Personal relationship with God is not all just the ceremony and not the religion of doing something because you were told that's what you have to do; it's relationships, it's like we have relationships with our families, with our friends, with our loved ones.

There's definitely an old school element to my music, but I also think it's modern.

Life, the moment. Where the magic is. That's what really keeps me motivated, alive, hungry. I'm still as excited and motivated now as I was twenty-five years ago, and that's because I really live for those moments. And that's where the art comes from, that's where the music is born, that's where it all appears. I love it.

You're never promised your next breath.

I've woken up from dreams and the whole song is there. I'm listening to it in my dreams. I consciously have to wake myself up and get a tape recorder because I hear it like a record.

I really didn't know a lot of rock 'n' roll until I moved to L.A. Before that, when I was in New York, I grew up listening mostly to R&B and soul and jazz.

A lot of people don't listen to the lyrics, really.