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PL: State something interesting about yourself.
MM: Something interesting about myself. Well, I'm about 5'11," but I like to say that I'm 6'. I weigh 185 pounds, sometimes 190. I like punk rock, rap, folk, calypso, jazz and I like quiet evenings at home as well.
PL: You fought in the first Gulf War, but you seem to be against this current war based on lyrics from your past two albums.
MM: Well, I'm proud of my service in Operation Desert Storm, but being removed from that service for some time and being more objective and open minded about things and researching the Middle East and keeping abreast of current events, I feel like-I've always been pro soldier and pro human being-but I'm gonna quote General Norman Schwarzkoph, who said that the last thing he ever wanted to do was to send young men and women into combat because of its heinous nature and how brutal and destructive it is. I feel like the war in Iraq has not been conducted on a truthful premise and eventually we have to come up with a wise exit strategy to bring our men and women home, whom I love and respect and admire.
PL: If you had your choice, would you go back and do it again?
MM: Yeah, I have no misgivings about any decisions that I've made. I would do it again in a minute. I served to see the world, get outside of Dorchester, MA. I basically needed college money because my parents couldn't afford to send me to school, so I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't change a single thing about my life. I live day to day and live the best that I can and just try to give 100%. Some days are better than others.
PL: How do you think fighting in the war has affected you mentally, if at all?
MM: Fortunately, the last time I checked, I'm in one piece, and I still have all six brain cells left. I can talk in complete sentences and 2+2=4, and knock on wood, but I'm unaffected by it physically. Mentally, like I stated earlier from General Schwarzkoph, the last thing in the world that anybody should have to do is to go into combat because its nature is heinous, bloody, destructive and very very difficult. Thats what I took away from it, that a well respected General that is so entrenched in the system would say something like that. I have a lot of respect for him and a lot of respect for that point of view.
PL: How do you think the war has changed you and your family?
MM: I wouldn't think that its really had a direct impact on me and my family. My family was nervous when I was serving and they were grateful when I got back home. I think thats always been the real feeling and setiment. There was a level of pride that I had served and served honorably and gone through the process. The military is very difficult and you have to have a vast degree of mental toughness to make it. A lot of people don't make it.
I'm not a hero. I'm not better than anybody else, and I'm not extraordinary, but it was something that gave me a little bit of an edge and I'm grateful for the time that I spent in it.
PL: Being a firefighter: how has that compared to anything else that you've done?
MM: I don't think anything compares to that, at least in my own personal estimation. No two days are the same, and you do fire suppression, emergency medical response and hazmat stuff, so it was really helping people out in various situations, so I think it was one of the most rewarding, dignified and greatest things I've ever done. Like I said before, I'm not a hero; I shouldn't be put on a pedastol, and I shouldn't get any special consideration. Its just something I agreed to do and I'm proud of my time doing it.
PL: Comparing any of your jobs to music, how do they compare?
MM: Music, like the military or the fire department, requires an unbelievable amount of mental toughness. The touring, the recording, the pace of it. To do it right and to make an impact, you've got to give a lot. You've got to give a lot of yourself, and thats what we strive to do. In that respect, its similar. Clearly its not as stressful, but the amount of work that goes into it and the focus, it is somewhat similar.
PL: Have you ever thought about how famous musicians, actors, celebrities have "celebrity status," but firefighters, police officers, veterans are kind of in the background?
MM: First and foremost, I never consider myself a celebrity and never will, regardless of how big my band gets. I've got to keep my feet on the ground, and stay grateful and humble, even though onstage I'm an egomaniac with an inferiority complex, just looking for people to love me and trying to smash that message into the barricade and getting people to have a good time.
I think most reasonable people know the degree of difficulty that goes into being a police officer or firefighter and there is a level of respect. They're both trying occupations and people that do them and do them right realize that its a service oriented job. There's a customer service and also social work at times. They should be applauded.
PL: Sports.
MM: Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots.
PL: Would you trade the Celtics championship-meaning they would lose for the Patriots to win?
MM: No. I've been desperate to see the Boston Bruins-the BOSTON BRUINS to raise Lord Stanley's Cup into the air. I've been waiting for that moment since I was born. I haven't seen it in my lifetime and I want to see it. Peter Chiarelli, Harry Sinden, Jeremy Jacobs, GET IT DONE.
PL: Name one album, besides your own, you think all people should have in their collection.
MM: New Wave by Against Me!.