There are lots of people in the world whose existence doesn't revolve around American culture.

I always felt like I had to leave Canada, which I think is a common perspective - feeling as if you have to leave because otherwise you'll be too soft, and that objective reality exists in America. And I'm starting to feel like that doesn't have to be the case.

I try not to focus on the gender issue too much but I think you have to acknowledge it in order for it to go away.

Lots of people take the option of not activating their own life, of really letting it happen.

Being alive and understanding that and making the decision to actually live take a lot of courage.

The writing process is very much like being in a dark tunnel, and you don't really know what you will end up with until you have created it.

For as long as I can remember, I have written songs because I wanted to, because I was experiencing something that couldn't be described except through a sound.