I have ten thousand memories of myself writing alone in basements, bizarre servant quarters, cemeteries, deserted fountains, the band van, and other awkward settings.
I don't really have studios. I wander around around people's attics, out in fields, in cellars, anyplace I find that invites me.
The Dover Street Markets bring brands of all disciplines together to sell their products in an open atmosphere that, most importantly, incites creativity. They are, along with the 'Comme des Garcons' stores, usually located in areas off the beaten track.
An airplane cabin isn't the first place people think of when they choose an exhibition space, but I'm all for doing things differently.
It's amazing what you can do in your bathroom! I would do vocals and stuff on my computer that would need to be sent to London or New York for things to be added on, and I was thinking they always say you sound good in the bathroom - but then I'd kick the bin, or someone in the next room would flush the chain or something and I'd be like 'oh no!'
I'm trying to expand the notion of curating. Exhibitions need not only take place in galleries, need not only involve displaying objects. Art can appear where we expect it least.
I want to just go to places where writers don't usually go, where people like me don't usually show up, and say, 'Here are some poems. Do they speak to you? What do you hear in them?'
We turned Cambridge theatre upside down, using odd spaces and devising everything collaboratively. It eventually blew apart, but I'm still proud of some of what we achieved. The style was very disciplined, and we had the sense to keep things short.
I love outdoor places in the evenings; I don't like box-like clubs.
I've written in every imaginable location; a repurposed closet, the kitchen table, the bleachers while my kids had basketball practice, the front seat of the car when they were at soccer. In airports. On trains. In the break room when I was supposed to be wolfing down dinner. In the back of classrooms when I was supposed to be paying attention.
But I can also write in crappy motel rooms, while standing in line, or sitting in the dentist's chair.
Sometimes you have to live in precarious and temporary places. Unsuitable places. Wrong places. Sometimes the safe place won't help you.
The first album, for better or for worse, was done over from the ages of 17-22, with a couple of different producers. Some of it was recorded in an old swimming pool, some of it was recorded in a synagogue - it kind of was all over the place.
