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And so, all that kind of came together, and we thought, Well, this is how we want to write this record. I want to be as open in the lyrics of this album as I am in this group of guys. And hopefully that would stir other people to do the same thing.

Is this something the whole band is doing?

Haseltine We've been a band for 13 years, and last year we kind of hit this pivotal point where we said, "We don't really know each other. We're not really helping each other live out the bigger struggles. We all have this stuff we're dealing with, and it doesn't even seem safe to talk to each other about it." I think that was the point where we all recognized that something had to happen. It's something that every member of the band has taken steps to try to change, to try to find better community. It looks different for each of us, but everyone's involved, and it's changing the dynamic of the band and our relationships.

The press kit for Good Monsters includes a quote from you that the album "was born out of many experiences and conversations between addicts, failures, lovers, loners, believers, and beggars." Do all of those words describe Jars of Clay?

Haseltine Uh, sure! (Laughter) They definitely describe myself. But it's enlightening when you sit down with somebody who isn't full-on into this mode of self-protection, and they're willing to give you a picture of their heart, because it reveals so much more of my own heart. I see it in someone else and I go, "Oh wow, I deal with that too!"

Can you give me an example of something you've told the other guys that you've been struggling with?

Haseltine Sure. Being out on the road affords a certain level of isolation. When we first started, I was kind of the businessman for the band, the liaison between us and the record labels. So I kind of made up this persona that the reason I wasn't having good relationships or hanging out with people was because I was handling all the business stuff. It became sort of this victim mentality. But it also became this great excuse to not be known, to not let people into my world. And in that, I'd be able to do what I wanted to do. If I was in a hotel room by myself, and I wanted to watch a movie, I could do it, because there was nobody else around.

I assume you mean you've made some poor choices in that regard?

Haseltine Yes. The truth is that if I wanted to engage in anything—utilizing the mini-bar to its fullest potential, watching a trashy movie, looking at Internet porn, etc.—there was no one stopping me.I become almost primal in the way temptations, that don't wield any power over my conscience in normal daily routines, flood in when I am stuck in some hotel room in some city. There's no one to remind me that the things I think I'm entitled to in that moment are things that are part of the problem, things that only ever create a wider chasm between me and the healthy relationships I need. Alcohol, sex, drugs, and even celebrity are all things that medicate.They dull the symptoms of a life spent listening to only one voice—the one in my own head.And that voice is a critical, loathing, and confused one most of the time. I am my own worst pop music station, constantly telling myself what I want to hear—and coming up with creative ways to do it.

So what have you done to combat that?

Haseltine After a while, my confession to the band was, "Guys, I've created this world that I haven't let you into for ten years. You know very little of who I am, very little of how I think, very little about my motives." And that was the beginning of just saying, "OK, let me help you dissect this monster that I am, because it matters to me that you know who I really am, not the guy that I've been presenting to you." That's been huge.

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