well

At this point, I shouldn't be shocked by these things, but:

*****

ASJ: What brand do you have?

Cuomo: I don't even know. It says Talkbox on it.

*****

ASJ: So when you're working on these tunes on your own at home, are you recording into a cassette recorder, a home studio - what do you do to keep these tunes in your mind?

Cuomo: Nowadays I record directly into my lap top. I've got a $25 microphone from Radio Shack. I plug it into my computer and record into a program called Vegas. It's really easy to use, much easier than Pro Tools.

ASJ: Vegas is Sony's video editing software. Why are you using that instead of their Acid recording program?

Cuomo: I don't know. Somehow, I think our web guy had it because he makes videos of us. So I learned it, and now I'm kind of stuck with it.

*****

ASJ: Was there anything in particular on this album that you allowed to enter your brain and influence you that way?

Cuomo: Yeah. Rick was very particular about what recommended I listen to.

ASJ: Really? What did he say?

Cuomo: Three things: 1) John Lennon, 2) Neil Young, and 3) Trent Reznor. So I listened to those three artists over and over again.

ASJ: And learned some of their songs?

Cuomo: Yeah. I learned songs and listened to them.

ASJ: What tunes did you learn?

Cuomo: I remember learning a song called "Alabama" by Neil Young. I learned so many John Lennon songs.