There's this idea that there was a point in our childhood when we were in some way better than we are now and we should try to hang on to that.

A novel is a performance you have to plan.

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

You always feel like your 18-year-old self in some sense. And that's what walking through New York on a June evening feels like - you feel like it's Friday and you're 17 years old.

The more I learn about stuff the more conscious I become of grave gaps in my knowledge.

I did a lot of music criticism. I don't think much of it was any good. I think I wanted to show off a lot when I was younger. Now I just want people to enjoy the story. If it were possible to publish anonymously, that would be awesome.

I think taking too long to work on a record you sort of lose some of the feeling, so I write as fast as I can; it's just this manic phase where I'm by myself and or on tour and I write and I write. And I send them to the guys, and we start planning our studio ventures.