Naturally, if I'm singing over really loud music, my approach is gonna be different than if I'm singing over some quiet acoustic music.

There's lots of singers that I love; I don't know if I used any of them as role models. Maybe I would have been a better singer when I started if I had.

I've never been in charge. I'm just a lazy bastard.

It's a lot easier to let someone else be Caesar.

Hanging out with the Trees is like hanging out with your family, and I hardly ever see my family.

You just realize that you don't know everything there is to know. The older I get, the less I know, and that's a good thing. When I was young, I knew everything, and everything wasn't necessarily good.

The guys who spend their time brooding in their younger years either lighten up or go away.

In real life, I'm far more lighthearted than I come across on the records.

We've made records for years on a shoestring.

What do I look for in a collaborator? Pretty much anyone who asks me to do something.

If Brian Eno wanted to make a record, I'd definitely clear some time in my calendar. John Cale, too. Those guys consistently make great records, always doing their own thing.

It's always fun to play songs by somebody else.

I enjoy the songs that I write, but I can never enjoy them the same way as other peoples' songs.

I would only tell a story if I was being mercilessly heckled. That's the only time I would talk to the audience.

I'm open to life.

It isn't important to me how people respond to my work.

I've always said everything happens the way it's supposed to.

Usually, I write the music and am involved in the production.

I just see what's in front of me. That's what I'm happy with.

When they're listening to your music all the time, you become part of their life, and some people get obsessed.

I think when people hear your music, sometimes they get deeply attached to it and think they know something about you, that you're kindred spirits or something.

I prefer to stay in the here and now and move forward.

I enjoy watching basketball, yeah.

I didn't always enjoy playing music with the Trees.