I know it's simple, but my main inspiration is just my love of music. I know that sounds overly naive. But it's true.

I have nothing against bombastic music, but when it comes to making albums, I'd prefer to make music that has a sort of vulnerable subtlety to it.

New York has inspired more remarkable music than any other city I can think of.

I'm like a bad musical cliche because I bring my guitar on the road and try to write songs in hotel rooms.

I don't think there's anything wrong with not knowing how to play an instrument, but the rise of the non-musical producer has done away with musicianship and focused attention purely on the song's hook.

When I was very young, I played in a punk-rock band, but I also studied music theory and classical music.

When I was growing up I was an atheist, then an agnostic, and then I had a good eight or ten years of being quite a serious Christian.