I actually am always a music first person

I actually think sadness and darkness can be very beautiful and healing.

Lately I've been a workaholic. I'm in the studio all the time and I've helped to produce a couple of artists

My second record was all about big ideas - I was trying to make big statements about the culture, about life. I think in a certain way, I was a 27 year old kid with a guitar

I try to make sure that the Buddhism is more or less implicit in the music rather than explicit

Things come to me pretty regularly. There is never a shortage or a backlog

But I can't really say there is too much modern music that I'm blown away by at this moment

I certainly wouldn't say that my life is a disaster, but there have been moments where I've felt like that

My first two records were more energetic; Phantom Moon is subtle, quiet; so these various reactions are just something I expected

But really important, perhaps most important is the craft; how you make your record, the creation of these sonic worlds you want your listener to hear.

So I started chanting when I was nineteen, which was about twelve years ago, and it really had a huge impact on my outlook, happiness, and general creativity.

I think all the roles I've played really center around either the great conflict or how the great conflict affects the people that I love. I've been cast often as a hard-nosed, hyper-confident guy.

I see it as my duty to take a stand for the Iraqi people, for democracy, freedom and reconciliation.

I think since the systematic emergence of terrorism and the assassination attempts, everything has tightened. My hope is that it loosens back up once I leave.

In the best possible scenario, whenever you get notes from people, they're good notes, and they see things that you wouldn't have seen otherwise, and they make you a better writer.

Every one speaks well of his own heart, but no one dares speak well of his own mind.

Humans live best when each has his place, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things. Destroy the place and destroy the person.

I like everything in my room has to be in order. If there's a wrinkle in the comforter, I'm stretching it out. But this is only when it comes to my room. Outside of there, I'm not as intense.

Brother and Sister So & So are not your standard; Jesus is.

Saying the lion is kind of the beasts says something about lions and also something about kings.

Relationship is a mirror.. Every moment the other reveals you, exposes you. The closer the relationship, the clearer is the mirror.