I'm a terrible Scrabble player.

The way I work, I'm not a confessional singer-songwriter.

The melodies come out so strong that I'm like, "Oh, crap." It's really better if they could both be kind of able to compromise, but the melodies, even more recently, they come out very fully cast and formed.

The first splurge of creativity is kind of free, and the last 30 percent is painstakingly hard work, but it's good to light a fire and make it public and create that expectation. It's become part of the writing process, really, a way to ask the audience what they think, how they think it's going. I can't write songs in a vacuum.

It's like you don't know you're making a record unless you're half-killing yourself.

I've done my share of busking, and it's fun until it isn't. There are musicians in the subways that will make you cry, they're so good.

A good espresso to me is a little bit salty; you just become used to a good taste. Anytime I go into a new place and they don't clean their machine properly or the water temperature isn't right, it tastes awful.