The song "What You Need" from the new album echoes a lot of the soul influences from your solo album. Was it difficult to adapt the style into something that would fit into the context of Soul Asylum?

Actually, it kind of turned out the way it turned out and it was a little bit of a surprise to everyone who goes "Damn, that does sound like the stuff that you recorded for your solo record" and it was the last song that we recorded for the record. I really don't know if for me that was some sort of coming full circle or if it has just become part of the canon that I have embraced. I think the word is like orbwar (?) or something, but I don't even know it. But it was good, because at that point, everybody embraced it as some needed variety, whereas I think that if maybe that was one of the first songs that I had written for the record, people would have gone "we ain't doing that because it sounds too much like your solo shit." Uh, I mean stuff.

You mentioned in your press kit interview that "Success Is Not So Sweet" is an older song that you "don't think anybody wanted to hear it at that point" when it was written. From what point in your career does the song date, and why does it feel right to record it now?

It was I think written for the record called Let Your Dim Light Shine. I'm pretty sure. It might have been the record after that. It was the one song that was picked out of some archives, Specially Oddit, a good friend of mine who used to be our guitar tech found it on a bootleg which was the only recording there was of it. We played it once live. That was the end of it. We never played it again. Nobody really latched onto it at the time, which is kind of the modus operandi: I just keep throwing songs at the band and see what sticks and what makes it into the live set. It was funny because when he pulled the bootleg out that nobody really knew existed, my guitar player Danny Griffin was like, "Oh, that's a great song, we should record it," my manager was, "Oh that's a great song, we should record it." My reaction was, "Why didn't we put this on a record a long time ago when I needed it or something or when it was relative to us?" So it's just strange to me that the sentiment is easier to stomach now or seems more appropriate to the other guys. Those things I just let them happen as they do because I'm not trying to dictate a reaction from anybody, I'm just trying to get any reaction I can. It really surprised me how much people like that song and how much they completely missed it the first time around. As time passes, it becomes more of a fear or something. Oh God, how can people be missing things and then decide years later that they love it? It's strange. I guess it just depends how things fall.

Maybe you're just ahead of your time. "Fearless Leader" is another older song that finally made it on a record, yet the lyrics seem to refer quite explicitly to the current cultural climate in America. Has the song changed at all over the years?

I dropped a verse. But it's funny because it's talking about the exact same thing. I think that every time we try to make a record that song almost makes the record but at the last minute, it gets cut. And so here we are and we're putting it on as a hidden track and that is the compromise that I have to deal with. So, to me, it's always been a really strong song and I think it should have been on a record three records ago. A lot of it's just what I'm trying to get past the band and I guess what makes a balanced record and I was always kind of disappointed that it never made the cut.

It hasn't changed much at all, in fact its become more basic. We kept trying to record it with the whole band but it never seemed to flesh out, it never seemed to work, I guess because it was just so long. We couldn't quite get the rhythm section right. It was just one of those things where the more music you add to it, the more it seemed to distract from the lyrics. Actually, my manager really championed that song, because he was like, "I can't believe how current this song seems." I'm not going to sit there and toot my own horn and go "Yeah, well, I'm just so far ahead of my time." It does seem to become more relevant as time passes, which is odd, because I have this issue with songs like "Black Gold," which is in our set which I wrote during George Bush Sr.'s administration and it seems to apply perfectly to George Bush Jr.'s administration. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

It's troubling in a way to sort of be a songwriter that you're always trying to fight to convince people that there's a reason for this song to exist. But you know if they don't end up on records, they kind of don't end up existing. So I started actually playing "Fearless Leader" with my solo project with the band that was touring my solo record and then the guys from that band were like, "Well that's my favorite song." Once again it was kind of just funny because I was like "Why didn't I put it on my solo record?" So here it is lively, 20 seconds after the album over and it's not listed and that's the best I can do as far as getting that song on a record and that's my struggle I guess.

Your bassist, Karl Mueller, was already ill during the recording of The Silver Lining, yet the ultimate mood of the album is uplifting and not somber. What was the mood within the band in the recording studio?

Kind of like it was a life or death situation, you know, without sounding too tongue in cheek. There was a real urgency to make it happen and a lot of that had to do with this looming fear about Karl's health. At the same time, there was a never a moment where I actually thought he wasn't going to make it. So there's a real strong element of hope and faith and stuff going on there where you just have to believe he was going to pull through. But I was never in doubt; it never had crossed my mind that he wouldn't survive. At the same time, he was showing up at the studio, kind of pale and weak some days. He was going through different therapies and treatments and really really making this heroic kind of effort to be there as much as he possibly could and be a part of the record and push it through and make sure it got done to his satisfaction. He was calling me saying, "Yes, this is really great material." Which felt really good to me because that doesn't happen very often.

I think that we wanted to finish it with him and after he died, there were a few changes made. It was very important to him that the record came out. He was elated when the band got the record deal that we have. Those things were his life. I think it was a very difficult time for all of us when we were working as we had. He was affected by it. He lived to rock. That was his thing. He loved being in a band. He was such a big spirit of the whole thing; it was just a very sort of urgent situation. It affected the project in all the right ways when he was there because he was there. It's really been difficult, I don't have a day that passes when I don't think about him a lot and miss him greatly.

In October of 2004, a benefit was held for Karl that was also a veritable celebration of Minneapolis, with not only Soul Asylum performing, but also Paul Westerberg, the reunited Gear Daddies, and a reunion no one thought would happen, Bob Mould and Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü. What was it like to see so many people from what seems to have been a pretty contentious local scene put aside their differences like that?

It was beautiful. I think that's really the best word for it. There were moments where Bob Mould and Paul Westerberg were bonding and that maybe wasn't we had seen and it was very small dressing room and everyone was kind of crammed into it. It was kind of really a temp stage. It was like "Wow, here we all are." Just to see people come out like that for Karl was stunning. I didn't think Bob and Grant had it in them to get back together and play. And Paul has been a bit of a recluse at times. And the Gear Daddies. It was just an incredible night. It had a lot of positive emotion. And everybody sounded so good too. It seemed like almost like time was standing still or hadn't passed as much as it had. This bizarre element of "we're all one big happy family"-it hadn't been that concentrated in its most intense heyday. Everyone was still flying off in all their different directions and, suddenly, for one night, everybody was united. There wasn't a more deserving candidate that Karl with people coming together.

The recording sessions for the new album were completed with Tommy Stinson on bass. What was it like recording as Soul Asylum for the first time without Karl there?

It was hard, you know. It was really kind of desperate and kind of like there was always somebody missing. Like "When is Karl going to show up?" or whatever. We've been in so many recording situations that where we run into the studio and start recording like mad and we get sucked into the song and we're not really thinking of anything else but getting it finished. To that effect, it wasn't that different. It was this record that we've been theoretically working on forever. I mean, the first demos we did for this record were years ago. And at that point, it was just like "Let's get this thing finished. Let's put our heads down and play until it's done." To that effect, it was just the sort of the same old same old, the way we're used to it. Karl was always somebody who added an element of sort of calm or focus-he had a way of taking the anxiety out of things for me. He had a very steadfast demeanor that was always reassuring and always sort of added a sense of humor and lightness to what can sometimes be a daunting situation. I think sometimes we can take ourselves pretty seriously in the studio and sometimes too seriously...

What's the attitude of the band going forward? Is the Soul Asylum reunion permanent?

Well, the attitude is that it appears like it's some sort of return. We didn't really go anywhere. The attitude is to continue on to the best of our abilities. It's an open book; it's always been an open book. We've always said once it stops being fun, we're not going to do it anymore and I think for a minute there that it stopped being fun. I think that continuing without Karl is still very daunting. It still doesn't feel like it's very easy. I love what we have created with this band and I would like to continue it as long as possible. I guess we'll keep limping along just like we always do. Adversity has always been a part of the game. It's never been easy, it's always been a struggle, but it's been a struggle we've come to embrace and we'll keep making music as long as people let us.

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