My only concern about art collaborations is that I never thought of myself as an Artist. My tax forms say Musician/Songwriter.
I'd like to do a record that doesn't even reference actual places. Because I think it's kind of an open-ended concept. It doesn't have to be taken so literally.
I've read in a couple stories that I was raised Episcopalian, but that's not true. I think that's just people assuming things. In some ways, I wish I was raised Episcopalian. I was kind of raised hodgepodge.
I don't think it's so hard to be commercial and interesting. Look at Prince, or Neil Young.
It's hard to say if actual places really affect the way you write.
I am not naturally inclined to history or geography - maybe that's why I like to sing about it, because it helps me remember.
My music is just about story telling. I don't have much to say, and I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I'm just singing through conviction about what I love and what I care about, starting with the very small.
Morals, principles and laws are when faith is reduced to standards and those standards basically just bind us, and we become prejudicial, racist, self-serving when we're guided by these laws... When a developed country uses Christianity in its policies, in government, in maintaining corporate wealth, that's a bastardized rendering of a faith.
My anxiety level of my own work and what I'm doing and focusing on my art and all of that stuff? That's fundamental.
The best fiction is geared towards conflict. We learn most about our characters through tension, when they are put up against insurmountable obstacles. This is true in real life.
I think I get a lot of ideas from when I was a kid, listening to Casey Kasem's 'American Top 40.'
I find in music there's a space and a language I can use to express things in ways I can't describe conversationally.
Pop music is so structured, and I'm excited to try and challenge that in my own work.
Every time Jimmy Scott sings, it's the same but slightly different. I don't know how he does that or where he gets that from. I think it's instinct. Nothing he does is by chance; he's in complete control of what he's doing. He's just beautiful and unique.
I've been trying to challenge myself to be more explicit. I've always liked punk rock and Sonic Youth. I make that music privately, but I've never released it.
I always hated 'O Holy Night.' It's so operatic and overwrought.
I love anything by Tchaikovsky. He was the real pop star of his day.
One of my strongest memories is my father playing bongos in the living room in Detroit listening to Motown radio. He was this skinny white bald guy, but he was really moved by blues and Motown and funk.
The spiritual ambiguity growing up made me really latch onto a faith - Protestantism - that was somewhat conventional. Everyone else was rebelling against traditions and institutions, whereas I was rebelling against the upheaval and uncertainty in my family.
In third grade, I had to an oral report on the state of Oregon. I brought up Big Foot sightings, and I remember there was an argument about whether or not Big Foot was valid history. Ever since then I've been thinking about how subjective history is.
