(Even) if this record bombs, it's just another obstacle we have to get over.

I've discovered this trend in popular criticism that because our first record was such a -- critical darling ... that now people are hesitant to give us too many accolades. We didn't know exactly how we needed to change. But we knew from the experience from 'Room on Fire' where people, where critics mainly, were saying that it was sonically too similar to the first record, we needed to step up.

It's a learning process, like growing up. The third album is only the next step - who knows what will come next.

We were talking about how we wished we had enjoyed the time, like when we were touring in that little van. We wished we had really taken the time to look around and be happy about where we were. I enjoyed it, but it was always hand in hand with fear and this drive to get to the next levels. I was never looking around so much.

Having this kind of spectrum of sound now, I listen to 'Is This It' and I see us as youngsters and I almost want to have a conversation with the 18-year-old me.

We didn't have any goal set, but we knew we had to work with someone who had a complete, almost encyclopedic knowledge of music. We wanted to make an album that sounded completely different but still had the heart and soul of the band. It's still The Strokes, but it's a very different form of The Strokes.