For me, self-gratification eventually took a backseat to trying to do something collaborative with other people, to trying to make something new.

There's always room for improvement. I'm always focused on the results, and those are the precise things that I don't really experience as a part of the performance.

I've learned that I shouldn't shrink from success. Though honestly I thought they'd be knocking on my door years ago.

As for performing live, I just never imagined how it would work out; for good reason, because it doesn't just work out - not the way you think it will. It's a chance that you take.

For me, self-gratification eventually took a backseat to trying to do something collaborative with other people, to trying to make something new.

I was just very into things that were the opposite of what other people liked. I didn't want to listen to music that I could find at a friend's house. My identity was really forged around that, and you know, eventually that kind of identity gets dismantled and fed to the vultures. But I was somehow on my own mission.

I'm not dissatisfied, just not satisfied in an ultimate sense.