I grew up in the suburbs and was raised on rap radio, so it took me a long time to stumble upon the acoustic guitar as a resource for anything.

I think I like singing when I'm singing live. It's just in the studio when it's a drag.

I was just a folk singer. I cut my teeth on the streets, you know.

I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's not paycheck at the end; it's more of a "whatever is left over" kind of situation. Also, it keeps me from thinking about my creativity as a business, which it is not. It should remain pure; that's one of the reasons I made music in the first place.

I hate my voice. I've never been comfortable singing.

As long as there are a few people there, I can lose myself, which is the ultimate goal. And that's happening more and more; the non-musical world is becoming less and less interesting to me.

Lyrics are my racket; music is play - the fluff stuff.