Do you know the solo at the end of 'Why Don't You Love Me Any More?' that sounds like a chainsaw breaking through? That is what I can't do with my voice. That's when you hear how painful this has been to me.

My mother was a very sweet soul and a beautiful person, but she had a lot of fear.

I feel like, in the Czars, for example, I was afraid. I couldn't express myself. I didn't have a connection to myself. That's one of the huge reasons why it was such a difficult existence. I put a lot of that on myself. I couldn't access myself. I couldn't look at myself, because I was too ashamed.

The thing is I don't feel like my story is special. I don't feel like it's different to anybody else.

I think The Czars had an identity crisis, as we were five guys pulling in different musical directions.

The only difficult thing is learning to recognise the interesting bits from those millions of moments life provides you with every day and writing down those snippets.

You can only be you, and there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't have you be any other way.

The rejection I received when I was young for being a homosexual... that's nothing compared to the number you do on yourself when you've been taught that you are not a human like other people.

I love a lot of different styles, but my heart belongs in electronic music.

It took me a long time to find my own voice, even after I started making my own music.

It's not like we wanted to talk about the fact that we're gay all the time, but the world has forced it to be an issue.

When I reached my senior year in high school, I fell into a hole that took a couple of decades to get out of.

I spend a lot of my time just looking at words and grammar and writing things down that I don't know.

When I was young, people were so disgusted by me. Before I even knew that I was gay... everybody else had it figured out and, you know, they were letting you know.

I'm a seriously flawed individual, but I guess everybody is.

I know I'm likeable, but living with me is different. Yes, I can be charming. That desire to please people and learning what to do to charm their socks off is something many of us do. But you get into a relationship, and the party's over at some point. They see the real you.

I'm quite gregarious. But when it comes to relationships, I mean, I'm no good at it. I suck at it. And people say I'm way too hard on myself, but I always feel like somebody else is going to say it if I don't. Why not just beat them to the punch so it doesn't hurt so much?

The lead character in 'Adaptation' is pretty much me but with more talent. Every time I watch 'Adaptation,' I feel very emotional because it makes me be kinder to myself and see the human situation a little more clearly.

If I'm honest, I suppose there's something I don't want people to see in my eyes. They really are the window to the soul.

It's always been my goal to have backing singers.

In order to not have to deal with being gay in the world, you have to control everything. You try and walk in an un-gay way so as not to be found out. You try to control every situation, check the people around you, that you're not in the wrong place, and that can be exhausting. It goes on for decades, and it becomes mental sickness.

People have always painted me like a pessimist, like somebody who sees the glass half-empty. But I think the fact that I keep showing up and saying, 'No, there must be a way for me to live in this world,' that shows I'm an eternal optimist.

I don't cry easily.

The first 20 years had such a profound effect on me, I spent the next 20 dealing with them.