We play some smaller songs larger than they are the record, and vice versa. It took me a while to get used to playing live.

It's fun to be able to revisit a song and do something that doesn't really illustrate the song but works tangentially or runs parallel to the song in some way.

I like writing in an illustrative, descriptive way. I prefer describing to rather than explaining.

It sort of depends on the song. Some of them are pretty easy to write, and others take a while. I do a lot of writing in the morning.

Pop culture, commercials. You only come across a commercial if you're watching a TV all the time. I've never been all that upset. I like hearing the songs. I guess I've never been all that caught up in it.

We all assume the worst the best we can.

I put my energy into writing songs. I have to carve out a living somehow doing this, and licensing is one way. It's hard to register what's too much for other people. I don't watch TV, so it's tough for me to gauge. I just take it as it comes, and don't put a whole lot of thought into it.

The song succeeds or fails just based on whether you argue your point successfully. I like throwing images together, which create meaning if you listen to it one time, but if you listen to it another time you might get a different meaning.