Give us a quick snapshot of what this album feels like to you. Is there a theme that holds it all together?

RD: Well, I don't know, sometimes these themes sort of find themselves. I mean, the title seems to be "Slow Motion," and the lyrics on that one, sort of, are really about - these days, everything is sound bites. It's five-second shots, and especially visual things, you're going from two seconds, scared that people can't hold their attention for any more than that and I don't...I'm getting a bit tired of that. The song, sort of, is egging people to just take a little bit more time, because you're not going to get any further if you run around like a nut case, I guess, and a lot of the songs are a little bit slower. They're grooves and there's nothing really frantic on it, so it has a more mellow feeling, I think.

Are there any other influences we'll hear when we listen to the new material?

RD: There are some things, which are a little more adult sounding - in terms of jazz, I guess. There's one thing on there called Dead Man's Blues, which is a long kind of thing with improvisations and it's pretty "down," and for a Supertramp record, it's pretty bluesy and earthy.

Are you going on tour with this album?

RD: Yeah, we are going in April, to Europe especially, doing a lot in Europe. How long we keep going, we're not quite sure.

Are you looking forward to that?

RD: You know, I am. Believe it or not, touring is the easy part for me, because once you have your show you're pretty much set. You don't have to think so much about "should this lyric work" or "does this sound work" or "do I keep this song in..." It's always decisions. Once you get that show good, and it feels right, you can kind of ride it for a long time. So touring, actually, is going to be a bit of a relief.

Are your bandmates pretty good about expressing themselves in the creative process?

RD: Well, they'll certainly let me know what they think about something. [laughs] I mean, I had one thing voted off the record, which was quite annoying, but I did this song, which was an instrumental, which I don't usually do. It was actually called "Flight 29," and...about two weeks after I came up with that title, then the September 11th abomination happened, and of course, "Oh, you can't have this on there." But I think it was more they didn't really like the music, than the thing, but we'll forget that. You're forgiven. [laughs] It will surface again one day.

Earlier you told us that you and Sue moved out here after 24 years in LA. How do you like it out here, on the east end of Long Island?

RD: Well, I love the atmosphere of being out in this part of the world, because it has seasons. The old cliché where people in LA miss the seasons, and all that - that's true. There is much more atmosphere. All the time, the weather is changing.

Do you like it better than LA?

RD: I prefer living here now. I think we lived there for a long time, and I think we kind of "did our stint," and I feel much more relaxed out here.

Do you think you'll continue to write songs this way, with the band being all the way around the world?

RD: Well I don't have much choice on that, because everybody is grown up with families and they want to live where they want to live. So, as I say, I think it'll be nicer once we're in our new situation at home, where I have things closer to hand - It'll save me a lot of time. But I'll always do this sort of thing, even if it's just for me as opposed to the band. I'll always love to write songs and just see what I can create.