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Tiptoe through Matthew Sweet's new album, 100% Fun, and you'll stumble into a psychic minefield. Wielding lyrics like ''I'm sick of myself when I look at you'' and ''You're laughing at everything/That's bringing me down,'' Sweet laces his juicy pop with themes of self-loathing. In person, he's gregarious and stable -- ''It's not like I hate myself all the time,'' he laughs -- but just to make sure, the 30-year-old singer agreed to a bout of amateur psychoanalysis:
-- What do you fear?
I have a mortal fear of flying in airplanes. So bad that I do an insane amount of driving all the time just to get out of it.
-- When you're in a relationship and things are going wrong, do you want to solve the problem -- or run?
I'm an obsessive problem-solver. I would drive the other person crazy by forcing them to confront everything in minute detail.
-- What makes you sick of yourself?
Just being in a business where part of the deal is that it's public, I have to see what I say, and see what I look like. And sometimes I just go, ''Ewww, you're a dork idiot! I hate you!''
-- What do you wear when you're in a good mood and in a bad mood?
If I'm in a really good mood, I might just wear sweat clothes, because I don't care. If I'm in a really bad mood, I might just wear sweat clothes, because I don't care.
-- Have you ever encountered your inner child?
I'd say I've been sucking up to my inner child for a long time. I tend to be really cynical about things, so my only antidote is having a sense of humor and getting into stuff on a childlike level.
-- What memory from childhood haunts you?
I was in Estes Park, Colo., with my family. I must've been really young. I wandered by myself into Reptile World and got really deep into looking at the snakes. All of a sudden, from behind came this nasty old guy who said: ''It costs money to be in here! Give me the five bucks or leave!'' I was so shocked in my reptile bliss, I left. I never wanted to go near there again. I probably moved on to the electric bass from there.
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- Close-up MATTHEW SWEET | Elysa Gardner
