I was an English major in university and that got me into novels, but I read a lot of books as a kid.

More than anything, being an English major made me more appreciative of authors and what an incredible feat it is to just finish a novel, let alone a really brilliant one.

I'm influenced in a million different ways by a million songs that I've heard and digested.

It's the sick and twisted male fantasy that we want classy ladies out in the world that make us look good, but in the bedroom, men want subservient women who please all of their whims. It's the typical bullshit of male ego.

I don't necessarily think I look to books for ideas, but sometimes when I'm in the process of reading a great book, I just think about it all of the time.

I think that's why art prevails: because it helps people in a fairly intangible, magical way feel more connected to each other.

If you make everything really on the nose so everyone knows exactly what you're talking about, it's often not as strong.