I think that within the world of music that we work in, which is so not perfect, I think that you really do have to learn to accept your own mistakes….

I was always looking outside of myself for stories and ideas and influences and then I kind of realized in 2010, that all of this time, I've develope….

There was always a unique Beirut sound, it was always there, and so this time I just dove straight into that, instead of daydreaming and wandering..

As much as I try to grow as a lyricist, I tend to laugh at even calling myself that, because I think that my actual talents lie more in arrangements ….

I think, if I had my choice, I would spend all my time in the studio writing, and creating music..

I write one step at a time, always finishing off the part I'm working on before even thinking about the next part. I need to hear it all together bef….

Lyrics are what I tend to tear hair out over and they're where I tend to feel weak musically, if I'm being very honest. It is not something I feel li….

I'm very flash and burn - the first thing that comes to mind is obviously the best idea, and that's because it should come out of a natural place, an….

I was a very good student until about sophomore year, and that's when I just became so disillusioned with the whole thing that I just became an awful….

I'm not an amazing trumpet player. It's mostly smoke and mirrors. You shake the trumpet and it starts to vibrate in a ridiculous drunken way, or you ….

I could probably spend the next five years reworking an album from ten years ago, if given the chance, to make it better - make it best, so to speak..

My dad is obsessed with music, so I was raised around this guitar player that really wanted me to be a guitar player..

It's just not an image I had ever put out about myself - the bedroom synth guy. The whole thing seemed ridiculous..

You always know when a real inspiration is behind the melody, arrangements, even lyrics. And I know that's really vague, but it's true..

As a teenager and a young adult, I never felt like my own story was interesting enough to tell, so I always wrote lyrics from someone else's perspect….

I think that there's a proliferation of music that is done entirely in the bedroom for an Internet audience, but there's no way in hell that you coul….

I mean the reason that I started writing close to home, "Santa Fe," et cetera, was a kind of looking back on past events. I don't know, it's just som….

There is a beauty to touring - to be honest, there's a way that music connects and you really feel the actual reaction of people to the music that yo….

Raucous drunken trumpets and instrumentation tend to guide the way you think. They can give you a path to follow lyrically..

It's funny because you do often read in recounts of very famous albums, people tend to focus on mistakes in really positive ways, and there's certain….

I think that sonically, music speaks volumes more than words do, and I have always thought that and will continue to think that for the rest of my li….