Giving up and doing something else (nursing, for me) was exactly what eventually led me to making music that other people wanted to hear.

I make up stories that take place in real space with real people. If I could convert this into a technique for experimental novels, I might really be onto something.

You learn to present dark things without including their ability to harm, treasuring them for what they are.

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

I crave music that'll sort of hurtle me into space and release me up there.

I'm sort of a cavedweller: I miss my house, my yard, my kitchen, my wife. The trees. When I get home, I like to get down into my office neighborhood as soon as I can.

The South actually has a very strong tradition of activism. The civil rights movement came from down here! It was black activists demanding that their voices be heard. People say these are red states. No they're not!