What is your approach to playing hip-hop?

"I do whatever they’re doing. I have to hop to different situations all the time and I’ll do whatever, you know? A lot of times I’m playing to a backing track. When we did the Grammys, it was a backing track. They would switch tempos and stuff, but you just felt the tempo change and it was easy.

"I love a click. With Blink, we’re always to a click. I love, love playing to a click. For the Mary J thing we just did [performing Stairway To Heaven on American Idol with Steve Vai, Orianthi and Randy Jackson], it was no click and it was completely live, so it always changes."

Do you try and nail the click and play right on top of the beat?

"I don’t even hear the click. That is my goal. I feel comfortable with it. The click was like a demon when you were a kid. When you’re a kid you’re like, ‘Aww, man, I don’t wanna play to a click.’ It was hard and it was tough at times. Now, you get to the point where you feel more comfortable with it, you know?"

Next:practising, fills and improvisation