Everything that kills me , makes me feel alive

When you're around enormously successful people you realise their success isn't an accident - it's about work.

I am not opposed to doing a side project, like Death Cab for Cutie, where it's completely different from my own band.

I think the best songs are being written by the very under-stated, under-appreciated indie artists. The thing that separates them from mainstream success is they either consciously or unknowingly refuse to deliver on a big chorus.

Crowds respond to anthemic choruses.

Nobody works harder than Lady Gaga. Nobody. She is unbelievable. I don't know how she sleeps, or when or if.

With iPhones, nobody has an excuse for writer's block. If you're at Whole Foods getting your green tea extract and you have a melody, you just drop it into your voice memo and save it for later.