I feel like I've had this ability to infiltrate, as an outsider and an insider, different groups.

I'm not interested in anyone who would want me for the wrong reasons.

I was fascinated by the word 'Rudy,' which is connected to the Jamaican term 'rude boy,' which migrated from Jamaica to London. I was also fascinated by that name, because it exists in Persian culture and Iranian culture. There is actually a place called Rudy in Iran, and there's Iranians that I know with the name Rudy.

When I work with other artists, I really want to bring out the most in their voices and I want to hold myself to the same standard.

On the song 'Step,' the chorus is Ezra is singing into my laptop with the laptop microphone, and you can hear the trains going by my apartment, but we liked the quality of that recording.

I would hope to make a record that interacts with culture in a macro sense. That is something to aspire to.

Well, the announcement to say that I was no longer a member of Vampire Weekend was something that was in the works for a long time. I knew that it was the right choice for me.

I think that's the only way I know how to write songs, is to think about my life, and also to think about the words at the same time.

I never felt like there were things I couldn't express lyrically in Vampire Weekend. I was always proud of everything that we wrote together.

I thought it would be interesting to play classical music on rock instruments.

I love being able to record in a room that's surrounded by trees.

You want the personality of each performer - whether it's singing or bass or drums or piano - to be intact. In some ways it's much more challenging to preserve that and to also make music that sounds modern.

There are rules that are so blatantly broken on 'Contra,' like structures of harmony and texture.

Radio or no radio, I just like the way records sound when the drums and vocals are loud.

It doesn't matter if you record with a microphone on a laptop or at a friend's house. Now it's more of a danger of things sounding too high-fi than sounding too low-fi.

I always felt more connected with people who are proud of who they are.

There is a sense of tranquility that I think people can get from being in an organized group, where a singular leader handles the responsibilities of individual thinking.

I like to be able to work quickly, to capture the spark of an idea before it goes out.

There's a joy I get from collaborating with other artists, and there's a joy I get from making songs on my own.

I'm interested in making art that is available to everybody.

The thing I love about car design is that it's sculpture everybody appreciates, everybody has access to.

I'm very conscious of the fact that I devoted my life to recording music, recordings and writing songs.

I've always been very good at helping other people finish their songs.

Sometimes the hangover provides inspiration.

What I love is the openness of collaboration.

I never identified with 'indie,' I don't like that word.

I figured out that it was important for me to have my identity, just live independently and like being myself, musically.

There's a bunch of rules that I want to break. I have a rule-breaking streak.

I like there to be some secrets.

I've always had a complex relationship towards my identity as an American.

A lot of people get a high from being onstage. I found ways to enjoy it. But I get it from being in the studio.

There are songs out there in the world which, in some ways, seem so unmusical.

Only a straight white person would have no concept of what visibility is. They've never contended with anything but visibility.

It's interesting because neither of my parents play instruments. They both love music, but neither of them are musicians. Somehow, I was drawn to it.

I always want to be somewhat uncomfortable. But at the same time I want to make music that you react to viscerally.

I think that for a lot of us gay people, we do feel that pop is our music. We identify with it and its iconography, and that's been a tradition.

In some ways, the more that I write songs, the more I feel that telling a story is the most important thing; just being able to close your eyes when you hear some lyrics and go somewhere.

I'd like to make an album with Slack one day. I'd like to use it as a collaborative tool. I know about it because I have friends that work in tech, and I guess you can use it in any job.

When an old tape machine makes pitch wobble, some people would say that compromises fidelity and would try to get rid of it. But to me that wobble adds richness, it instantly brings back the feelings you associate with old recordings.

I am a very big fan of Brian Eno, of his work as an artist and making his music, and as a producer. In some ways, I have looked to his career as a model for my own.

A lot of what being a producer is, is giving people space. Like psychologically being there to help them realize what they're trying to do.

The idea of the gay experience, it feels like a relic. I felt like in the '90s when we were watching the gay characters on 'The Real World,' there was definitely a gay experience that was distinct from a straight experience. If you talk to high schoolers in 2017, I don't know that is as much a part of how they experience a social dynamic.

Classical music can be catchy, so can African instrumental guitar music. It's not just pop songs that are catchy. Rhythms can be catchy, too.

I'm always making beats, and when I can hear Ezra singing on one of them in my head, I send it to him. That's one of the ways that we've always worked together.

Films should involve a director's idiosyncrasies as much as possible I think.

When my mom was pregnant with me, my parents moved from France to America.

As a person who doesn't identify as straight, any love song I write is contextualized by a queer identity.

I was listening 'Plastic Ono Band,' the John Lennon album a lot, and that might have had some inspiration on me.

I'd like to release solo songs on a regular basis, but it's pretty difficult for me to finish them.

I can't even begin to express the joy I get from writing songs, both on my own and with others, I hold it all sacred.