Gatekeeper was sort of my first attempt to put a little bit of a frame and boundaries around songwriting, and try to figure out a way to approach it that had a sort of end result in mind. I havent written many like that.

I just went to Europe, spent a year traveling, and then I came home with a finished album and said, "Hey everyone I'm back!" I gave everyone their lighters from Luxembourg, gave them the postcards from Italy and Rome, then said, "Hey look, I made a record, too" and played it for them. The general reaction was shock, because it was so different from what they've known me to do.

I know more than I knew before I didn't rest I didn't stop Did we fight or did we talk.

I don't think that village idea of actually knowing what you're contributing to the whole exists anymore.

I wrote the album [Metals] in the fall. In about four months, I went from zero to finished. It usually takes forever.

I find it pretty fascinating how humans keep gravitating towards these giant centers. I went to this walled medieval village in France this year, and it was truly the most crazy, beautiful, bizarre place I've ever been.

I don't want to take photographs that I won't recognize as myself, and myself isn't necessarily just blankly staring at the lens.