Music has to be written while people are still excited about a particular melodic or rhythmic sequence. The idea doesn't come out the same if we're not really excited about it.

I think that what most artists are trying to do is trying to understand. I think what distinguishes creative people and/or artists from another type of person is perhaps a willingness to go headlong into that uncertainty.

I attribute a scab to the present state of society. The way the scab looks in its worst state is gross and chaotic and horrible, that's now, but when it breaks away, there's a brand new piece of skin that's stronger than before. It's like creation out of chaos.

That first plunge under the shore break on a chilly fall morning. It forces a sound out of one's body that is kind of a whoo-ahhh! - shocking and refreshing all at once. You become acutely aware of your body and your surroundings, which is helpful when you're about to paddle out to sea.

Men have a lot less to write about, unless you're somebody like Tom Waits or John Lennon. And the female voice is much more suited to melody. Men have this barky thing - we're domesticated apes with a microphone.

I am tapping into a place in you that is unexplored, and very dangerous, but I think essential to the creative life of an artist.

People, like large groups of people are stupid. Individuals are smart and can deal with things and can make things last and work, but when people get together in big crowds they're stupid. They turn into sheep, then you have major situations.