I'm always trying to make the music sexier with every album, every tour. I just try to inch my way toward just a little sexier. I know it's tough for me.

Music is so clearly a commodity now. At one point, maybe 20 years ago, there were still some rumblings about keeping the really sacred American popular music out of the hands of corporate advertisers. And those walls have come down, but now I think the logical reaction to that is that you just start making your own music.

Every girl wants songs written about her. Even the most hardened tattoo-covered punk rock girl would love a nice ballad written for her.

The beauty in the death that awaits us, I find a timeless beauty in that.

I think it happens to a lot of people who make music just on a computer by themselves, you don't see the bigger picture. You don't see the forest for the trees. You're looking at every tree so closely, and every tree looks so cool. But you're making a forest, man, you're not making a tree.

The live thing is separate from the record for me. I have to figure out a way to make the songs work live. It's always going to be different than it is on a record, because every record I've made, there are people playing parts on there that are not going to be coming on tour with me. As much as still feeling connected to it, it's more like rediscovering.

A lot of my own problems are because I'm so financially irresponsible. I'm so stupid when it comes to money. And I'm ashamed of it.