I'm always looking to rock out. But it isn't really about rocking out versus being mellow, in terms of your personal satisfaction. In the end, you just want to be good. When you look at something that's really good, it might be Iggy Pop or it might be Leonard Cohen. Whatever it is, you want it to be really good.

I have always been a singer, a writer, and a musician, not as a prodigy or as in a trade handed to me by my parents, but because of an inner voice or maybe a command from beyond reality as it is usually defined.

I have two step-kids and one of my own on the way. That's three college funds.

I don't make records that way, where I'm trying to please the marketplace or anything. Not because I have anything against that, it's just never been a part of my aesthetic, even when I was with the Pixies.

This is a particular thing, you know, catholic stories of martyrs who had their head removed and then continued to be miraculous in the last moments of their life.

That's the most important thing, to get along with people. When you feel like you click with them. That's more important even then what their background is or what they've done before, how good they are, how new they are or whatever. All that stuff is really secondary to just getting along with the person.

The first thing that inspires any song is a chord progression. When I have one I really like, I get into the lyrics even more.