Yeah, I can't separate the art from the music and the music from the art. I think that stems from going to school for film first, and kind of stumbling onto music as my career.

I was just totally taken by Michael Jackson when I was a little kid, like everyone else.

Well, Freddie Mercury is a really huge rock star in my head. I've always thought he was just so tough and such an amazing entertainer, really a contradiction in many ways as well. So he was incredible.

You have to open up on stage.

I'm not a 21-year-old angsty self-destructive rapscallion anymore.

I feel like every five to seven years I really need to put myself in this position of discomfort and exploration, just to survive. Otherwise I feel like I'm falling asleep, like I'll go crazy if I don't do it.

Sophomore records are historically really difficult.