EZRA KOENIG

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

Anyways, trying to express yourself to the press is often like arguing with a hysterical person.

Just because I grew up a white guy in America doesn't mean that's the music of my life.

My dad has a really great record collection that basically went up to the year I was born: 1984.

I don't like to generalize but I've had nothing but bad experiences with Mexican food in Europe.

I'm pretty sure that the Walkmen are the band that I've paid to see the most in my life.

I do think sometimes there's danger in guest appearance mania. I've seen too many examples that sound cool on paper, like 'Oh, get that guy to sing the hook on that guy's song,' and then that's all it is. It's a cool idea that sounds good on paper.

You can be 24 and continue to live like you're at college, or even continue to live like you're in high school. Or you can put on a shirt and tie and pretend to be an adult.

Playing 'Tetris' for 15 minutes is like meditation.

It's so easy for anyone to deal with their own guilt of being a middle-class white music fan by pointing to other people who they perceive to be richer than them, whiter than them.

I still think that if you're excited about something, you have to work at it.

It's cool to have instruments lying around because they give you different ideas.

I grew up listening to Jay-Z, and I think the first time I really became obsessed with learning and thinking about lyrics was when I started listening to rap; I was 11, 12, and started becoming aware of music beyond the familiar.

I remember the first pangs of stress arriving at the end of school. Once I graduated I had to get a full-time job, worry about health insurance, saving money, paying rent - things I'd never thought about before.

If kids and teenagers can get into a band, it's probably not because they think it's brainy.

Some people say video games rot your brain, but I think they work different muscles that maybe you don't normally use.

Sometimes you want to dress a certain way... that doesn't always reflect your pedigree.

There aren't that many people walking about who are a total class stereotype.

When Obama came to power, there was a lot of talk about a post-racial America.

All I know for sure is that issues like race, like class, are always best approached with compassion and open-mindedness.

Well, growing up in the '90s, my first true love was ska music.

In Europe, I always have fun bike riding in Amsterdam.

Musicals don't get enough credit for being so surreal. It's like an alternate universe.

As an artist you have the luxury of maybe presenting an issue in a certain way, as opposed to actually solving it.

Rapping and singing are not two polar opposites. There's so much middle ground. And I think there's a lot of people who find that middle ground.