I don't have a set working style. Some lyrics come really slow, others come in 10 minutes while I'm watching basketball. They're always a surprise to me.

There was no indie rock band in the 90s at the level of, like, Grizzly Bear. I listen to their records and it's crazy how good they sound. That really freaks me out.

There are bands, like R.E.M., who want to have 17 records, and some are terrible and some are great. I don't know if people think like that anymore. Things are more atomized now.

I'm a total ho for any writing workshop, any technique from anyone.

I like to write early in the morning, like, 5 a.m. If I'm really on my game, I don't have any coffee or stimulants. I'm kind of in a dream state.

I wanted to be a writer when I was a little kid. Then I wanted to be Pete Townshend - the songwriting guitarist who occasionally sang.

There's a lot of griping and groaning about wanting to play half-baked new songs live, but you don't want it to just end up on YouTube with like 74 thumbs down: "This is the worst!"

I like to go play shows just to see people, so I'm not in the game of like, "You're at my show, you're gonna listen to it like this, blah blah blah."

Your ego gets activated real quick, you really want to impress yourself. But when you come back to it, sometimes you're like, "Yeah, this part? I don't know. This guy needs a lot of help."

I saw an interview with Jay-Z where he said he didn't write down any of his lyrics, so I tried that.

I try to be patient. I feel like the point of art is to go down within yourself and to pop up into other people. If you're lucky, all of a sudden you're like, "whoop!" You're in other people.

The greatest power that a human possesses is the power of pure love.

I didn't give up in the nine months it took to get here, so I'm sure as hell not going to give up now!

Love, like truth, is the unassailable defense.

Try to hold on to youth and it mocks you while it sprints away.

Of two evils, had not an author better be tedious than superficial! From an overflowing vessel you may gather more, indeed, than you want, but from an empty one you can gather nothing.

The dignity of history.

Advertising can be a very frustrating business.

it is the very nature of sin to prevent man from meditating on spiritual things.

Ultimately, I don't care if people decide that what I'm doing is real or not...as long as they understand it isn't EASY.

Know that no one is capable of making you upset without your consent.