Cass McCombs

I don't think music is my job - I don't think about it that way, because I don't really get paid. There's no paycheck at the end; it's more of a 'whatever is left over' kind of situation.

Sometimes I feel like I finish a song, and there's another song that I have to write in response to that song. Each is like its own separate feeling, its own separate universe.

A baseball team is like a band. Because, conceptually, there are no heroes in baseball - there's just the team.

Music is the marriage of the feelings of the living to the wisdom of the dead.

I don't need to control anything. Even with romantic partnerships, I don't need to control anyone.

I wouldn't go into the studio if I didn't have a band who's ready, willing, and able.

People expect not just songwriters but all personalities to pontificate about their egos - they just wanna see someone talking about themselves constantly. I'm not interested in that.

I project love, music and love, and I pray for peace. A good song cuts straight to the heart; sometimes it doesn't need to be too many lines - of course, I do love a good story.

I think I have some very meaningful relationships with people; we all do. At the same time, I recognize that everyone is following their own heart; there's been people who have left my life, and I don't have a problem with that. This is a transitory world; we're all spirits just looking for love and finding it and holding on.

I have no idea what will become of my work in the future, the future folk will not be aware of our influence over them, as we are unaware of how our dead influence us.

Folk art has never been much about politics; it's about action and utility.

I've always littered my songs with jokes. You might need to dig a little deeper to find the humor, but I would totally object to being some kind of distraught personality. I've never tried to attach myself to that.