Jeff Wright asked Todd Drootin of Books on Tape some questions via e-mail, and he replied quicker than any band has ever replied before. Take note, you bands that are bad at e-mail. Books on Tape rule, and you... not as much.

SO YOU'RE DOING A 12 DATE CANADIAN TOUR. WHY FOR? MOST BANDS WILL PLAY MONTREAL, AND TORONTO, THEN GO BACK TO THE STATES. I'M GUESSING IT'S BECAUSE YOUR NEW ALBUM'S OUT ON ALIEN8. YA?
It's 13, but who's counting? Here's the deal, I like to do Halifax every winter; I've done it for the last two years. It's good for my California bones to show them a little cold. Plus the people up there are really super. This year I thought it would be fun to extend the trip, and my booking agent was more than happy to check out some towns for me that I wasn't necessarily aware of. So it will be an adventure.

HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH ALIEN8? DID YOU SEND THEM A DEMO, OR DID THEY SEARCH YOU OUT?
I've been a big fan of Alien8 for quite some time. I worked with a Montreal-based label - No Type - in the past, and my records and performances have always done well in Canada. Considering this, I got in touch with Alien8 and we began a dialogue that ended up with them releasing Dinosaur Dinosaur.

WHICH IS THE BETTER BAND IN YOUR OPINION? THE UNICORNS OR ISLANDS?
I have to imagine that anything Nick and Jaime do, I'll be a fan of...

YOU'RE PLAYING MOST OF YOUR CANADIAN DATES WITH NICK FLANAGAN. ARE YOU GUYS FRIENDS? HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER FOR THE TOUR? NICK'S A FUNNY GUY. I THINK THAT'S WHY HE'S A COMEDIAN.
Nick is a funny guy. I met him last year when my tour stopped in Canada. We enjoyed some drinks after the show and enjoyed some stand-up together that I had on my iPod. We realized that we had a lot in common in terms of bands and comedians that we enjoyed and even some mutual friends. So when it came to time to figure out who I'd like to accompany on the Ontario part of the trip, Nick was a natural selection and I'm glad it worked out.

I READ ON YOUR SITE THAT YOU LOVE R. KELLY'S "TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET". IT WAS SERIOUSLY THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, LAST YEAR. FAVOURITE CHAPTER? LINES? HAVE YOU WATCHED THE COMMENTARY ON THE DVD? IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN THE VIDEOS THEMSELVES. THE THINGS THAT COME OUF OF THE MAN'S MOUTH BLOW MY MIND. ALSO, DO YOU THINK THAT HIS MAKING "TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET" SORT OF GETS HIM OFF THE HOOK FOR THE WHOLE UNDERAGE GIRL THING? I MEAN... IT SEEMS TO ME LIKE HE'S TRYING HIS BEST TO MAKE AMMENDS FOR IT BY GIVING US THIS BEAUTIFUL THING. YOU DON'T SEE MICHAEL JACKSON MAKING ANOTHER "THRILLER".
Oh man. R. Kelly is such a visionary. I don't think he is trying to make amends for anything, because I can't imagine he thinks that he did anything wrong. As much as I have a distaste for the pornographic, I would like to see his commentary on his (now) second-most-famous video...I have to imagine it would be hilarious. If I had to pick a favorite part, I'd have to lean to the whole spatula plot.

YOU HAD ANOTHER TORONTO SHOW SCHEDULED BEFORE YOU WERE ASKED TO PLAY WAVELENGTH, RIGHT? WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO PLAY ANOTHER SHOW? DO YOU WORRY THAT IT'LL DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WHO GO TO THE SECOND SHOW, OR ARE YOU GOING TO WIN EVERYONE OVER AND HAVE THEM COMING BACK FOR MORE, A WEEK LATER?
It was actually the other way around - Wavelength was the first show booked for the tour. I don't usually try to hit a city twice on a trip, but it isn't like I make it to Toronto that often. I vary my sets substantially, so I'll certainly try to do some different material and make it worth the time of anyone who hits both shows. All the Ontario shows are reasonably close, so if anyone's feeling serious about it, they should bust out their old Grateful Dead gear and just hit the road with us.

WHAT'S YOUR SONGWRITING PROCESS AND DO YOU USUALLY RECORD AT HOME? WHAT'S YOUR SETUP?
I put together ideas constantly and hope that these ideas emerge when I actually sit in front of my gear. I have a little studio set up at my house and some instruments in the garage. I'll put together sample libraries from albums and home recordings and mess around with them until some riffs and themes emerge. I begin fashioning the beats on my sampler and record them into Pro Tools on my Mac, where they undergo some more tweaking.

YOU'RE FROM CALIFORNIA. WHAT'S THE MUSIC SCENE LIKE THERE, AND WHO ARE SOME BANDS THAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?
We've got some really great bands here. There are two really great underground venues in L.A. - The Smell and Il Corral. You'd have a really hard time putting a label on the Southern California "scene," and I like to think that it is kind of defined by that. There is some really great music here and a lot of the bands sound nothing like anyone I can think of. One of my favorite L.A. bands is The Pope, which is a bass and drums duo that is completely explosive, like a scarier Lightning Bolt. Then there's my good friends Captain Ahab, who do pulsing techno with vocals that is sometimes kind of metal and always sexy and sweaty. We've got the great Deathbomb Arc label that, in addition to releasing all kinds of fun stuff, plays a big role in encouraging the younger kids into picking up an instrument and doing something weird and also helps bring some really good bands to town from all over the place. Further up north, Oakland has even more really amazing bands, like my friends Restiform Bodies and Eats Tapes. So we're never short of good shows out here. We also get lots of Japanese bands coming through here, which is always amazing.

GREAT. THAT'S IT, I THINK. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU PLAY. TAKE CARE.

Take care.