With writing music, as a general rule I'm looking for something that surprises me, that doesn't fall within what's easy for me.

I don't mean to romanticise the struggle, that leads to all kinds of terrible violence and absurdities that are even worse than the perverse immediate gratification.

I have no idea what the hell is going on in the world, in my life, in what anything means, or what I'm supposed to do.

There's really not much in life that's as violent or traumatic as an encounter with somebody who really surprises you and opens up that strange dynamic that's involved in romantic love.

In our culture, the Oedipal drama succeeds in making us assume either a male or female sexual position. Certainly this is an ancient construct that's rapidly coming apart.

Musical acts that feign enthusiasm for what they're doing the guitarist who jumps up and down, like it's choreographed are so transparently vacuous.

Anytime you can muster the fury to actually write in the face of the impossibility of writing, that's an achievement.

It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.

The categories of woman and man are too rigid. They're going to give way to new forces. They already have, to a degree, but for most of us, this drama held sway, and we assumed our positions.

I am definitely interested in soundtracks that one might associate with fantasy or sci-fi - they tend to be rich with musical ideas.

I think it's better to just say nothing at all than to just send two words.

We are the future

We live in the right time, even if it doesn't always feel like it.

As a fluke, my great-grandfather hit one of the largest oil reserves in California.

A superior man may be made to go to the well, but he cannot be made to go down into it. He may be imposed upon, but he cannot be fooled.

I suppose they're confident. I think younger guys love the idea of a divorced woman who's going to teach them how to be a man.

I run probably 35-40 miles a week, and I think 80 per cent of your body is what you eat. The biggest part is just eating well.

People who read poetry, for example, like the feel, the heft and the smell of a book.

The golden eye of justice sees, and requites the unjust man.

Don't you ever orget that in the end, our future is tied to people, that it's more about ideas than a tax.