Some people have been listening to the Beatles their whole lives; I didn't discover them until I was 18 years old. As a result, I'm still very affected and moved by their music - maybe in a way that's different from someone who grew up around it.

If you know what kind of music somebody loves, then you can kind of figure out why they do what they do.

I'm obviously really opinionated, but as a producer, you don't necessarily want the person you're working with to try to impress you - you want them to just be themselves. Then you can edit or mess around with what they've come up with. But you have to allow the artist that space.

I find that the kinds of music I’m drawn to are those that a lot of people take for granted.

Going back and forth between wanting to be respected artistically and wanting to move people is its own challenge.

Broken Bells reminds me how much fun I have making music.

The musicians themselves don't seem to know enough about why they're in the positions they're in, so they're afraid to lose those positions.