I do have a big problem with the idea of music as a form of communication unless it's political - and that's where it's tricky because a lot of music is political, even if it's not overtly so. But my music isn't that; it's about a feeling.Collection: Communication
I really like being home. I like being comfortable, and I'm not a very dramatic person.
I thought I was gonna get a doctorate in composition or be a composer and be at a university for the rest of my life, mostly because my parents are academics, and that was the logical thing to do.
I don't often meet with strangers and feel okay about collaborating with them.
I am very interested in the human voice and how we use it, especially when we aren't thinking, like the kind of stuff Robert Ashley was interested in.
'Betsy' is one of my favorites because it is the one to which I've imposed the least clear narrative. To me, it's so much more about the feeling - desperation - than any kind of story at all. There's very little imagery or character development; it's just about a deep and desperate search for something.
The meaning of the words in my songs are very important to me. But what's most important to me is that the music works.
David Bowie - I definitely knew some of his music as a teenager, but I didn't actually listen to his music as much until I was in my 20s.
I try to not think too much about how people are receiving my music. And I'm not really famous enough that it's a problem.
I don't think I'll ever become a pop star.
One of the struggles that I have with classical music is the way one thinks about a recapitulation. There's always this idea of themes, and I have trouble with that.
I don't know how well I work in traditions. I don't know if it's just the way I listened to music growing up and never having my foot in one particular world, and just wanting to do my own thing.
I say most of my music is very trial-and-error.
I don't consider myself supremely talented, but I really like to try things and sift through it and see what mess I made.
I don't think all music that is considered 'avant-garde' is bad, but it's definitely elitist. I hope my music is not that.
I think my music is experimental, playful, challenging, focused, fun. I don't want it to be thought of as trying to appeal to a certain type of person or being very cerebral.
I try to ignore people's opinions about my music - you don't want to hold yourself back because of that stuff.
I was pretty scared of the idea as a younger person of being a musician on the road. It didn't occur to me as a possibility.
'Maxim's' was supposed to be on 'Ekstasis,' but it was very much in its own world.
If I'm kind of sad or depressed, it doesn't necessarily help me to write a song about exactly what I'm depressed about.
I really write at home on my own, and the demos themselves are very similar to the final recordings in a lots of ways.
Saying that something is accessible gives it this implication that people need something, and thinking that we know what people need or want is really unpleasant. I don't like to think that way, like, predicting what it is that the people want.
I don't write thinking directly about what I'm feeling, usually. I just let myself write whatever comes out without it necessarily being directly a translation of what I'm aware that I'm feeling, you know?
I don't fit into a group very well socially. And that might be reflected in my music.
A lot of my personal life feels very separate from my music.
When I'm depressed is when I'm not interested in writing anything, whereas some people, I think, are spurred to creativity through their personal experiences and through depression. And for me, it's a very low place, and it's not fruitful.
For me, the poetic decisions tend to be calculated, and the musical decisions inspired by the poetic decisions are free.
I just always make honest music. I just always kinda do what I wanna do.
I like working with students a lot and watching some of the amazing stuff they put together.
One thing I've learned is I really want to work with people.
I take music very seriously, but it's important to me that my music is - I don't know if 'intuitive' is the word, but there's a really important element of something kind of mysterious. It's not academic or esoteric.
I did study with Anne Carson briefly in Michigan. She taught there, and that's where I first encountered her, in her class.
I don't use the harpsichord because it evokes a past time period: I use it because I like the sound.
The Beatles, even Radiohead, all of my favorite stuff I'd play on the piano. But it was all very secret - for me, for fun. I wasn't going to record myself playing those songs, and it never occurred to me to write a song of my own.
I played cello on my early recordings, but that doesn't mean I'm a cellist, you know?
I started classical piano when I was eight, but I wasn't a virtuoso. I just really liked it.
It's nice to work with people who know how to mic drums right and how to record properly. But there's something to be said for doing it yourself.
I grew up watching 'Gigi.' My grandmother had it, and I watched it there.
I think of each record as different and not having very much in common with what went before or what comes next.
I'm happy that I worked alone on 'Tragedy,' but it's obvious that I was trying to create something much bigger than I could do on my own.
I usually work in a room which is totally cluttered with my mess, and there's stuff everywhere, and it's kind of chaotic because I am a very messy person. I could totally write in a pristine environment, but it would mean I would have to be at someone else's house.
I often find that I like the vibe of not having technology around me.
When I was a kid, I had a xylophone, and I thought that was the instrument I wanted to play. I didn't realize it was a toy.
I see myself as a songwriter and a poet.
What was special about Leonard Cohen's work was its calm mystery.
I love '80s beats; everyone does.
You don't have to know about 'Hippolytus' to listen to 'Tragedy.'
One thing I do like about L.A. is the fact that you can be - whether you're famous or it's just a matter of, like, seeing people you know all the time on the street, you can be pretty anonymous and walk around and, like, not run into people, because it's such a big city and because a lot of people drive.
I'm inspired by nonmusical things a lot, whether it's a film or a book or whatever.
No one recognises me on the street, ever.