I like writing for individuals with really rich musical personalities.

When I was younger, I had a much better connection between words and music. Somewhere along the way, I had kind of an aspiration to disconnect them, to just kind of go into a totally musical world.

Why do you write like you're running out of time?

I've got so many musical personalities, I could probably get treatment for it.

I'm really indebted to Johnny. He was my first musical hero. Were it not for him, things would have happened quite differently. I can envision myself as maybe a starving jazz musician. I never had any inclination towards fame or stardom. I just love music. Johnny was more ambitious and outgoing. I was the weird and quiet guy who played all the instruments.

Being authentic can be a good thing in that often people who are fixated on that are also fixated on having very high standards, so they may maintain something they think has tremendous value. On the other hand, most of the kinds of music that I've been excited about are hybrid in their origins.