I'm drawn to the stuff that's maybe a little bit on the fringe. Part of that is just practical sometimes. We can't compete with the major labels for some acts, so you figure, "Okay, what could I introduce to people, or what do I like that is within my means?"

Everything's intentional. It's just filling in the dots.

I try never to wear my own clothes, I pretend I'm someone else

I like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.

There's still a feeling that uncensored emotions make a good song. They don't. Pure emotion is just somebody screaming at you, or crying. It doesn't communicate anything. It has to be mediated with some skill and craft, in order to communicate it to a second, a third, or a fourth person. That doesn't make it any less real. And it doesn't make it any less true. But it does mean that, yeah, it's the combination that makes it work.

I'm afraid that reason will triumph and that the world will become a place where anyone who doesn't fit that will become unnecessary

I've noticed that when I am selling a lot of records, certain things become easier. I'm not talking about getting a table in a restaurant.