I have the barn, it's just kind of like a studio. Almost all artists have la studio to work in, and that's really what it is. A place to get away. I'll spend maybe four days out there if I can, just completely immersed - like where I don't bathe or brush my teeth for a few days, just get up and make coffee and experiment until the sun goes down.

I've always felt that dark lyrics with dark music is pretty useless. Maybe that's a strong statement - not useless, but for me, it's just boring.

I think I'm still a little too intense for my own good sometimes.

I think when I was pretty young I got really into the tone of my instrument and I remember just playing one note for an hour to just kind of feel the resonance of the violin.

The idea of writing songs because you're depressed and you need to communicate it somehow, that isn't really true for me.

Songwriting requires some sort of ceremony to even get the process started, and it can be somewhat arbitrary.

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.