As far as his musical style goes, Tate's somewhat of a fan of everything. And he isn't afraid to do things in the studio that can't be replicated during live performances. We're not talking Autotune; he means bringing in guest vocalists and musicians.

"I always liked that kind of eclectic music that the Rolling Stones played," Tate said. "You listen to some of these records, especially the ones from the late '60s and '70s... they were bringing in all kinds of instrumentation and all kinds of different arrangements for their studio songs versus what they do live.

His love for an assorted kind of music shows on his own albums.

"These records aren't nearly that ambitious," he said, looking down at his own albums. And while he's being modest, there are plenty of different styles of music demonstrated in his music.

"You know how it is when you set out to do one thing and you have a vision, and as people don't show up or as money runs out, it turns into something different," he said. "And in the end, there's always a song or a lyric that makes you cringe. I think that happens with everybody."

But even if they weren't what he had originally planned them to be, Tate's albums are solid, fun and varied. In fact, one of the band's most popular songs, a song about looking up an ex-girlfriend online (before Facebook was around), was featured in a documentary about Google.

See it here. You'll only have to wait 25 seconds before "The Google Song" begins to play.

There's a saying in the film industry, Tate told us, that movies aren't finished; they're abandoned. Apparently, even George Lucas said that of Star Wars, and Tate feels that the same applies to music.

Eventually, you've got to step back and just let it go, because it's never going to turn out quite the way you want it to. But if his previous albums are any indication, though it might not sound exactly the way Tate wants it to, anyone who listens to his next album is sure to enjoy it.

Tate's recent single, "Cowgirl," can be seen (and heard) here.