The idea that things intrinsically were just better is so stupid to me because they never were. It's all relative.

There's when a phrase circles in my head in a number of ways for any number of days, weeks, or months, and then that eventually becomes a song. There's a slow permeation of the idea and then that leads into a bunch of themes and becomes a bunch of lines.

Sold my soul to the devil / for nice penmanship. / Now I write real pretty / but I'm starting to regret it.

If the point of good art is to be somewhat subtle then it's not going to catch everyone.

The idea that things intrinsically were just better is so stupid to me because they never were. It's all relative.

The most rewarding possible thing that a songwriter or an artist of any kind can experience is to hear firsthand from the mouth of somebody else that they don't know the weight or gravity or intensity that something they've made has brought out in somebody else's life. It's simultaneously flattering and humbling. It makes me so thankful that I've been so lucky to be able to do this work.

I think it's important to accept all the ways that we're absurdly lucky. I'm a white male from a safe city in a wealthy country.