The Shins Quotes

Yeah, but then the band members that were not Flake members originally moved to Portland and, as a result, the guys that used to be in Flake were able to become a part of the Shins. So, now we are the same members that were in Flake.
James Mercer

"I can sympathize with how seeing that jock in high school that you hated wearing you're favorite band's shirt, I can see how that would tick you off. But I think most of our fans understand that licensing is something a band can do that can completely save their asses when they need it. It certainly did for us."
James Mercer

"I think that was going on with bands like The Strokes was that the idea of the band, a real band, was making a comeback. My brother in law is an example- before he was listening to some country music, even some of that awful nu-metal stuff , but there weren't many options really.
James Mercer

Flake was very live-based. If things didn't work when we played live, then they wouldn't be recorded. And that's why I think the Shins started up for me as a side-project. There were little acoustic things that I liked to record and it wouldn't work with the Flake vehicle.
James Mercer

I guess I like pop music and I think [the phrase] describes us pretty well. I don't think I really thought of pop as having a bad connotation when I came up with it. At one time I know it did. When I was in middle school and probably high school but then in the early 90s it no longer seemed like a bad thing to call pop music pop music anymore. But yeah, maybe it is a bad thing. (laughs)
James Mercer