"I am inspired by parenting, I am inspired by having to provide for this other life who did not choose to be here but who will be by my side for the rest of my life. I am inspired by what that means in terms of time and space and how I engage with those things."

"I’m struggling to not be hard on myself about my level of 'productivity.' If there is anyone else who is used to having a high level of productivity and is becoming a parent, I might suggest being loving to yourself rather than hard on yourself. "

"My children have taught me to let go and enjoy the creative process without as many expectations. They embody joy and curiosity. It's impossible not to be inspired by them."

"Children are probably the purest form of creativity, and that energy is just another way to communicate and be present with each other."

"I am newly inspired by seeing the world through my children’s eyes, trying to explain the world to my children, and creating the world I want my children to live in."

"There is a lot of pressure in being a Black parent. Black parents are walking around with ten times as much weight on their shoulders because of the stigma of being a Black parent in America."

"Being a parent helps ground people a lot. It has helped me to let go of uncertainty…not let go of it completely, but uncertainty is a huge part of my life in very real ways with real consequences."

"Anytime I see someone who is a parent doing something creative that they're passionate about, it inspires me. I have so much more appreciation for the amount of time and energy it takes … I have a baseline of respect for them."

"Writing a song or raising a child with someone else both take some of the same skills. You have to learn to communicate openly and honestly, even though some of the things you have to say are scary."

"Parenting and music have a lot of parallels. There are many methods to yield many results. Just because something worked one day doesn’t mean its gonna work the next day. There is a lot of compromise and teamwork and shifting of the weight. "

"I feel conviction in doing whatever the fuck I want, which I think is a good example to set for a child."

"My creative life is more driven out of fear. It would be very easy to succumb to the demands of work and parenting and never have time for myself. That idea terrifies me, and that terror is what makes me get up at 5 am and write for an hour before anyone else is up."

"Tony said to me once, 'I could be a dad that used to play in bands or a dad that plays in bands. Which would you rather have?'"