I think meditating on tour is integral. It's a priority, because everything is so chaotic, and the calmer you stay, the calmer everybody is. Sometimes I do it hotel lobbies, or in corners, and I try to find moments. It's not ideal when people come out and almost step on you.

I try not to read reviews because I know how sensitive I am and how debilitating it is and how it follows me around. If they're bad, you feel terrible, you feel worthless, no matter if you think they're wrong - and if they're good, it feels cheap and sleazy because you went looking for it.

Sometimes I say things in interviews and then I see them in print and I think, "What an asshole."

Some of the folks we see are in for defending themselves against their abusers, or drug charges that, because of the California state prison system, they have mandatory sentencing and life in prison for three counts of simple drug possession, or whatever. I find it not only helpful but, I think, necessary in maintaining my grounding and my perspective. Because music is such an unrealistic job to have. It's a really lucky job to have, but it's also very unrealistic.

I think that the activism I've become involved with informs and enhances my life in a lot of ways, and definitely career-wise. This record wouldn't exist [without that activism], for one.

I've always felt for little children because I love the way they fashion sentences - their vocabulary is limited. They have to navigate around to get to the meaning. It's a shame we bypass that when we gain more words. In a way, it's less honest and less direct. It's something that I appreciate about kids, and I will steal from them at will.

I think it's really important for the audience to feel connected, and when it's good it's this amazing, symbiotic relationship. I try to give as much as they can give. We're not avant garde and we make no claim to be revolutionary, but I think we are sincere.