Songwriting is hard - it's so easy to fall into the same traps. It's not like I wake up and songs flow out of me.

Who you are vs. who you wish you were: Who wins?

You know some of the people in The Strokes, yeah, their parents had success - but we didn't live like yuppies.

It's like an inner struggle for me, between saying I don't give a **** and trying to make it work. You want to do the right thing, but I'm sick of people thinking I'm difficult.

I think a lot of people study the rules too much and then don't know how to be creative.

No matter who I'm talking to, I always talk like I'm doing an interview.

I kinda like messing with perception a little bit. Kind of what drugs do sometimes, and drinking. I mean, you know, you mess with your mind a little bit to see life from different angles. Within reason, if you can handle it.