Brian McFayden: The stage manager just came in and asked you guys if you had a set list. You don't have set lists, do you?

Chino Moreno: We went a long time without having a set list, but now we kinda have to, because we have so many damn songs. We need to just list a couple songs to play.

Stephen Carpenter: Like before, when we didn't have a set list, we only had one tuner, so we could plow into any song at any time. But now if someone wants to go to a song, and we got on the wrong guitars...

Chi Cheng: Which happens a lot. Somebody gets real high, and then they add a song or forget about a song or forget to change up, and everybody else is in the right tuning. I ain't saying no names or pointing any fingers, but that motherf***er right there [points to Carpenter], they're totally in the wrong tuning, and its like, "Ohhh!" and [Moreno]'s trying to make up for it by singing, but he can't decide which key he wants to be in, and it just sounds bad.

MTV: Ever forget lyrics, or forget which song you guys are actually playing?

Moreno: It's not that dramatic, no. I don't think we've ever --

Carpenter: It happens, though. I've seen this fool [points to Moreno] running around, going, "I forgot the words!"

MTV: Are you ever singing one of your own songs, and a fan looks at you and says, "You're singing the wrong words?" Or you see them, and they're singing the wrong words, and you think you're singing the wrong words?

Moreno: Yeah, that kind of stuff will happen. I've seen it. Especially because I go down at the very end to the front, and I sing sometimes, and I'll grab the microphone and hold it up for some of the people to sing or whatever, and some of the people, they don't know the words and they'll be like, "Aughhh." Falling into the microphone.

MTV: You guys are doing the Dysfunctional Family Picnic in New York here -- KROCK's big radio show, with bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Limp Bizkit. Do you look at a bill like that and wonder, "Why are we playing here?"

Moreno: I think we're a band that can pretty much adapt to any kind of situation, or kind of fit in a lot of different genres. We can play with the Third Eye Blinds and stuff like that and still shine. At least get the crowd excited, you know what I'm saying? 'Cause obviously, on those shows, I think we kinda shine more, because we're a lot more hard-edge, and I think we have some of that, maybe, pop sensibility that they are looking for, or whatever.

MTV: "White Pony" is your third album... are you guys getting old?

Cheng: We're like the crusty old-timers now. We're not fully old-timers now, like maybe Ozzy or something, but give us a couple of years, and maybe half of us will be on Prozac. The other guys... one guy will die of alcohol. Abe will. I don't know... I don't want to say, but drummers got bad luck.

Abe Cunningham: Spontaneous combustion.

Cheng: Yeah, exactly. "Spinal Tap" stuff.

MTV: "White Pony" is a pretty big release, with a lot of anticipation behind it. How different is this tour from your past ones?

Moreno: There's a lot more songs to play, and they're a little bit longer. It's a little bit more comfortable than back in the day. I mean, back in the day, we were straight-up. We had, like, a Ryder truck and a van, and we had to switch off who was gonna drive what vehicle. Right before we'd have to leave, we'd all start drinking so we'd go, "I'm drunk. I can't drive."

Cheng: And we were all drunk.

Moreno: It was hard, but now it's a lot easier. We have our own buses now, and production trucks and stuff like that. Bigger scale now, but it's actually at the level where it's still pretty intimate. They're larger shows, obviously, a little bit more elaborate, but...

Carpenter: The only thing that's changed is the size of the stage.

MTV: And more people coming to see your shows.

Cheng: Maybe red wine instead of a 40.

Moreno: Yeah, occasionally.