Jack Antonoff

When I was growing up, it was a lot of punk and hardcore music going on in legion halls and firehouses, and we'd play those shows, and it was very Jersey. It was very suburban, and there's just a great pride there.

The connection I make with being young and growing up is, like, the feeling of not being crushed by the world. Having an idea, thinking you can do it.

My father played guitar, so I always wanted to play for that reason. But I think the biggest reason was just the '90s in general - growing up listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and bands like that, and going to concerts and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world.

I think that everyone at any age should ask themselves, 'where do I want to be today, where do I want to be tomorrow, and where do I want to be in a hundred years?' We all have clear answers to those questions. We only have so much time. It's a real shame if we don't spend our lives trying to do that.

The heart and soul of pop is newness, excitement, innovation.

I think that some of the most amazing places to be or to grow up are the places right outside of great cities, because you're sort of constantly in this suspended state of, like, looking inside the window, wanting to be in the party. I think it breeds good feelings.

When you start writing songs on your own, there's no Bible, there's no one around you, so you're just writing, and you're left with, like, the dead space in your head to know if it's a good song or an interesting concept.

As straight Americans we have two choices: we can choose to sit back and enjoy our rights as we have them, or we can realize that it is actually not freedom at all when our friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues do not share these basic rights.

Human rights, no matter whom they affect, are something that should matter to all of us. It's always been a part of my life.

I don't really look back or forward too much. That's not to say I live in the moment, because I struggle with that as well.

It just seems like the most fun thing in the world. I've never met people who have kids who haven't looked me in the eye and been like, 'It's the greatest thing that's ever happened.'

The exciting thing about Bleachers and fun. are they're different, and they're aesthetically different in many ways. But it's also like my role is very different, and that's cool.