R.E.M. called it quits in 2011 and not much has come from the group since then, but Michael Stipe and Mike Mills did reunite briefly for an interview as they ready the reissue of their landmark record Out of Time. 

Sitting down with Willie Geist for Sunday Today, the band members returned to New York’s Iroquois Hotel where they stayed numerous times in their early days. Stipe recalled the days of living on $1 knishes in the neighborhood on their road to super-stardom, which was launched partially by Out of Time and its massive hit “Losing My Religion.” 

“I wanted to write a song about unrequited love and desire,” Stipe said. “I had not written love songs up until that point.” The frontman said the song is about “someone who’s so attractively shy, a wallflower,” but noted it isn’t about him. “I can count on two hands the number of songs that are really, truly about me.” 

Stipe also dug into his songwriting process with the band, saying, “My job as a lyricist is to close my eyes and hear the peaks and valleys and see the landscape, the vista, that the band has created sonically.” 

Sitting with Mills, the two also spoke about how “Losing My Religion” affected their personal lives. “I couldn’t go anywhere after that song became the huge hit single that it did,” Stipe said. How was it for Mills? “Easy,” he joked. Watch the full piece below.