What you see at the Field Museum is only like, 10 percent of the collection. It's birds of paradise and passenger pigeons and in all these drawers that pull out, these specimens come out and it's spectacular. And it worked out.

I just pay attention to what's in my head. That's my number-one rule.

I'm coming from a place that's more experimental and indulgent already, so for the last 10 years, it's been more like, "How can I defend my own sensibilities by writing a nugget of a little catchy pop song?" That's how I'm stretching myself, by writing something really simple.

Sometimes I just think we're not meant to fly halfway around the world in a day. That some kind of mutation is going to happen.

I am, in some sense, a writer. Even though I kinda downplay the word thing, I do enjoy writing sometimes.

What's cool about indie rock is that one band can do effectively the same thing as another band, and one band nails it, and the other one doesn't. I like that elusiveness.

All the folks I play with come from jazz backgrounds or at least appreciate spontaneity within the parameters of a pop song.