You've got to be in a place where you can put your guard down. I've got a long list of things I consider to be selling out. But amongst that list, one of them is when you make art without putting your guard down.
When real work happens and that's when real art happens.
I always wanted to move to New York because of the Velvet Underground, because of the picture that they painted of New York City.
Of course, before the internet people found records, too. You can still do it. It's just that people like to make the least amount of effort as possible.
You have to collaborate with the moment and the environment. It kind of was magnified by the house being a studio.
I find Mexico exciting to visit, but I think [it] is looked down upon. Mexico is not a very respected place, unless you're Mexican, and even then it's something of a love/hate relationship.
I didn't want to make a record that was just guitar and voice, that was just the technology available to me. At the time, I remember thinking, "I am making a Faust album." That didn't translate.
I hate having my photograph taken and I try to keep that in mind when I'm photographing other people. But the best photos that I've taken are the ones when people have forgotten that I'm there. If I'm in a recording studio with a musician, for example, maybe I'm not photographing them in the middle of a take but I can just get that stolen moment of them resting and they glance over to me.
"I meditate." That's like saying "I eat." Think of all the food there is! And there are almost as many varieties of mediation.
Within America, there are extremely different place. I'm not saying it's one homogenous color. It's obviously an incredible place. There's no other place like it, and it's incredibly diverse.
Africa. There are a gazillion different languages people speak there, different bone structures, so vast and different.
Now everybody knows about this thing that's my secret. It was my thing, the music I turned to when I was alone and needed it. It's what helps me get through these times. It's just between me and music, and now it's been shared with the world.
I know some people really try to avoid music when they're writing and recording, but I am very inspired by so many different musicians, and I need to learn. I sit around and try to play along to certain songs that I really love. It helps you explore new territory. I don't think I listen to enough.
The best New York in the world is driving down the [Pacific Coast Highway] listening to the Velvet Underground. That's the best time I've ever been to New York.
I like California a lot. There's a lot of space, but it's actually the most populated place in the nation.
Now if I lived in my land, which I do, if I lived in Iceland, if I lived in Greensland I'd still have Chinese children, but out of my ears my little grey baby hears.
