There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London.

There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right / Boys and Girls in America / Have such a sad time together.

I was really obsessed with age. I kept saying it was a record about trying to age gracefully.

I don't have a problem rhyming "bar" with "car" - I do it all the time - but sometimes it doesn't feel right.

The reality is that the shows kind of disconnect from the songs a little bit. You're playing the songs, but they take on a life of their own.

It's good to have some kind of California in there. It's almost always appropriate. It's appropriate on a sunny day or late at night. If you grew up on the Grateful Dead, which I certainly did, you listened to 10 million bootlegs. But you realize that American Beauty has some really tight, well-arranged songs that aren't meandering.

Words and music together create powerful, powerful things.