You`re really creative when you`re in an environment that you don`t know how to handle. So collaborating was like that for me. I think that was one of the reasons why I knew I was gonna get a challenging reaction.

I`m really happy to be a mom, and I`m proud of the phase I`m in.

I mean, I kind of remember... I`m 36 now, so it`s kind of hard for me to relate to what it was like when I was 25, or 24, but I do remember a period in time when that`s how I defined who I was, by the music I listened to and the movies I went to.

I don`t know; it just seemed like the cooler guys are playing Xbox. At least the ones I know.

I am a feminist, and I define myself: Be yourself, because if you can get away with it, that is the ultimate feminist act.

I probably had some impact, because everyone keeps telling me that I did. I like to feel like I`m coming out with something to try to make room for other young women to make their art.

I`m very cerebral. I like to think things through.

I can`t say I don`t get nervous, but I really kind of enjoy performing now.

When I use the Internet, it`s pretty much strictly for music. Checking out other people`s web sites, what`s going on, listening to music. It`s pretty much a musical thing for me.

I think good art happens on that edge between comfortable and in a lot of pain, you know what I mean?

That`s what music is to me. Like, stuff that I really like to play loud. And I`ve got my quiet CDs, too, that I listen to around the house, but if you can`t go there, then... Everyone gets so upset with me, I can`t win.

I knew that collaborating on songwriting would be difficult for a lot of people, because I was known very much, for my independence and the fact that I wrote these quirky songs that were not typical structure, not typical sound - you know, really original stuff.

I just don`t fit into the box.

Like, I kind of developed my musical style in a vacuum. Even though I listen to a lot of stuff, the way I wrote was in my bedroom, really privately. It`s still the way I write, actually.

Women artists need to break barriers in order for women`s experience to be valuable.

I`m competitive, so I don`t like to feel marginalized by the people who sell a lot of records.

No. You know what really bugs me about my videos? When they can`t figure out what to do, they just have me change clothes five times.

It seems to me like the Internet allows you to break that structure a little bit. You know, here`s your CD that`s going into stores, here`s your EP that you offer online, here`s a subscription for songs you recorded on the road, here`s your live stuff streaming.

When it`s me in my living room, it`s pretty pure, and then what gets recorded involves more people, and it keeps escalating from there.

There`s even more stuff that I`d like to release, but I`m scared to, that`s really, um, nerdy... not nerdy in a good way. Like, silly.

The big news already broke. The file-sharing and all that stuff, it`s a done deal. And I think figuring out how to make that a fair exchange for the people that make music is still an issue.

I mean, I think about it, but I don`t design my record to get a certain public response.

My identity has everything to do with me and my instrument. It doesn`t have to do with what production style I use, or how many people played on it, whether it`s sparse or grandiose or whatever. And I`m social, frankly.

Now, in music, it seems more like the popular crowd suppresses anyone who is different.