.