I think often times if a guitar riff is centered around the chorus or if it follows the chorus, then it often times turns into the actual hook.

I would rather put out two year-defining songs a year than flood the market with eight or nine songs.

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

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.

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

I knew I could make money from songwriting, so how much and when was not really the question.

If you're talking to an architect, he can look at a blank piece of paper, and once the initial design is there, the formula kicks in. Each room should have something unique and different about it - much the same way that in a song, every eight bars or so, a new piece of information should be introduced.