Having not released new material in 10 years, Billy Idol [ tickets ] knew he had to answer to his teenage kids when he set "Devil's Playground" in motion.

The former Generation X punk rocker and purveyor of songs like "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" could not just follow trends. He had to put the "Billy Idol" stamp on the songs.

"It's a bit like 'Go your own way, dad,'" Idol said. "That's what kind of helped me make the album. You knew not to chase fashion. With your own kids standing there, you couldn't chase fashion, if you know what I mean. They know the latest thing and, to chase fashion, they would say, 'No ideas are your own' or 'You're just a slave to chasing fashion.' That's one thing I didn't do. I tried to stick to something that I thought was really Billy Idol. Really me.

"If that meant writing all the songs starting on an acoustic guitar, I'd do it. If that meant writing all the songs starting with the drums, we'd do it. Whatever way it was, it was going to be a Billy Idol record. It wasn't going to be Billy Idol does grunge or Billy Idol does folk. He might do all of those things, but he's not going to do just one of them. I'm not going chase fashion. I'm going to pull fashion. Passion and fashion are going to follow me, baby."

"Devil's Playground," which hits stores March 22, is Idol's first collaboration with his new band, including drummer Brian Tichy, bassist Stephen McGrath, keyboardist Derek Sherinian, and longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Steve Stevens.

Idol talked with liveDaily about his upcoming visit to the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, TX, and competing in the music industry with his son's band, Lucas.

The trend with South by Southwest is for newer bands to play the festival. How did you decide to play it?

I don't know. We played that place Stubb's [in Austin] --a couple years ago and it was really good fun. I just thought it's a great stage. It's a great gig. It's a great city, Austin. It's great fun. It's a great music city. I don't care what stage or what reason, as long as we're playing.

After 10 years, why is now the right time for a new Billy Idol record?

Over the last five years, with the greatest-hits record [the platinum "Billy Idol – Greatest Hits"], we really pulled together a really great band. Not only have I got Steve Stevens, but, there's this chap on drums, Brian Tichy. He's brilliant. He plays guitar, and I can write songs with him as well. So, I kind of doubled up the songwriting team. In the group, there's now Idol-Stevens and Idol-Tichy. That gave us double the amount of songs. Also, too, the record business changed. Suddenly, there was a company like Sanctuary [Records, Idol's label]. All these sort-of alternative labels had been eaten up by the beginning of this millennium, and it took us awhile to find someone who actually was an independent label. Once we got that, we started to write.

Tell me about the songwriting process. You said you work with Steve Stevens and Brian Tichy. Do you guys work together or separately?

Three of the songs I had already written with Steve--"Summer Running," "Plastic Jesus" and "Rat Race." And then my drummer had a set-up where he had his live drums set up. I went to work with him. From November 2003 to April 2004, we did 20 songs. [Laughs] That said a lot. That speaks volumes without having to say anything. Usually, there's two or three ideas percolating at one time. It could come from anybody, if you see what I mean. I'm sure I've got one going, he's got one going, and then there's a sort of third one we've got going together somehow. It doubles up or triples up the amount of stuff you have to choose from.

Did you stop writing songs when you were in between record deals?

You never stop. It's something I've done for years, really. I've always done it. I don't stop writing songs because I don't have a record to put out or anything. [It's something that's] sort of natural. I'd be doing it anyway. If I get paid to do it, it's kind of magical.

How long did it take you to record the album?

It was about April [2004] until September [2004]. Then we did a couple of more weeks in November. It was the shortest record since "Rebel Yell."

I think "Devil's Playground" has a lot of the same vibe as "Rebel Yell."

I hope so. I was hoping it would have the energy of Generation X, the attitude of "Rebel Yell" and the kind of miscellaneous thing of the greatest hits, the mix of the greatest hits.

How has your songwriting changed since you've become a father?

There's the span of time--because now my son is 16 and my daughter is 15. He's in his own band called Lucas. They're playing at the Roxy in L.A. soon. I'm in a competition. Christ.; my own loins. He's pretty good. He's a bit like the Deftones. Instead of an "emo" band, they're an "expresso" band. They "express" their feelings. They don't hide them. [Laughs] It's a whole new name for something. There's a whole new group of bands called "expresso."

What does he do in the band?

He plays guitar and sings. That's the point, really; my daughter's 15. She likes rap. I took her to see Britney Spears a few years ago, and the Spice Girls, but she's grown up a bit since then. She likes rap.

How long ago did you start playing with Steve Stevens again?

Quite a long time ago; 1995, actually. We really started playing together as a group back in 1999, and then the greatest hits came out in 2001. By that time, we put this group together that has made this record. The Idol-Stevens-Tichy-McGrath band. We've really sort of worked on it being a real group that's used to playing Billy Idol music.