If it doesn't break your heart it isn't love

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life hands you hurricanes, you go surfing.

Most of the time a spark of beauty or truth will start a fire of a song but fires rarely produce goodness on their own ... you need to control them and put them to work.

I use to think that the friction was a bad thing. Everything is to ease pain in our society; pain is very much the enemy. And I don't think that's true. Tension is a good thing. To be pulled tight: that's the only way you can make a proper noise on the guitar or violin.

Music is a handshake where I, as a songwriter, am only part of the equation. I love that, the fact that you can make the song your own.

The tendency in today's culture is to want to be a 'star', but I want to be a servant.

I think that's the beauty of live music - creating from the destruction.