Alex G

“I always think it's more interesting to leave the context of those songs a little vague. Like, all these songs come from me, and I have to be honest with myself. I'm not just putting it out of nowhere. But I want there to be a universal nature to these songs so that people can still attach themselves to them in a way that feels authentic.”

“When I was thinking up that title, I was taking it from a more cynical approach. Saying 'God Save the Animals' wasn't specific to the plight of animals, but more about the ease of saying that statement without following it up with any immediate impacts.”

“I say what I want to say with the music.”

“In maybe third grade, I kept asking my parents for piano lessons, and eventually I got them. It turned out I wasn't quite disciplined enough for piano lessons.”

“I usually work on something every day. It's how I define myself. If I didn't do it, I'd probably be really lost.”

“There's plenty of times I sit down, I'm trying to write, and that feeling never comes, so I just don't do anything.”

“I'm not necessarily a wordsmith.”

“Studios are awesome, but at home, if I have an idea, I can just run over, hit record, and put it down real quick. In the studio, you have to save it.”

“I work hard to not talk a mile a minute.”

“You know who I love? Donna Tartt.”

“I think there's people who have really concrete things to say, and it's really enlightening to hear what they have to say about their music. But I consider myself more of, like, an impressionistic writer.”

“I'm always just trying to focus on songs in my free time.”

“I know exactly where to put the microphone now to get a decent drum sound, and I know how to set my guitar to make it sound like a bass.”

“I've always been interested in writing prose. I doubt anything will come of that, but I like the idea of creating things you can immerse yourself in. So it would be cool to write a really engaging book.”

“I think I'm a passive control freak.”

“The way I work is, I'll be watching TV at 3 in the morning and think, 'I should add this thing to my song.' And I'll just run over to the laptop and do it.”

“I know what a good sentence looks like. I read a lot, so I know what reads well.”

“That's the best kind of show, when you're with a bunch of people who you know.”

“Every single time, I just want to make good music that people can listen to 100 times... I want people to be able to listen to it and attach themselves to it. Because that's the music that I liked when I was growing up. I would hear it and be like, 'This is my song.'”

“Moby was one of the first artists I fell in love with. My sister had 'Play' on CD: I was obsessed, I would listen to it all day. Something about the way he organizes everything in these really rigid patterns was super gratifying for me, I could really understand and visualize the songs.”