HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE AMBIANCE?
"I'm not sure. Chaotically Pleasing? It's fast and very complex in terms of timing and guitar parts. If I had to describe it... I'd say it's more like something Dinosaur Jr. didn't do, but could've done back in the 90's. If Pinback and Dinosaur Jr. had a baby... it would be this song."
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
"This is easy: I was driving my son, Grayson, to school one morning and I played a song I had just finished. I asked if he like it, and he said, "yeah, but could you make a song called Stealing Stop Signs?" I'm like... sure. That's actually very ironic because I used to steal stop signs... and about 100 other signs when I was 12-13 years old. So, that's the inspiration - just randomness."
WHAT IS THE MEANING?
"The funny thing about my songs that I try to sing on, if we call it singing, is that I usually always keep the first or second take. I will write for days afterwards, and sing multiple takes, and somehow always comeback to the first recording. This is no different. I wrote these lyrics down in like five minutes and played them through my head for 2 days. Then one morning, I didn't even think twice about it - I went to my studio and belted it out. I sent a sample to my wife and she texted back that she liked them... probably about 5 minutes before I was about to delete them. The meaning? It's really about the mentality of some people that just make up rules as they go through life, and they always have a reason as to why they do uncouth things. It's coming from a perspective that's not me at all. I actually live at a 3-Way stop and people blow through it everyday and pisses me off to no end. So it's very anti-me at 40 years old. That's why I made sure to say, "It's just like you to be the accident in everyone's life". And that's exactly what a lot of people do in the real world: they set people up to fail by 'stealing signs' or giving them 'false signs' that will inevitably lead to their demise. I'm not going to specifically name an individual that has done this to me, but if they ever read this, I'm sure they'll know who they are - because before I knew them... I never had a problem with anyone."
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PART?
"Yes. Remove my vocals and I love all of it. I think the the guitar work on this song is arguably my best, and it pains me that it is covered under my voice. This song is in the class of two other songs I've written: Loud & Clear and Frame of Mind. I love to play guitar, and somehow I stumble into writing these very layered guitar-driven songs, which I have no business even writing. I'm not that great at guitar, maybe lucky, but by no means, great."
CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE THIS SONG ON THE NEXT ALBUM?
"I do not know. I have 40 other songs that I'm sifting through, and I'm not sure how I feel about this making the cut. Sight Sounds had 21 records on it, and I don't know if that is a good or bad thing. Every single song on that album is great, but the album is more of a playlist, and most people will not give it a chance if they hate It Starts Today or Side by Side, so they will never hear In My Mind or Passed Up; which is a shame. But I do not know what to do with this song. I'm contemplating an instrumental version to be honest."