Mischa Pearlman

"The US is this hyper-real society that can co-opt and completely level any sort of political discourse that’s valid and meaningful."

"There was a market for hard rock and heavy metal, but not particularly for what we were doing. That attention shifted and became more focused when there was money to be made, but we'd already made Badmotorfinger without those expectations."

"Life is brutal. It just is. But as you get further in life, your story can become something that lifts you or it can become something that weighs heavy on you, and I’m choosing to lean towards optimism, even though things are shitty."

"For me, looking the negative so directly in the eyeball is an indication that hope is there—because how would you even have the courage to do that? And on this record, I need it more."

"I’ve always had a pro-drugs stance, and I still do—none of my friends die from drinking and doing cocaine, they all die from pharmaceuticals."

“I don’t think a lot of Americans understand how not having healthcare impacts their level of political participation and their social awareness.”

“I’ve got a very small, tiny, tiny willy,” jokes Slaves’ Isaac Holman, almost seductively, as he half-shuffles, half-dances his way past me and out of a small dressing room at Union Transfer in Philadelphia.

"There’s a lot of playfulness. It does often get dark, but when it starts to get to that line I flip it over. "

"We need to be active rather than just talking. And I’m not asking everyone to drop their lives to fight for this cause. I’m just saying invest in it some way, somehow. I think our collective idea and consciousness in protest will be effective. I do believe that.”

“How many times have people been only happy?”