I think Pro Tools is pretty analogous to how people composed music on tape back in the 70s, taking little fragments of things and saying, 'How can we organize these in a sensible way'?

I see someone play, or I listen to a record, and I think, "How did they make that sound?' It's not emulation; it's more building a vocabulary that can be called up at a moment's notice.

I use a laptop more as a tool, as sort of the central artery. Everything goes through the digital audio card of my computer, but if I had my druthers I'd do everything in dedicated hardware.

I build the individual modules to meet a demand. If I need the music to change direction, I want to have the tools to be able to do that.

I've got a bunch of circuit-bent boxes and things that are controlled by my Mac through a big breakout box. I want to create this total environment where I can bring all this gear to the show but maybe just use one or two elements, if that's what's called for.

I'm not a perfectionist by a long shot, but self-doubt is a large part of my creative process.

I can only stand to sit in front of my computer for three or four hours a day. Otherwise it can get really soul-sucking.