I love the hamster but I think if I took him on tour he might die.

No matter how many people try, no matter how many fancy songwriters in Los Angeles try to break it down to a formula... to an extent, there isn't a science to writing great songs, I suppose.

Writing with other people is the only way I ever really work. In some ways it's great because it's helpful to someone pull you out of the loop.

A good song to one person could just be something mediocre to somebody else. It's always strange thinking about how songs connect with people.

I think I have a vested interest in thinking that the lyrics are important, but I think for us it's important that we all write things that mean something to us, and I think we're not really in the business of writing la-la-love-you chart pop songs. It needs to have a personal pulling in the gut for me, to want to write anything about it.

I've definitely read interviews with people where they've explained exactly what they wrote something about and I've been like: "Oh no, I was thinking that was a really beautiful love song or a really sad thing."

I feel like I would need to investigate and get some local tips. I think if I've learned anything from being on tour, it's that sometimes things you see in the guidebooks are stereotypically the best things to do, but there's no substitute for local knowledge on that stuff.