Sadness is a very interesting idea, this idea of sadness being some kind of default setting that artists will go into. And then I started thinking about this idea of sadness and happiness, and the idea that sadness is very loud, and happiness is quiet.

A song is like a saddle: you ride it for a while, and if it's the right kind of song you can sing it for the rest of your life.

I busked from the age of 13 until I was 18.

And for some reason, when I'm sad, I do listen to Leonard Cohen, I do listen to Joni Mitchell. I do find myself going to the music that's actually reflecting my mood, as opposed to sticking on Motown, which might actually bring my mood up.

Our imagination it is our greatest ally . . . Imagination is a very, very powerful thing. It literally invents the path before you.

If you stand still in any city long enough, you see everyone pass you by. So you're in Chicago. If you stand on the corner of Belmont and Clark, and you do that for three years, you'll pretty much have seen everybody in Chicago pass that junction.

I guess in a way I just feel blessed to be able to make music.