It is better to live presently. By living thus, perhaps we can learn to understand the nature of this fragile coexistence we share with the world around us.

One thing about hanging out with a baby is that you can remember a little bit better what it was like to be a kid, and all the mystery that came along with it.

It was a nice relief to be able to work on individual songs.

I wish I had a better range, but I really have a super-limited one. Barely a tenor, dips into baritone - that's about it.

No-one wants to hear anything spoken in earnest anymore, unless it happens to involve unrequited, teenage love.

I pretty much draw the line when people want you to do original music for commercials.

When I first started writing these kind of songs that would eventually become Decemberists songs, I was writing them because I knew that nobody was listening at the time and that it wouldn't hurt to challenge myself and get weirder and see if I could alienate more people