What you see with your eyes when you're making music is going to have a profound effect on what you hear.

I definitely have to give myself permission, like on "Master Swarm," to rip a lead on that. Just play a violin solo that's - it's a bit showoff-y, but it's fun, so who cares?

Every time I make a record, it's kind of like scarification or something. You work 15 hours until you're stupid. You're just kind of all jittery.

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.

When I'm onstage, I'm completely comfortable, and I feel very vital and alive.

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

I really believe there's more honesty in one live show than there may be in my whole output.