I think also just being from the Midwest, my dad was a stoic Midwesterner, he always told me never take anything for granted and you have to work for what you get so. That's funny because my friend Frank Anderson said something really funny he goes, "A lot of the people from the midwest are the laziest shits I've ever met." And he's right. I know some. You can't say its a stereotype that only people from the Midwest are that way because there are definitely people I know who hate to work and just want to hang out and drink beer.

I'm a gear head. I love gear. If I have the choice, of course I'd rather use a great microphone, a Neumann microphone and a vintage Neve board.

Compression is a necessary evil. The artists I know want to sound competitive. You don't want your track to sound quieter or wimpier by comparison. We've raised the bar and you can't really step back.

I made so many recordings with junky mics and crappy mixing consoles, you have to use what your tools are and in some ways that's been inspirational.

If I had had success when I was early twenties I'm sure I would have lost my mind, I would've just partied like crazy and probably blown everything I had.

The first Garbage record sounds bizarre, it's not a pristine sounding album. We ran everything through stomp boxes and through samplers and that definitely gave it a vibe.

If you can just focus on creating your art whether that's music or writing a book or painting trust me it is really hard to balance that with a personal life. You have to be willing to sacrifice sometimes things in your personal life if your ultimate goal is to pursue things as an artist.