If a song is taking you a long time to complete, are you more likely to finish it or toss it aside?

There are some songs that I want to finish if it takes the rest of my life because I just love how it feels to play the song. I can sense how deep it is. It's something that I want to play, that feels good. And even though I don't have all the words, it's going to live with me. I'll keep coming back to it. These are the songs that I become committed to, almost like it's a relationship. Then there are others that, while they excite me, their roots aren't quite deep enough. I try to play them, I try to commit to them, but they keep telling me that they won't become full songs. There's no chemistry. It sounds like dating. Laughs.

Do you prefer pen and paper to write songs, or a computer?

Anything that's around. I've written a song in eyeliner before.

Do you try to adhere to a specific writing routine?

I would love a routine, but I've had to accept that it will never happen at least for a while. We're on the road nine months out of year, and I don't have a residence. All of my stuff is in storage. This life doesn't lend itself to routine. But I savor any time I can get a couple of hours by myself, because stuff just pours out. I can sense that things are simmering, just waiting to get out. I store so much being on the road. Any moment I can get to sit down, there's so much to sing about, and I don't even know where to start.

I used to think that I could only write at night because I'd write all night until sunrise. I've done that a fair amount, but because I've become more adaptable, I can write anytime, anywhere. All I need is stillness. It's not complete silence, but I need a quiet feeling. It might be the stairwell next to the green room, but if I can have the quiet feeling of being alone and still, that's all I need. Early next year, I'd love to find a place to write, like the desert, and write all by myself for a month.

Why the desert?

It's my favorite place at this time in my life. I'm drawn to the vastness of it and how it feels like nothing returns to you. Every thought and idea that you put out travels the way light travels through space. It's so huge. There are mirrors everywhere in the city, and in the mountains and the forest things cover you. That doesn't happen in the desert. I get the truest reflection of myself when there is no reflection. I can feel where I come from, that deep ancient origin. It's still, but there is so much life. And it's tough life.

You mentioned walking earlier. Does movement play a role in your writing process?

Movement and flow in the body helps not while I'm writing, but it helps the soul and mind. If I'm feeling physically shitty or haven't been taking care of myself, I'm not inspired. I'm not able to write. So the more I take care of my body, the easier it is. And movement helps take care of that.

Are there any rituals to your writing process?

I've never thought about that. But I do need my guitar when I write lyrics. I enjoy coffee too. A lot of things that I consume just get in the way when I write. I find that if I eat when I write, it starves the seed of inspiration. Even making love can get in the way of inspiration. Doing things that bring gratification and fulfill other parts of my life can starve my writing process. For whatever reason, coffee doesn't do that. But it has to be black. Sometimes if I'm up late trying to finish a song, I'll roll cigarettes. The classic combination of coffee and cigarettes.

How often do things you read or hear make their way into your songs?

That's a huge source for me. Huge. I learn so much through conversation, more than books or other music. A conversation between an elderly woman and the young boys sitting on the stoop, for example, and the way her back is bent and the way they stand. Even the conversations between things that are not human are important. There's a conversation between the light and a tree, the wall and a shadow. These are example of the conversations I witness. I learn the most by snapping myself back into the present all the time. Remembering to see. Be awake to everything. And I listen with my whole body, not just my ears. That's where most of my songs come from.

I'd like to hear more about how what you see plays a role in your writing process. Does visual art influence your process?