I never want to listen to the songs in front of people close to me. There's an emotional honesty in that place where it's not earnest but it's vulnerable.

I like simple writing. I'd rather read Hemingway than Burroughs.

By the time you finish touring the record, everything that's exciting to me is what's ahead of me. I want to write the next paragraph.

I like the fervor of religious music, the zealous aspect - that preachers can go from a conversational cadence into this passionate singing.

I started growing roses. I enjoyed the craft of it and that they're difficult to look after; they can provide joy.

You can get into a comfort zone writing lyrics, like wearing a mask. But I wanted to feel uncomfortable when I was listening back to the lyrics; I wanted to squirm.

I'm appalled by the tendency of some rock records to perfect everything to the point where it sounds like Botox and polish it so heavily that there's no humanity left in it.