Ever since I picked my favorite 2007 album, some questions about The Good Life have been bothering me. That's why I'm so happy that the amazing Ryan Fox found the time to answer those questions and allowed me to get my peace of mind back.

You've joined Tim Kasher and The Good Life in 2001. I personally think your presence made the transition of the good life from a side project into an established band. In which point of time do you think it happened if you see a difference at all?

"About the time I joined was indeed the transition from solo project to band effort. Tim had recruited some people to tour with him for the first album, but 'Black Out', which we recorded in 2001, was a kind of turning point where it became a band. We still get tagged as a side project sometimes, which usually doesn't bother us. But it can be a bummer to see it in print because it comes off as a disparaging thing, like we're this lesser entity. The Good Life definitely feels like a band in the way we collaborate and work together, but it is different in that we have long stretches when we aren't playing together. But that's kind of nice, too, that the band operates on its own slow schedule and everybody has time to pursue other things, musical or otherwise, in the interim".

I'm sure that by slow schedule you mean slow when off tour, because your recent tour was pretty intensive. How was it? Which show was the best?

"We hadn't been on tour for a couple years, and it was great to get back out on the road and play for people every night. We played some places I hadn't been before and revisited some favorite spots. There were lots of shows I really liked for various reasons. In Philadelphia we played - for the 4th or 5th time - in the basement social hall of this church that has shows all the time. It was about 100 degrees in the room and probably 115 on stage. My hands slipped off the keyboard it was so humid. After the show, the floor was wet, like a layer of condensed sweat. It was kind of gross but I thought we played well and it felt healthy to sweat out some poison".

Sweating in Philadelphia, It's probably because it's always sunny there. How come, in your opinion, so many good and talented musicians came out of Omaha, Nebraska? Do parents there feed their children differently?

"I don't know what exactly to attribute it to. Lots of people here have been dedicated to their music for many years, and it's great that the world started to take notice a few years ago. I'm sure there are plenty of other cities with equal talent but perhaps Omaha is different in that there's not a particular sound or style, but it's still a spirit of collaboration. If there were some supermusic diet force-fed to Omaha toddlers, it's been brainwashed out of us".

Someone should make a movie about this place. Tell us a bit about Tim Kasher's screenplay, which your last album 'Help Wanted Nights' was originally written as its soundtrack.

"A guy's car breaks down in a small town and while he's stuck there he gets enmeshed in the lives and loves of the townsfolk. It's mostly set in a bar and involves just a handful of characters. Tim is working to get the movie made and has met with various people who could make it happen, though nothing is set in stone yet. To make an album can be quite the undertaking, but it seems that making a film is another beast entirely, with the costs and amount of people involved".

Well, sounds like it's worth the effort. If you could collaborate with one artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

"Hmm... Leonard Cohen? Maybe he could've used a different collaborator in the '80s when he put out some of those saxophone and synthesizer inflected - or: infected? - records. Tom Waits would be a fun one. How about John Lennon"?

What do you think about the way music and internet integrates? How does the internet affect you?

"I think it's a positive thing that the internet allows so many people to access so much information, music, etc. I still prefer word of mouth, my friends' recommendations and the random exposure of being somewhere a song is playing and thinking 'yes!' and having to ask who the band is. Sometimes the internet makes me feel flooded in music and like I can't really check anything out but can only stream a few crummy-sounding mp3s. But I've discovered things online that have prompted a trip to the record store: Stars of the Lid's 'And Their Refinement of the Decline', Papercuts' 'Can't Go Back' and Grizzly Bear's 'Yellow House' are a few that I've really gotten into".

Speaking of the web, I gotta ask, you know... being from 8hands and all... Are you a member in any online communities or social networks?

"The band has a Myspace account but I don't have one myself, though I've had them for a couple temporary bands I've been in. I think I still have a Friendster account that's been long inactive. I should get in there and make sure I'm not unknowingly sending out 'OMG! Macy's gift card' comments to people. The band also has a Virb account".

And Finally, What would you do if you had eight hands?

"We made a t-shirt last year that has an octopus riding a unicycle with two tentacles and drinking a six-pack with the other six tentacles. I guess if I had eight hands I'd wish for six more arms to put them on".

Download: The Good Life - Heart Broke

Download: The Good Life - You Don't Feel Like Home to Me

Download: The Good Life - A New Friend