I do have a romantic interest in outlasting everybody else. There's a sort of sad machismo to singer-songwriters, I think.

Take dance music: I like enough of it and its history to be able to say a word or two about this or that record, but I'm nobody's authority.

In the present political situation, it's an interesting phenomenon to look at: what is the appeal of an autocratic leader? Why do people want somebody who yells at them? For most of us, that's so hard to understand. Who wants that? I think there are a lot of people for whom that fulfills some kind of need.

I'm not really a goal-oriented guy. I started doing the Mountain Goats just for the sheer hell of it.

I always want to try and see what the appeal is in anything. It's the healthiest and most honest approach.

Human beings are selfish by nature. Everything that happens to a child, you immediately grab your own child and say, "I will never let that happen to you."

As an artist, you always have to be growing. You don't just want to do what you already know people like.