I had a rule that I would never force the muse in my younger days. I would follow the feeling. I would just put the pen down and walk away, and wait for it to come back. But these days, I have a kid, I tour a lot, and I'm always short on time.

If I write about something that I've experienced and somebody goes, "Oh my God, I feel the exact same way," then both of us are connected, and when you feel connected to people, you feel understood. You feel a sense of purpose.

I am trying to keep my voice in order. Basically not talking much in the van throughout the day to preserve it, which I'm sure is welcomed by the band.

Sometimes I just don't have time to wait for the muse to come, so I've developed things to force the muse to come back.

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

I think the only thing that we even have a small tangent of reality or truth about is right now - the moment that is happening right this second. Everything else is up for grabs.

When you put a halo on concepts - gender roles, religion, nationality or pride - or you put a halo on any topic - anything that you hold dear like the relationship between a father and son or a mother and daughter, what it means to be married or what it means to be single or what it means to be a free spirit or what it means to be an artist - if you just put a halo on something and say it's untouchable - "that is special and that is perfect" - you immediately close your eyes to the truth of it, because the truth is that nothing is perfect.