I think I remember him saying a long time ago, that the early/mid 90s were the opposite of playing solos and being proud of your musicianship due to the grunge movement. Or at least that was what he implied. That was one of the reasons why Insomniac was so self-deprecating, because he wanted to take pride in his work but it wasn't the "cool" thing to do at the time.
I wish I could find that interview somewhere.