A song has a life of its own. It’s an autonomous thing, separate from your own experience, almost. And the mere repetition of it means it’s subject to change; it means approaching it differently, expressing different emotional aspects of it. It doesn’t feel like wallowing.

I have a great band. Oh, man. I’m so happy about them.

Well, I’ve been recording myself on a computer since I was about 13 or 14. So it’s completely entwined with my creative process. Essentially, it allows you to make music that’s better and smarter than you are, by using your ears to lead the way.

I wrote ‘Actor’ all on the computer. I didn’t touch any instruments until I was in the studio. So while I had all these ornate arrangements, I didn’t have any songs.

I think human beings have a really broad spectrum of traits, and I almost feel implicated when we say, ‘Men are like this, women are like this.’ Nobody was telling me, ‘Don’t get dirty, don’t play in the mud, girls don’t do that.’

I think a lot of people who want to be musicians terrify their parents because they don’t have a living example of it in their families, and I did. So I always knew that it was possible.

I’ve always wanted to make music like people write plays, so I was inspired by writers as much as musicians.

I’ve been so entwined with technology since I was about 15, recording myself and multitracking and producing things on my own.

I’ve always been pretty ravenous about pop culture, highbrow and lowbrow.

I’m supportive of women, absolutely, and it’s so gratifying to have girls come up and say, ‘I’m really inspired by your guitar playing.’ I mean no disrespect to the sisterhood, but musically I feel more drawn to things like Dirty Projectors, the National and Grizzly Bear.