It's important to me that the words that I put out there into the cosmos, into the universe, be empowering or somehow positive for people that hear them, or maybe be cathartic if someone is having a relationship that's having a tough time.

I am trying to teach my children to feel a responsibility for their fellow human beings and a sense of connection with ... the world around them.

It's not so much for me where you come from, who you are, what race you are. We're just human beings that are still a work in progress and there's a lot that we've got to overcome, so that we can all be equal.

It's a universal story, it's an immigrant story, and it's a love story. In the United States, if you believe in yourself and you're determined and persevere, you're going to succeed.

In Europe there's the upper crust, and these are long, historically families and social systems that have certain established rules that's harder to break into.

When I went to do "Carson" that night, they wanted us to do two songs, but we were a brand new band. "Conga" hadn't even hit the top 10 yet. They go, "Do you think you could do something that people know, because we want you to do a second song, but not two originals, because we don't want to lose the audience, just in case."

I think that the only way to teach is by example, as children will more easily follow what they see you do than what you tell them to do.