Mike Mushok found the comment somewhat amusing. The guitarist for Staind said his bassist was quoted out of context about its latest release, "Chapter V." The comment -- Johnny April said that the music was "a touch brighter" -- wasn't from a rock reporter, but the band's own biography.

Mushok said fans of the East Coast band are in the know. Staind, which will appear May 12 and 13 as headliner of the Jagermeister Music Tour at Pechanga Resort & Casino, hasn't softened up one bit.

"I think you're interpreting brighter as a style of music being softer," Mushok said. "We wanted something sonicly different. Every band says this, and it's really true, you have to write what you love. It is selfish, but it represents who we are and what we do.

"If not, you may as well have other people write songs for you."

Staind has had a deep well to draw from for its harsh outlook. Singer Aaron Lewis said he grew up in a trailer park in Vermont, a far cry from the glamorous lifestyle afforded a rock star. Mushok and the other members of the quartet spent more than a decade collecting their frustration into multiplatinum-selling releases.

Yet, Mushok said that he and the band have been evolving subtlely during that decade. He sees "Chapter V" as a continuation of that process.

"With every record, you want to grow, to mature and take it someplace different," he said. "It's not that I was unsatisfied. I'm actually very proud of (the prior albums). They were the best records we could write then. I hope I feel the same with the next one."

The difference in "Chapter V" from prior works is what Mushok refers to as layering. He said by adding parts that are inviting, not necessarily dominant or loud, listeners become continually intrigued by certain songs. Mushok said he discovered that by asking himself what appealed to him about personal favorite songs. Lewis helped with layering, playing guitar often to free Mushok to add parts.

He was pleasantly surprised to find out he wasn't the only one dissecting music.

"We've been kind of lucky that way, growing with our fans," Mushok said. "You want people to like what you do, and it's always cool when someone picks up on that. … Some of my favorite records are the ones where you hear it 10 times and on that 10th time, you go 'Wait, what was that part?'"

"Chapter V" did present particular challenges for Staind, Mushok said. Making the music more complex was an ideal, but in adding melodies, not every thought was accepted at first play. Mushok said recording was made difficult because Staind didn't arbitrarily discard unusual sounds.

"I was playing something I thought was cool and different, but everyone was making fun of it, dancing an Irish jig," Mushok said. "I'm like '(Screw) it. Never mind.' But the producer was like 'Wait, jam on it.' You could make a joke about my mother and I'm like whatever. Make a joke about what I come up with."

Mushok subdued the urge to drop that melody. The result was the song "Please."

Yet, that process marked a change. Usually, Mushok said his role is to find ideas that work well with Lewis.

"I could write the best riff ever, and I have, but if he's like 'No,' … It's about learning over the years what he's going to want to sing over," Mushok said. "It came from over the years. It really boiled down to writing the best songs we could possibly write."

Mushok, who co-founded Staind, understood quickly the importance of putting aside personal wants for the sake of the group. He said when Staind performed at clubs seeking a recording contract, for instance, the band focused more on songwriting than on moving to a larger city for increased exposure. The gamble was that Staind wouldn't be honing skills in anonymity for long.

"Hopefully, if you're good, people will see you won't have to move," Mushok said. "It's not only what led to us being signed, it led to being able to continue 10 years later and still put out records and still tour. In this business, I look back to when we first started playing, how many bands have come and gone."

Mushok said he sees a music market that's changing. During a talk about the band, he mentioned how in a decade with Staind, fans have switched in droves to the iPod and the Internet. He is hopeful that if Staind continues to focus on songwriting, people will pay attention to them for another decade.

"I think if anyone listens to our first record, you can hear an enormous amount of change to now," he said. "It really always boils down to writing the best songs we could possibly write."

Jagermeister Music Tour featuring Staind, Three Days Grace and Hurt

When: 7:30 p.m. May 12 and 13

Where: Pechanga Resort & Casino, 45000 Pechanga Parkway, Temecula

Tickets: $50, $65 and $70

Info: (951) 303-2507