I was really inspired by intense nature and landscapes, and I'm always inspired by open spaces and giving room for things to grow sound-wise and visually. I have a bit of claustrophobia myself which I think translates into my music.

I've always loved California; I'll probably always live here on the West Coast, at least long-term. But I do love coming to New York. The energy is totally different, and I always have a lot of fun there. I always end up staying up all night! I look at my friends, like, "How do you guys do this every day?"

I've always had some sort of affinity for the ends of things. It depends on the song, I try to explore it in different ways. Sometimes when I think about death I'm thinking of it as a physical character that can teach you things and sometimes I'm thinking of it in a finite sense and other times I'm just asking questions that I can't answer. I don't really like to state my personal belief, because I change my mind too often, but I imagine something peaceful. Whether it's a rest or another world or some kind of eternity, it doesn't seem like a scary thing.

It really took me a long time to become comfortable as a performer. I think I'm finally starting to enjoy playing live.

I wish I could be invisible and just play music and not have to worry about anyone looking at me.

I read the reviews sometimes, but I don't let it really affect the next album because, for me, when I approach an album, it's usually coming to me pretty naturally. It's not like I set out, like, "Okay, I'm going to write an album this month." It's more like I'm just always writing songs and eventually I start to realize that a group of songs sort of fits together, and I go from there in putting together the album and themes and artwork and things like that.

I think a lot of people read the album cover as something scary or creepy. I think it's something positive...something lasting.