MR: Let's talk about the new album Scars & Stories. This album really is about scars and stories, isn't it.

IS: Yeah, that name actually came from a song that didn't make it onto this record. That particular song had about four verses listing all of the ex-girlfriends I've ever had in these loving little folks song couplets. The fifth verse kind of turns into a love song for my girl. It's essentially a confession of all of the things I've been through. Some things feel a little bit of a mistake, but looking back at my life, every single one of those things led me to where I am now. I also like the idea of scars, you know? Scars are kind of sexy because they mean you've lived life. You're not living in some sheltered ivory tower, you're out on the streets looking for what you want. You can get beat up when you do that. Sometimes, scars end up being an important part of a relationship - when you get to that point of confession and storytelling. Ultimately, if that person accepts you, those scars become a map to where you are now and sometimes, even a clue to where you're going.

MR: Can you tell us about "1961," like why 1961?

IS: That song came from a trip that Dillon and I took to New Orleans to try to do some writing - we rented a house and chilled down there for about a week and a half. We wrote that song about The Berlin Wall and the division it represented in regards to one unified city becoming two cities still under the covering of a country. They're both German, but in a sense, they were as far from each other as they could possibly be. I think that's how our relationships can be sometimes. Not to sound cliché, but we all as people build these walls that don't really come down until someone comes into our lives, tears them down, and says, "Enough!"

MR: And there's the song "Munich."

IS: I think "Munich" one of my favorite songs on the record. I have a sweet spot for science - I think it's one of the most artistic professions out there. There's this large particle collider out in Switzerland that is kind of helping scientists peel back the curtain on what creates gravity and mass. Some very big questions are being raised, even some things that Einstien proposed, that have just been accepted for decades are starting to be challenged. They're looking for the God Particle, basically, the particle that holds it all together. That song is really just about the mystery of why we're all here and what's holding it all together, you know?

MR: Also, can you talk about "The Fighter"?

IS: "The Fighter" was actually inspired by a Norman Rockwell painting, though I can't remember the name of the painting. I just sat down at a piano and stared at the painting. He is one of my favorite painters. It's a scene where the fighter and his opponent are going at it and there's a girl standing in the crowd shouting, "No!" I just really like the idea of this desperate and hopeless fighter trying to get through life. I think he and his girlfriend both know he's going to lose, but he has to go through with this fight. I know people like that. I'm like that.