Lets get the obvious question out of the way first. You are coming to Croatia with your new project Scott Kelly and The Road Home. Can you give us the story behind the project, and what can we expect from it in the future?

Its a group formed around a group songs that I wrote for a solo album. After sharing them with Noah(Landis) we decided to flesh these songs out and add extra instrumentation. Gerg Dale was added to the recording and the touring band and it was born.

You've been releasing solo record for a while now, and for the most part the material features a lot of acoustic instruments and is quieter than your other bands. What made you shift your sound form the kind of music that Neurosis makes?

I was compelled to try and strip it all away and see if I could do something that still carried weight.

In the last couple of years it's become popular for members of bands to pursue solo acoustic carriers. Obviously you've been doing this for much longer that than the current trend, but do you have an opinions on the sudden increase of solo singer/songwriters?

Songwriting is a craft and I think that some people are just drawn to it. It was kind of inevitable counterbalance to all the heavy music that we’ve all been making.

Reading through your list of projects, past and present, it amazes me that you can manage the time for all of them. From music blogs to radio shows, there is not a part of the music industry that you haven't worked on. What are you inspirations for being so involved and what drives you to continue after decades on the scene?

I just obsessed. I don’t really have an answer other then I can’t ever rest. I just go. And things keep coming my way that interest me.

Amongst other things you've collaborated with a pretty impressive list of bands, the most constant of them all being Mastodon. How did the collaboration come to be?

From a true friendship. Funny you should mention them I just recorded my part for their new record today. Their new stuff sounds great.

Neurosis has often been called one of the most influential modern bands. Do you ever fell the pressure to meet the high expectations? Do you view Neurosis as your primary band or do all of your projects have equal importance?

I feel no pressure externally to perform. We are way harder on ourselves then anyone else will ever be. All music is good to me, I treat it all equally. The respect is given in every instance and I never let up. That being said all things come from Neurosis for me, and yes, it will always be my primary focus creatively.

Metal music has always carried this stigma that Metalheads are elitist and shun new music. Since you have always experimented with your sound and pushed the envelope, do you believe this to be true or just an exaggeration of a vocal minority? Are there any new metal band that you want to share with the world? Or indeed any new bands that you fell haven't gotten much of the spotlight?

Well I’m not a metalhead, if I’m anything I’m a punk. Thats the scene I grew up in. I’ve always been open minded about music. Our experience with Neurosis was that the metal scene was much more open minded then the punk scene when we were coming up. As far as newer bands how about The Body, Stoneburner, Heathen Shrine, The Bell Witch, Pharmakon, Cvlt Shit.

Your other projects have a large number of musicians for your live performance, do you fell more exposed on the stage now when there are only the three of you?

Yes but not as much when I was alone. I did that for 10 years.

In addition to a large number of musicians, the visual side of you shows have always been elaborate and important to the overal style. In this age of technology do you think that music albums should be a multimedia package, or is the music still the only important part, and the visuals are there just to augment the songs?

Neurosis decided to stop doing live visuals last year because we felt that it was just one more screen/tv/computer/phone that people were gonna look at. It was played out to us and we lost interest in doing it. In corrections house we have used our videos very effectively to promote the band and it may come into play at some point live. I don’t know.

Thanks for taking time out of a very busy schedule to answer these questions. Last but not least, comes the standard question about the country your visiting. You've already visited Croatia, what are you thought about the country and did you get any chance to experience the local music scene?

I didn’t get a chance to experience much of anything I’m hoping tomorrow we have enough time to check some stuff out but as usual we are driving 12 hours to get there so probably not. I remember it was a really good show and the people were very friendly. We are looking forward to seeing you there.