The best live recordings capture elements of surprise onstage.

I'm somebody who gets a lot of inspiration from dreams.

I get most of my inspiration from older records and older production styles, and that ends up rearing its head in the records that I make.

I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about.

The way that I'm working now is basically the way I've been working since I was a kid: Find the greatest artist in whatever you do, and rip them off with respect. I think there's a big difference between ripping off with respect and ripping off in disrespect.

When I first started making music, it was learning other peoples songs and putting them onto four-track. Like Beatles songs and stuff. When I started writing, I used the singing side of the production as a vehicle for melody and lyrical ideas.

I like using concrete imagery, but I don't feel that's what it's about. It's a combination of concrete and abstract to take the listener somewhere they know better than you. That's true for music, seeing a painting, watching a movie... it's all some kind of an escape.