No one leaves an old friend unless they are ashamed.

Pretty much the only goal I've had since the beginning, which I still have, is just to get better, work hard, focus, and everything else will just be a bonus. As long as I'm satisfied, and I think we're getting better with every song compared to the last, then I'm satisfied and that's all I want. If we don't achieve that, then I'll be disappointed.

If the choice is between doing something supercool and having no one hear it and doing something equally cool and tricking people into putting it on the radio, I don't think the second option is some big sellout.

In L.A., it's so sunny out all the time that even though I'm working all day I have this illusion that I'm on some kind of vacation. New York is so condensed and exciting but you stay there too long and all that turns into anxiety a little bit. It's nice to escape here and there.

Can our mind evolve to be something other than an extension of our animal needs?

When the Strokes first started playing gigs, instead of getting into a costume for the shows, we talked about how we should dress every day, in real life, like we're playing onstage. I don't really care about clothes, but it's about wearing something that gives you social confidence. Or maybe helps you pick up chicks.

The problem with touring isn't the traveling and the shows, it's the vegetal state you get into.