What was it like creating new material for the first time in a long time?
It’s basically the same process. For me, I get chords and I play on top of the chords. That’s all in my mind. I can’t worry about anything else. So it sounds so boring, but that’s just about it.

Were you focused on fans and how they’ve changed over the years or on what the band wanted to do?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We discussed that. Are we going to please the curmudgeons, or are we going to try and woo in new fans? So we did both.

What was behind the decision to release multiple EPs without any advance notice?
As far as announcing a release of a record, that’s something new, but that’s something I never really understand. Blah-biddy-blah is going to release this record two months from now. What am I going to do with that? Save money? Now you can just plop it out, it can drop out of the sky and there’s no need to do that. LPs and designs of the full-length album, we just think that’s a dying thing. And this way, the people can absorb the songs a little more.

After Kim Deal’s departure, the band said, “We’ll always consider her a member of the Pixies, and her place will always be here for her.” Is the bassist position always open for her return?
Yes, yes. It’s just an open-door policy for her. Should she decide that she’s at a festival and goes, “Hey, let’s go do ‘Gigantic,’” OK. Let’s do it, but you gotta wait for the encore.

Do you have a favorite Boston show that you’ve played?
I would say the Rathskeller…It’s like the equivalent of CBGB in Boston, and when we sold it out the first time it was pretty amazing. The line went around the corner of the street, moving up toward Fenway Park. So it was pretty cool, you know.

And you sold out the Orpheum for the Boston homecoming?
Yes, uh huh. That would have felt really bad. The best show I saw there, by the way, was Public Enemy. It felt dangerous. I thought I was going to die. There were soldiers up front, and they would move at random moments but at the same time. What the f—, you know. It was just awesome.