The only thing contrived is the production - you can over-produce to the point you kill a good idea, you can under-produce so that the song's amazing but you'll have folks at a radio station saying they won't play it, so there's this balance, and it has to be true.

When I moved to L.A., I was penniless, absolutely beyond broke and in debt up to my eyeballs.

I grew up listening to English music.

When life gives you the opportunity to check off a thing on the bucket list, you have to check them.

I'm a sucker for pop melodies, things you can't get out of your head.

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

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