I think a master craftsman is someone who is unpretentious. He has a physical object in front of him and, while he works with a higher aim, he doesn't let his personality get in the way of his art. It's simply about the task at hand and to make it as functional and necessary to the world as he can.

Thank god we don't know a lot about William Shakespeare or Moses or Homer or Lautréamont. These are the best guys we got, and their art is powerful because they're mysterious. Once biographical information contaminates your consciousness, it's impossible to erase it and look at someone's work the same way again.

I love songs because by nature they are concise; they sum up. I try to use as few words as possible. It's usually funnier that way, anyway.

I miss working. It's real, you know? But I don't know anything but songwriting, and I don't even know that. I didn't go to school; the only thing I know how to do is this. The only thing that I know is that I know nothing.

I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people; we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life, and I don't have a problem with that. This is a transitory world; we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it and holding on.

As it turns out, it's really expensive to make movies, much more than records.

I don't really write for an album. I just write songs whenever I feel like it, whenever they come to me. It's all a complete accident.