There aren't many other labels who I can say are that successful, and can give me as much as 4AD gives me, and still have such a great roster.

If I went on 'American Idol,' I would definitely be kicked out immediately.

I find it really hard to throw myself into something artistically where I'm making up a whole character and finding something for that character to do.

In America there's lot of cool cities, but in Canada there's, like, well, Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax may be cool, but they're so expensive. Montreal is the only city that's affordable but also has buses and culture.

It's really hard to be on stage and packing your gear when people who just saw you play are in the room, because they all just want to talk to you.

I like creating beauty out of scary things.

I definitely see the voice as an instrument: It makes great drums, great synth pads, great everything. Vocals can be so many things, like, "Hey, I'm Michael Jackson, and this is my iconic voice," or a choir of people sounding like Mozart's Requiem. Mariah Carey is my favorite singer because her voice sounds utterly groundless. It's not even a human voice; it almost sounds mechanical.