When you make a solo record, it's you. It's your name. It has to be the right songs for how you feel.

I'm typically not a heels person.

I felt like hip-hop was my music, it was like my outsider music... but then my mom started answering our phone, 'Yo, what's up.' She was hearing me talk to my friends. I was like, 'No, mom, don't cop the hip-hop talk.'

I'm obsessed with old rotary phones.

Losing your parent is unlike anything.

When you make a solo record, it’s you. It’s your name. It has to be the right songs for how you feel. It just took me a really long time to get to a place where I felt comfortable with the material and the recording.

I’m a control freak with regards to certain aspects. I think you just have to be when you’re making stuff in the world. You have to have a clear idea what you want.

I think I have a hard time expressing myself in my relationships. I use songs to tell people how I’m feeling. If I can’t say ‘I love you,’ I’ll write a song about it and hope that the person figures it out.

Certainly, we all wonder what is beyond, and when you lose a loved one, I think part of the grieving process includes where that person might have gone or if you'll ever see them again. I think it forces you to look up to the sky, to the cosmos.

I didn't know anything about music when I started a band. I barely knew how to play a guitar. I didn't know how to produce records. I learned how to play bass guitar and keyboards in Rilo Kiley. I picked up a lot from my collaborators.