Michael Penn

“I just got into music very heavily as a kid and I pretty much knew I wanted to be a musician.”

“I've never been too comfortable with the whole between-song-banter thing.”

“I just had a real visceral, negative reaction to show-biz familes. They tend to be a freakish celebrations of dysfunction. Like a circus sideshow.”

“It's been a long process, becoming happy with expression.”

“It's quite different writing for films and for myself. You have to help guide a scene along emotionally, and the wrong approach can just be deadly.”

“When you're writing about a relationship, whether it's an interpersonal one or not, it's still about communication and trying to be understood on your side of the fence.”

“I wouldn't balk at having a hit single, because it would allow me some of the freedom to do some of the things I want to do. By the same token, I would be suspicious of my own work if I did.”

“If I was good at talking about my music, I'd be a lecturer or a teacher.”

“People get signed to labels by an executive who wants to make his mark at the label.”

“There was actually a rock poetry class at my school.”

“I always try so hard not to repeat myself, not to do something I've heard before. It definitely cuts into my output.”

“I got into music when I was pretty young, and there were a lot of shining lights to me.”

“When I was in high school, it was sort of the peak of progressive education.”

“I think one of the most damaging things in pop music is the complete categorization of most music.”