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Hey Joe! Preordered Shockwave Supernova, been loving it so far! Two questions, both related to songwriting: First, how do you deal with writer’s block? Second, how do you keep your songs fresh and unique? I think I speak for a lot of people who try to write music when I say that I end up repeating myself a lot. Thanks for the answers, can’t wait for the tour!

PS If you're willing to take a bonus question about guitar playing, what's the best way to memorize the fretboard?

Hello Mr. Polis, thank you for doing this AMA! I'm not a Colorado resident, so forgive me if I'm distracting from your intended topic, but given your support of net neutrality, I'm wondering what actions you think people can take to help beyond calling their representatives? I'm a Maryland resident, and both of my senators, as well as my district representative, all support net neutrality, so calling them feels like preaching to the choir. What else can I do?

Thanks for the answers Joe - looking forward to putting both to use!

How hard was it for you to combine your creative side with your technical side? I've been working to get my career restarted in a compsci direction after an underwhelming few years trying to do creative work for a living. It feels like those two thought processes are constantly at-odds with each other, and I want to get the two of them working together. Thank you for any answers!

Hi Steve! Huge fan, your music is what got me to start enjoying instrumental music! Six questions, if you’ll allow me that many:

1. You’ve produced all of your albums yourself. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I have trouble maintaining a separate, objective ear when it comes to mixing and producing my own music, as well as after I finish it. What do you do when you produce that lets you stay objective to make a good recording, and how do you keep yourself from going “I should have done this instead” or “I could have done this better” when you listen back to a track after it’s been released?
2. In every interview on the subject I’ve seen, you’ve been a big advocate of young artists keeping the rights to their music, including forgoing record deals and putting their material out themselves if need-be. What kind of advice would you give young artists in regards to that now with how far the internet has come?
3. A lot of people say that image and nonmusical show elements shouldn’t matter at all, but it’s clearly something that impacts an artist’s success, and it’s something you’re clearly aware of(I can’t think of many other reasons someone one would dress up as a robot covered in laser lights with a welding mask on!). How did you decide on the sort of image that you go after, and how would you tell young artists to create theirs?
4. I bought the Stillness In Motion DVD a few months ago. Loved it, but there’s something I’m curious about: I bought Paul McCartney’s “Good Evening New York City” DVD way back in ’09, and one of my favorite things about that DVD was that it included the concert CDs alongside the concert DVD. Is there any chance you’d be open to do that sort of thing in the future, where a live DVD includes a concert CD? Because I would love to take Stillness in Motion in my car, but can’t for obvious reasons.
5. Speaking of things inside Stillness in Motion, I’m pumped for the Passion and Warfare rerelease! I’m curious how it’ll differ from the original though? A lot of remastered rereleases I’ve bought have been great, but there’s also been a lot that were just compressed even louder and had a noise gate popped on them to clean them up slightly. What’s going to be new about the rerelease?
6. What's your writing process like? We know about the Infinity Shelf, but how do you take little scraps of ideas off of that and turn them into full-fledged songs?

Thanks for any answers Steve, hope to see you in-concert this year! (Please come to DC/Baltimore!)

PS How’s Evo holding up? I remember in a video a few years ago you said that age was catching up with her, and she might not hold up to the rigors of the road much longer. Has Evo been retired, or is she still going strong?