Having unlimited choices can paralyze you creatively.

Maybe it's naïve, but I would love to believe that once you grow to love some aspect of a culture-its music, for instance -you can never again think of the people of that culture as less than yourself. I would like to believe that if I am deeply moved by a song originating from some place other than my own homeland, then I have in some way shared an experience with the people of that culture. I have been pleasantly contaminated. I can identify in some small way with it and its people.

I read the NY Times but I don't trust all of it

I've been in beautiful landscapes where one is tempted to whip out a camera and take a picture. I've learned to resist that.

I've never had writer's block.

The idea of making music from an imaginary culture was to give ourselves a set of restrictions and parameters within which to work. Otherwise, we might have just gone on all kinds of creative detours, some of which might have been interesting. But better we confine ourselves to something.

All you needed was a couple of instruments and a few chords and you could be on an indie label.