In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.

I wasn't trying to be a role model for anybody. I don't think that you can.

Desire, despair, desire. So many monsters.

I only want to make music because I have a passion for it.

I watch 'Mad Men,' I knit scarves, I cook and am very, very normal. Honestly.

I have a lot to be grateful for.

My first understanding of HIV and AIDS was like everybody else from my generation. In the mid-'80s, we heard about this, and it was terrifying, because we knew nothing about how to respond to it appropriately, and we didn't really understand about how the virus is passed. There was a lot of misconception about that.