The suburbs have always been like an American version of utopia and a reflection of their hopes and fears. Erika's version of American suburban utopia - which I am renaming the outer ring - is a diverse place, with affordable housing, the possibility for people to have small businesses, which is more realistic in the outer ring than in the city with its huge costs, decent public transportation and the ability to access art and cultural events. That's my dream for America.

It was really bizarre for me to go from being a very private and obscure person and then to be in any way on the internet - like having my picture or videos online.

Writing music is always really helpful for me. It always reveals to me how I am feeling.

I've figured out that I don't want to spend all of my spare time trying to make money. But, with things like fame or internet presence - things you cannot cash in at the bank - there is still a sense that more is better and that your career should be following a certain trajectory.

You can always accuse my records of being harrowing or dark or bleak. There is processing of trauma on my records and they contain a lot of healing. As a person who has been watching other's rage for years, instead of having my own tantrums, I keep the feelings inside until I can find a way of making them into music. The songs are like healing spells and it really works for me. When I really do a good job on a song, it gets rid of a weight. As far as hope goes, there is hope that you can heal through processing stuff and make it through to the other side. That's all I can hope for.

Back in the day, no one had digital cameras. They took these pictures of me, got them developed, and then mailed them to me.

I didn't want make art about the internet at all. It's a really hard subject to take on and I did not set out to do that. But, it was real and it was what was happening.