If I were to do this over I'd play a lot more shows before I made a record

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.

Women were different, no doubt about it. Men broke so much more quickly. Grief didn't break women. Instead it wore them down, it hollowed them out very slowly.

In order to have success it is necessary to know certain principles and rules

War does not answer war, war does not finish war. The only ending is peace.

I think it will be a miracle if I don't someday end up killing myself.

do not engage in any paper wars. You will convince nobody and arrive at no satisfaction yourself.

I have read articles about me where a reporter has exaggerated something that I communicated, but I wouldn't say there's ever been a lie told about me.

I'm still an embryo with a long long way to go.

My parents really wanted me to get out of New York, be exposed to other people, other ways of life.

The French cook; we open tins.

The verb 'to love' in Persian is 'to have a friend.' 'I love you' translated literally is 'I have you as a friend,' and 'I don't like you' simply means 'I don't have you as a friend.