Josh Tillman

I made a decision as a child that I would never let anyone tell me that I was invalid or inauthentic, or that my experiences were.

I was asked to audition for the second season of 'Stranger Things.' I didn't want that level of exposure. I don't want to be TV famous.

It's a vanity to think that a legitimate shamanistic experience can be purchased.

J. Tillman was kind of an alter ego. There was a lot I didn't want people to know about my real life. With Father John Misty, I leave everything in: so much so that I lose sleep before these albums come out because there is always a line or two in there where I'm just like, 'This is not going to go down very well.'

When I started with music, all I was looking for was to ensure I never had to live the life I grew up with. I wanted a foolproof exemption from pain and boredom. I wanted a life of constant amusement and leisure.

I've engineered my life so that my only value in this world is in my writing, which is really dangerous, because if it's a failure, then my life is meaningless.

There's a difference between art and entertainment. Entertainment is really about forgetting about your life, and art is about remembering your life.

I think that life is messy and that human beings are insane.

My humor is my creativity, and my skepticism is a gift.

Funny is a good foil. Humor is illuminating, and it also gives you power.

Interpretive thinking, as an art form, is dying.

I was like, 'Josh Tillman, you are not a songwriter. You are an ape. Stop thinking of yourself as a songwriter.'