One thing I do like about L.A. is the fact that you can be - whether you're famous or it's just a matter of, like, seeing people you know all the time on the street, you can be pretty anonymous and walk around and, like, not run into people, because it's such a big city and because a lot of people drive.

You don't have to know about 'Hippolytus' to listen to 'Tragedy.'

I love '80s beats; everyone does.

When I was a kid, I had a xylophone, and I thought that was the instrument I wanted to play. I didn't realize it was a toy.

I'm happy that I worked alone on 'Tragedy,' but it's obvious that I was trying to create something much bigger than I could do on my own.

I think of each record as different and not having very much in common with what went before or what comes next.

I grew up watching 'Gigi.' My grandmother had it, and I watched it there.

One of the struggles that I have with classical music is the way one thinks about a recapitulation. There's always this idea of themes, and I have trouble with that.

I don't use the harpsichord because it evokes a past time period: I use it because I like the sound.

'Maxim's' was supposed to be on 'Ekstasis,' but it was very much in its own world.

What was special about Leonard Cohen's work was its calm mystery.

It's nice to work with people who know how to mic drums right and how to record properly. But there's something to be said for doing it yourself.

I played cello on my early recordings, but that doesn't mean I'm a cellist, you know?

I am very interested in the human voice and how we use it, especially when we aren't thinking, like the kind of stuff Robert Ashley was interested in.

I just always make honest music. I just always kinda do what I wanna do.

I think my music is experimental, playful, challenging, focused, fun. I don't want it to be thought of as trying to appeal to a certain type of person or being very cerebral.

If I'm kind of sad or depressed, it doesn't necessarily help me to write a song about exactly what I'm depressed about.

You can have an Internet presence, but it doesn't mean anyone has any idea who you are or what you look like. Which is great.

I started playing piano when I was eight, and I went on to study piano in school, so I have a background in classical piano and studied composition in school. Writing music came later.

I don't thrive in a school or academic environment, I found out. I thrive better in the world outside the small academy because I find it hard to explain what I'm doing.

I started classical piano when I was eight, but I wasn't a virtuoso. I just really liked it.

I prefer to work with mystery, but that doesn't work well in an academic environment. They want you to analyze what you're doing, which is toxic to the creative process for people like me.

I usually work in a room which is totally cluttered with my mess, and there's stuff everywhere, and it's kind of chaotic because I am a very messy person. I could totally write in a pristine environment, but it would mean I would have to be at someone else's house.

I see myself as a songwriter and a poet.