For me a watch is a really beautiful instrument. I don't so much care what time it is but I do love watches, and I love how they're constructed.

For the last few years, it's been so chic for everybody to be miserable. Like if you're in with the cool crowd, you can't be happy.

When I hear music, it's visual; I see things.

I mean, there are only so many notes. What makes something original is how you put it together.

I think kids in Europe have developed a deeper knowledge of music and of black music in particular. You go to Europe, and these kids know about all this obscure funk and soul that kids over here wouldn't know. I think it's getting better in the States, though, with the age of the Internet.

At first people thought I was really arrogant and a snob about music because I'm so intense about my production and sound, and because they knew I didn't like new music so much.

I never sit down to write or say, "Today, I have to record something." I wait to hear it and then I go for it.