Matt: 'Pumps' came from a few unlikely places-- the line in the chorus of "these f**k me pumps don't come guaranteed" was originally a line I came up for in a song I started about a friend who has been going through transition. The lyric originally had a completely opposite meaning to the one in Pumps. Initially it was reflecting on how she would meet a man and he'd be into her until she told him that she was in transition, and then he'd back off (which was his loss-- she's amazing). I found it incredibly sad and lonely, as there was no guarantee for HER, but in the BQA version it's of course the other way around.

A lot of the verses themselves were inspired by my hard drinking days in my 20s when I was dumb and single and felt invulnerable. "Tonight I'm breathing fire/tonight I'm a Molotov" is something I think a lot of us feel when we're in that phase. Nothing can touch us. I think a little of the attitude in the lyrics also came from listening to a bunch of Pink at the time. It's nice writing about a woman who just doesn't give a s**t if you think she looks hot.

A big part of Beauty Queen Autopsy is my writing in a female voice but channeling my own experiences and emotions into what I'm trying to share, and that's universal in my mind so I don't feel like some fraud imagining what it's like being a woman. This track almost has a country vibe to it-- I'm a big Hank III fan and this could be his female counterpart in some ways-- it's about partying and drinking and getting high and turning down idiots (male or female-- I enjoy the gender neutrality of most of the BQA lyrics) who think they can buy you a few drinks like that means you owe them anything. One of my favorite things about Erica is her ability to project her confidence when she's singing. She's nobody's fool, and I really wanted to play into those characteristics in her personality with Pumps. It's not meant to even be callous or cruel-- this is simply a woman she just knows what she wants and when she wants it. To me, that's simply hot. That's someone I'd want to be friends with.

I also enjoyed tossing in a GnR reference for good measure. Because everyone's got a little Axl in them when they're out getting' their drank on.

Erica: This is one of my favorite to sing of all the BQA tracks. I can relate very well to the lyrics -- "your approval don't mean much to my self-esteem" is an important thing for people I interact with in bars to understand, because I'm not there for them. And though wearing wicked high heels definitely gets me lots of attention, it's always my choice (whether I'm wearing what I call my 'femme armor' or not) who I want to pay attention to.