DEMARCO: It depends on the lineup, and usually when they’re really huge it’s kind of weird. It’s totally fun for us to play in front of a crowd that doesn’t necessarily know who we are, but festivals get pretty impersonal when they get super large.

MUNGER: What was your process for writing Another One?

DEMARCO: I planned to write it after we finished touring in Asia and Australia, but I got sick with a crazy ear infection right when we got back. I was in bed with a pressure headache for three weeks. So after I got better, I wrote eight songs just sitting around my room. I recorded them at home too, and didn’t really leave the house that much.

MUNGER: Do you prefer recording at home to in the studio?

DEMARCO: I don’t have that much experience in the studio, but I’m always really uncomfortable when I’m there. You’re on the clock and it costs a lot of money. So I figure, I’ve recorded at home since I was a teenager (but I’ve gotten a lot better at it since then—a lot of those recordings are very, very bad), and I’m able to sit here in my underwear and keep trying different things until something works. I think if I did that in a studio the engineer would be like, “What the hell is wrong with you?” I also think recording at home feels more organic, and injects some more personality into the music.

MUNGER: Most of the lyrics in Another One are about heartbreak, but musically the album is pretty upbeat. Did you create that contrast intentionally?

DEMARCO: I just felt like writing some love songs, because they’re songs that everyone can grab a chunk out of, and I’m not really good at writing sad sappy ballads. In terms of the lyrics not matching the vibe of the music, that’s also kind of the way my career has gone; everyone is a little confused about it all the time.

MUNGER: You seem like a very relaxed guy; you incorporate humor into your music, act silly when you want to, and don’t take yourself too seriously in interviews. Have you always approached your career this way?

DEMARCO: I remember when doing interviews was a new thing, and it was new that people cared what I had to say. I was more conscious about how I presented myself then. I think at this point I’m just being myself. I’m not a very complex guy; I’m not a very studious, crazy intellectual guy. I’m just a guy.

MUNGER: Your music is often referred to as “slacker rock.” How do you feel about that term?