"What is the first song you wrote that had real Reggae influences?"

  "That would be 'Fire and Gasoline' on Split Wide Open."

  "How did that song come about?"

  "That song was written on a train ride back home to Springfield from New York City. I was down visiting my friend Dougie Fresh in NYC. On the train I was just thinking about how all the relationships that I had that just didn't work. It seemed like all the significant relationships I ever had with girls felt so explosive. I am the type of person who has a lot of love to give but it just didn't seem to be able to be put into a relationship without it blowing up in my face. That is how the lyrics came about.
   The Reggae influence came about simply by me listening to a lot of Bob Marley and Wyclef at the time. Wyclef is Hatian, which is Caribbean, so he is influenced a lot by Reggae as well. When I came home from that trip, I plugged my brother's 65 Pbass in, cranked up my drum machine (with the beat that you hear on the record) and came up with the bass line. The rest of that song came in the recording process with me and Danny Bernini and John O'Boyle playing bass. That song is actually one of my favorite songs that I have ever recorded."

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