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'No Burden' is not necessarily ferocious.
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Usually, I'll just be walking from my house to somewhere else, and melodies and words will start coming up, and I'll have to run home to write it all down.
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The main way that being adopted has shaped my songwriting is that I was asked at an early age to consider the circumstances that led to my life, and in a way, I was introduced to how fragile and unlikely life is from the beginning.
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People actually tell me that I'm living my dream. And I'm like, 'It's a little more nuanced than that.'
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If you can come out from under pain, why wouldn't you? You definitely can. There's no question.
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Joan Didion's 'The Year of Magical Thinking' comes to mind as an example of a piece of media that I really respect and would hope to emulate: just her courage in looking at her husband's death and the attentiveness that she has in how she looks at it, and the unflinching gaze that she communicates from looking into death.
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Negativity, in general, is one of the things that holds people back, and you have to see what's holding you back to get away from it.
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That's my main complaint with Murakami: that he writes these complex males and then really static women.
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I don't end up writing songs in my journals, but I'm sure that my ability to write songs has been helped by how consistently and impulsively I try to get my life into words through the journals.
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Music was always encouraged as a passion and a hobby, but I was never told, 'This should be your job. You write music and record for a living.' It doesn't happen for people.
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Really unfiltered personal writing is cool to me. I'm like, 'How did you show that to everyone?'
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I was the funny one in my group; there was a lot pressure to be responsible for everyone's happiness. I didn't like watching other friends of mine be called the 'pretty one' or the 'smart one.' That had no depth, and it didn't match how I knew them.
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Before I even pick up a guitar, usually the words are done. So I'm not first and foremost a musician. I'm first and foremost a writer.
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A breakup is a state of mind that needs encouragement and needs hopeful, forward thinking.
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It's important for me to write songs that feel good to sing every night and remind me of my core, truest beliefs.
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You don't have to make something in order to retain your identity as an artist or a writer or a creative person. A lot of people think they have to be producing in order to maintain that identity.
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I've written in the middle of a conversation or the grocery store or at another band's concert or in the last moments before falling asleep. It's pretty unpredictable. I think it's always flowing, and sometimes I'm not listening. There's no formula for when I'm going to be able to be a good listener to myself.
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I think 'Historian' is ultimately a positive record, but I was a little bit worried about taking people into a dark world. I tried to do it with as much care as possible, but it's not easy to ask people to think about death or loss or confusion.
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I heard during our label-searching that some labels hire statisticians instead of A&R people. They'll reach out to the bands that will statistically perform best monetarily instead of going out to shows and having an opinion on which music is good or bad.
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It's one thing to make something, and then it's another thing to put it in front of other people.
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I'm going to name my daughter Emily.
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I always wrote songs. Elementary school, middle school. It didn't feel more creative than speaking. It was just normal to do that.
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Humans are fascinated with communication. I was always drawn to words and stories, staying in touch with your feelings and being open to what's around you.
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I was always taught to be grateful, and so the question came early: What is there to be grateful for? Why is life supposed to be so good? That's still a question I try to answer all the time.