I had the naive, simplistic idea that producers and writers and artists of the time helped in a minuscule way to change the mind-set of America..

I got into one Metallica record. That was about it. I never got into AC/DC or Black Sabbath or any of that. I was interested in the side of heavy met….

Every record turns into whatever the listener gets out of it..

There's at least one fist bump every interview..

I've worked with just as many talented women as I have talented men, and I feel fortunate enough to have that great balance..

I get most of my inspiration from older records. Most of the records that I listen to were probably made before I was born, and I was born in the mid….

I went every Sunday to church when I was growing up, and I think that music had an affect on me before my memory can recall..

I love the sound of Elmore James, the sound early guitarists like him got just by using minimal means..

I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about..

Even though someone has died, a piece of their spirit can still be alive. That's an exciting world for me to take music into, or to attempt to do tha….

I don't like the way recording to digital sounds..

If I'm writing... even a piece of a song... I write it down. If it still resonates six months down the line, a year, even five, those are the ones yo….

I get annoyed with movies or books, songs or records that deliberately try to make you feel a certain way..

I treat the act of making a record very much like working in a laboratory, experimenting with sounds and ideas. Whoever chooses to latch onto it, gre….

In order to make a normal-sized record, a singer songwriter should have a couple dozen finished songs. Once they go through the process of production….

I don't like the way recording to digital sounds. Most of the time when I'm recording to 2-inch tape, I still have a romantic vision of how songs sou….

I don't really watch TV series because I don't want to get hooked on them and have them suck up all my time..

As a producer, I like to bring in unexpected voices, unexpected musicians, like Watt and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ..

It's a hard thing to explain, but the more I arrange for strings, the more I realize the possibilities..

My grandparents are from Mexico, so I grew up with great Mexican food..

I definitely don't see myself as much of a singer, because my upbringing is really based around the guitar, learning chord progressions and that sort….