When you travel, you can see lots of great buildings and monuments and stuff, but the best part of traveling is meeting people as you go. Those are the people who made the places you go to anyway. All my memories of traveling - yeah, there are some buildings or landscapes that I'll always remember - but I still think I remember the people I meet more than any of that.

I think my music being referred to as "cinematic" has a lot to do with people just not being used to listening to instrumental music without watching a film. I'm still pretty convinced of that. You'll play Chopin in place of something average and like, "Wow, that'd be great in a film." People say it every time, swear to God. I don't think people have a good relationship with instruments and music anymore. But it's definitely visual; I started writing with this band because of the pictures. I can't really deny it either, you know?

A backyard for me is more being with the people around you, your friends. I think that's what defines your home; not your actual, physical home. When you travel a lot, what makes you feel at home is when your friends whom you know really well are there, your girlfriend.

My music represents walking on train tracks in the middle of the woods, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. You walk down the tracks and you're walking every two tracks, and you've got your headphones on, and on both sides you've got forest, and in your rear is this long line of train tracks that's weaving through the woods. It's a very cool place, to walk along the train tracks because of the rhythm of walking every few feet through the woods. It's a good place to go dream.

It's very difficult for me to travel now without music just because I'm so spoiled. It's a huge luxury to go and play your music for all these people around the world and having come up to you in a special way - they really want to show your their city, or really want to show you where they are from. If you are just traveling, you don't get that same welcome.

A lot of loud people have been talking over the years; they have these huge voices but don't say much. I'm sure there are a lot of really quiet people who have a lot more intelligent things to say than the loud people.

When you go away for a month on tour, there's only so much information you can take in. You're traveling city by city every day. I think five of the 30 days you actually keep with you and the rest becomes mush. And when you get back you're really mushy.