I didn't really even think of recording under my own name for a long time. I thought, 'I've got the rest of my life to do that.'

I've always felt it's ridiculous to say, of any of the females in my life: You're my friend, you're my wife, you're my girlfriend, you're my co-worker. This is your box, and you're not allowed to stray outside of it.

This is a fact. If you don’t make art people like, you will never earn a living as an artist.

There are distractions, all around. There’s so much media, for a young kid to battle against, to get to something soulful. You have to make a decision, on your own, what you can take from these people, if you can dig deeper. It’s nice to be able to let people dig deeper.

I keep guitars that are, you know, the neck’s a little bit bent and it’s a little bit out of tune. I want to work and battle it and conquer it and make it express whatever attitude I have at that moment. I want it to be a struggle.

I say this often, THINK. There is something in life called common sense. Webster’s says common sense is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. Perhaps this is why in 1776, Thomas Paine used these words as a title for the most famous pamphlet ever written.

In my bands, I don’t really walk around telling people what to play, just out of respect really. I mean, if there’s something I feel in my gut, I’ll bring it up.

Great work comes from great joy. Leave the angst for the movies; do art – that is fun.

I was in a Montessori school. There was a drum circle with all the kids passing around a little bongo drum. I was the last person in the circle, and when it got to me I played ‘Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits’ – in front of all the parents. Blew the crowd away at five years old.

I don’t think there is room for ‘artistic temperament.’ Professional artists understand art is a business. If businesses ran their companies like many artists do their careers, they would not stay open a year.