Because anybody can find their fan base through the Internet, it opens opportunities up for talented people along with people like Rebecca Black. It makes you more choosy and also more receptive to absorb anything for 15 seconds - let alone 15 minutes - to decide what you think about it.

I think the Internet has a way of coaching you into this state of mind where you think that every step you make needs to completely supersede the last.

There's this really amazing quote from Jim Jarmusch about celebrating your theft that I think has become more and more prominent in music: "It's not where you got it from, it's where you take it." To me, that's just an integral part of why I even bother making music. I don't mind that I've created an identity around what I do.

The Internet really does create this dimension around the music that's always in relation to what else is happening at the moment. But all you can do is ignore the annoying hum of the machine and focus on making art that makes you excited to be alive.

When you completely extract yourself from anything familiar, you start reverting back to that state of mind where you're having conversations with yourself, and that's where the weirdest and most honest ideas come from.

There's nothing better than having an experience now that's the exact same thing I would've done when I was 16, like texting a really awkward "I like you" message to someone. The way you phrase it might change, but it will always continue to happen, and there's something really charming and calming about that.

I think it's more about trying to just focus exclusively on writing music and making that a viable, sustainable lifestyle. It's difficult because it forces you to really get creative.