Art is something that opens up and enhances your emotions and that's what I like to think I'm doing.

Art, well good art at least, takes you to a place you go during the experience of it, and then after you experience it you are different.

I grew up in the era of the concept album. What I do now is pick up on singles, and they are their own complete stories; you don't necessarily have to hear the rest of the album because I don't think albums are created like that anymore. They get songs from all over the place.

What do great artists do when you see a world around you that's in turmoil? Some of the best artists make you feel good (hah), they look to the future.

I would play hooky from school and spend all day in the movie theaters. Consequently, I learned satire in all its subtle forms.

If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

Everything about my life was culturally rich, and all the people I met sort of reinforced the wackiness that was normally inside of me. No one said, 'You can't do that,' until I got to real record companies, that is.