I feel like there are a lot of artists that you could put together that you love, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to make amazing music. Giving an artist a great theme to write about doesn't mean the song's going to be good.

I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we love to create, we love to play live, and I think we love and appreciate what we have together. How that evolves, and how we balance it, is something that's come with time. At the start we were all like, "Tour tour tour. We just want to play. That's all we want to do."

As an artist, let the creativity be the priority as often as you can, even though we all understand that there are bills to pay. My favorite artists are those who have always kept a strong creative image and their vision for their art at the forefront.

It's weird with making music - you can have no vibe while you're working on something and recognize that the music was special afterwards. And it happens to me while I am working on my own music, as well! One minute you hate it, and then a few years you're obsessed with a little beat you did, and the opposite.

If you listen too much to doubts you're totally lost.

Maybe it's easier to have that desire guest-spot-packed album, for example, you're a rapper and you need someone to sing the hook. I guess for us, it just kind of feels like we want to explore ourselves more. That sounds kind of cheesy, but I don't know. I have a lot of artists whose music I have this perfect relationship with, and I don't really feel like I need to meet them or get to know them or write with them because of it.

If you're just starting off as an artist, steal as much inspiration from everything you like, as much as you can. Take from books, from poets, from musicians. Just steal stuff from all over the place and then mix it up to make something of your own.