I still play solo shows. And some of those shows are still some of the best, most gratifying shows.

There's a lot of interesting words, nomenclatures, in science.

I create little challenges for myself, like, 'Okay, whatever you do in this song, you've got to somehow work in Greek Cypriots,' or something like that.

The instrumental record is a bit subtler. It's the kind of stuff on sound check, when I first pick up my violin and start to play, the kind of melodies that just pour out of me. Some of them sound very classical. Some of them sound experimental, polyrhythmic loops that I make.

Honestly, I didn't have the patience for biology or history in an academic sense, but I always liked the kind of big questions.

I've literally opened it up to suggestions and it's totally chaotic and kind of a bad idea. You don't need the actual feedback to get a sense. When you're showing a song for the first time, people can feel that newness.

Music as a social conduit has always been important to me.