I enjoy the songs that I write, but I can never enjoy them the same way as other peoples' songs.

It's always fun to play songs by somebody else.

If Brian Eno wanted to make a record, I'd definitely clear some time in my calendar. John Cale, too. Those guys consistently make great records, always doing their own thing.

What do I look for in a collaborator? Pretty much anyone who asks me to do something.

We've made records for years on a shoestring.

In real life, I'm far more lighthearted than I come across on the records.

The guys who spend their time brooding in their younger years either lighten up or go away.

You just realize that you don't know everything there is to know. The older I get, the less I know, and that's a good thing. When I was young, I knew everything, and everything wasn't necessarily good.

Hanging out with the Trees is like hanging out with your family, and I hardly ever see my family.

It's a lot easier to let someone else be Caesar.

I've never been in charge. I'm just a lazy bastard.

There's lots of singers that I love; I don't know if I used any of them as role models. Maybe I would have been a better singer when I started if I had.

Naturally, if I'm singing over really loud music, my approach is gonna be different than if I'm singing over some quiet acoustic music.

It's a different kind of satisfaction, different kind of enjoyment than making your own songs, to remake someone else's song that you really like.

I try and treat songwriting as something that I have to practise every day.

I think there's something therapeutic in singing about anything, whether it's what you've written or whether it's someone else's song. I find both satisfying in different ways.

I just sort of do what comes natural.

I'm trying to learn how to read. I have a tutor out on the road. It is great.

You can only really sing about what you know; at least, I can.

I wasn't the easiest guy to work with when I was younger.

I have a high tolerance for pain.

In 1997, I thought I'd never make another record.

My favorite record, growing up, was 'Songs of the Haunted House,' a Disney record that was just wackiness. It's still one of my favorites, actually.

Everybody has unhappiness.

I was in trouble with the law from when I was real young.

I'm not a human interest story, man. I'm just a musician trying to make some small records and be happy, be peaceful.

Usually I write on guitar.

Even when I'm making my own solo records, I'm collaborating with people. It keeps things interesting for me.

All the guys I know that play guitar are also secretly drummers and vice versa.

I enjoy working on whatever I'm working on.

I can't say what people use the experience of listening to songs for, but I would never tell somebody what it is supposed to mean. That defeats the purpose of making it. Hopefully, whoever connects with it connects with it in their own way, and it can mean whatever it is supposed to mean to them.

When I was in high school, I took French. I barely passed and didn't learn anything at all. There was a joke among me and my friends in the class that nothing sounded more ridiculous than a guy with a country accent speaking French.

I'm not really interested in video games.

Doing something that's physical but not necessarily mentally taxing - for me, it frees me up creatively.

No one would hang out with me if I didn't have music to make.

I don't really take time off between records; it's a compulsion for me.

In 2005, I worked as a scenic painter for a while when I was taking a break from music.

When I think of a hit, I think of Madonna.

I'm not much of a partyer.

It's satisfying and gratifying to make your own music, but I personally don't get the same enjoyment out of the music that I make as I do from somebody else's music that I like.

I used to throw a lot of stuff against the wall, just to see what ended up sticking; now I'm pretty much using everything that I create for a record.

When I'm listening to music for pleasure, I'm gonna listen to someone else's music.

I have to have animals. They really make life worth living, and my world actually revolves around them. They know exactly when it's time to get up, exactly when they're supposed to get their food, and they let you know. Mine are right there in my face, first thing every morning.

I was excited when the Afghan Whigs got back together.

When I was a kid, I got caught shoplifting by a store security guard in Ellensburg. The next time I saw that store guard was when I got thrown in jail again - this time for not paying court fees. The guy happened to be in jail, too, right next to me. That's what Eastern Washington is like - you never get too far away from anybody.

Nobody likes to believe that they need anybody's help in anything, and the smarter you are - and I'm not smart - or the tougher you are - and at times I thought I was pretty tough - the more trouble you have.

As far as I remember, I don't have any warrants out for my arrest anymore. I can travel without fear.

I hope I'm learning until I'm dead.

Most of the music I'm into wasn't popular when it was being made.

It's hard not to respect Kobe Bryant's game: He's one of the all-time greats.