You’ve called your experience with Sleepy Sun “emotionally traumatizing.” Even so, was it tough leaving a band with that much buzz?

It was a really scary idea, but it wasn’t really that hard, and it feels more and more every day like it was the right choice. Very soon after I joined the band it felt like things were really picking up, and it was so exciting to me that I just went with it. But at the end of the day, I wasn’t attached to the process. I just got really tired, really exhausted with the whole thing, so I had to leave, and it was pretty hasty. But I’m so flighty. I’d tried to quit Sleepy Sun, like, six times (laughs).

How much creative input did you have?

I didn’t get to write hardly any material. It was kind of frustrating ’cause I’d always had an outlet for my creative energy. They invited me to record and had songs prepared and told me my parts. They let me write some of my own vocal melodies and harmonies, but the words were mostly Bret [Constantino]’s. He invited me to try to write with him, but it was very unsuccessful.

Listening to your songs on MySpace, they don’t sound anything like Sleepy Sun’s heavy psych-rock. How would you describe your music?

It’s a lot of love songs—I can’t hide behind anything cooler than that right now. It’s garage-y and surfy, and it’s got a California vibe. I’m just kind of letting out some energy from the last couple of years, and some of it’s coming out very romantic and sweet, and some of it’s coming out like it wants to bite your head off.