Bible Belt was recorded in New York and New Orleans with an amazing group of accomplished musicians, all of whom were so impressed by Diane’s songwriting that they agreed to come together as her band for the recording: Lenny Kaye (of The Patti Smith Group), Adam Blackstone from The Roots, George Porter of The Meters, acclaimed drummers Stanton Moore of Galactic and Cindy Blackman, saxophonist Lenny Pickett, and trombonist Tom “Bones” Malone. And while Diane sings most of the album’s background vocals herself, both Betty Wright and legendary Jive Five lead singer Eugene Pitt join in on occasion to lend their vocal magic.

As I get ready for the interview, Diane situates herself on the bed with a glass of white wine and I take up a spot opposite in a sturdy chair with my list of questions and try to be the serious journalist, for once. Let the girl talk commence…

CHRISTINE NATANAEL: I don’t know how long we have, but I have a few questions here.

DIANE BIRCH: [looking at my laptop set up] So, you’re filming video, or just audio?

CN: No, this is just audio.

DB: Okay.

CN: No, this is just audio, but this is just in case I get really lazy and I don’t feel like transcribing it later, I can just take still pictures and stick it on there.

DB: Okay.

CN: Or, in case something happens to me before I transcribe it, my son can put the pictures with my audio.

DB: Alright. Whatever you need to do.

CN: For posterity…whatever, whatever…

DB: [laughs]

CN: ‘cause I do get fuckin’ lazy.

DB: [laughs] That’s hilarious. Yeah.

CN: I’m honest. [laughs] Alright. Where should I start? Uh, what was it like working with Lenny Kaye and George Porter?

DB: Well, it was an amazing experience working with both of them. Lenny Kaye is a complete sweetheart. He’s like, the sweetest person on the planet, and he’s just so… He’s just great. He’s just so great. He made the whole thing so great. George Porter is just funky. I mean, he’s like, funky. He can’t help himself. And he didn’t speak to me a lot, but at the end of the session he said to me, we were down in New Orleans and he said, he was like, “You write these songs?” And I was like, “Yeah.” And he was like, “They ain’t bad.” I was like, “Wow, that’s a huge compliment.”

CN: He’s a great guy. I photographed him with Mickey Hart, recently, when they played Irving Plaza.

DB: Oh yeah? That’s great.

CN: And Lenny knows…I found a cute picture of you and Lenny and Lenny wearing a t-shirt of the band of a friend of mine, the She Wolves shirt.

DB: [laughs] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was funny. That picture was from the studio.

CN: Dava was very thrilled was very thrilled by that. She was like, “Ah, it made my day,” when I sent it to her.

DB: That’s awesome.

CN: So, do you still wake up in the morning and have to pinch yourself over how far you’ve come so quickly?

DB: Yeah. I mean, it’s sort of… It’s one of those things where it’s kind of happened in such a steady… I mean it’s happened…a lot of things have happened really quickly, but every phase I’ve gotten to I’ve sort of had to work to get to that phase. So it’s almost every time I get to the next step, I’m already confident and sort of used to that step, in a weird way, you know what I mean? It’s already like, “Okay, I’m here now. This is now it’s supposed to be.” It’s not like, “Oh, my God!” It has been like that with some of the TV stuff, where I’m just like, “What the fuck? This is insane.” But yeah, I just, you know, I’m just the same and keep doing the same things and you know, so, I don’t know.

CN: What was your earliest memory of music, the situation and the song?

DB: The song… I don’t remember any beginning to it. There was just—it was always there. Ever since I remember there was music playing. I heard it in the womb. You know, my parents played classical music 24/7. It was like, there was not a silent moment in the house. It was always playing. So, that was really, I mean, kind of always in my brain and in my subconscious from the time I was born.

CN: When did you know you wanted to do it, that it was something you needed to do, instead of something else like dancing or painting or architecture?

DB: Well, I always knew it was something that I did, I just never took it seriously. I never thought I could actually really make a career out of it, I just thought, “This is what I do, and this is totally normal, and I’m sure anyone else can do this.” It wasn’t until a little later when I started to realize, “Wow. What I have, not everybody can do, and it’s actually something special.” And it took me a long time to realize that it was something unique and—obviously a lot of people play music, but you know, relative to, kind of the environment I was in as a child, it was very different. You know, like what I was doing was different and the way I played was different. I played by ear and you know I kind of wrote a lot of, composed a lot of piano songs and so, it evolved. I evolved into it. I didn’t just say, “Oooh, this is what I want to do.” I just sort of knew I wasn’t gonna do—I wasn’t gonna sit in an office, I wasn’t gonna like, be a teacher, I wasn’t gonna do anything other than what I wanted to do. And I just knew that this was something that I loved doing. And then I realized that I could actually make money doing it and have it be a career.

CN: I’m fascinated by people who can play by ear because I can’t. I learned how to read music. I think that with people who learn how to read music first, it might stamp out that ability to play by ear. Like, if you sang something, I could probably sing it with you and probably sing it in the proper key, but I couldn’t tell you what key it is. But if I looked at it on a piece of paper, I could tell you exactly what key it is.

DB: Yeah. Well, see, I think people like you are crazy. I’m like, “Whoa. That’s freaky.” Yeah. I don’t know. I never realized it was something that not everyone could do. I used to think that everybody could do that. I’m like, “Anybody can just listen to a song and then you go play it on the piano. That’s what’s so easy.” Ya know? When I was young, people were like, “Whoa! I can’t believe that! You just heard that one time and you just sat there and played it!” And I was like, “Yeah. I see in sound.” You know what I mean? I see the sound. I don’t just hear it. I see it on the keyboard. Like, if you were to sing me a song, I could hear where it would go, like on a keyboard, and I just thought that was totally normal. [laughs bashfully] But yeah, I took an ear-training method called Suzuki. It’s classical training, but it’s…

CN: I know about it for violin, but I didn’t know they had it for piano.

DB: Yeah, they have it for piano. I started this when I lived in Australia. They don’t have it a lot for piano in America, but um, in Australia they did. For me, it was just the perfect combination because I already had an ear, and then when you’re already kind of trained in that way anyway, it just kind of fuels the fire. And then I tried to learn to read years later, and I was just like, “This sucks. I can’t do it.”

CN: That’s like when I tried to go from flute to guitar and I could already read and I tried to go from this (makes hand motion of fingering flute) to this (makes hand motion of fingering guitar). It was like, “No!” Brain jam. Brain jam.

DB: That’s got to be weird, from flute to guitar. [both laugh]

CN: It was. [laughs] Um, which do you feel is the boldest song on the new album in terms of creative and recording process, and why?

DB: The boldest? Uh, hhmmm… Boldest. I guess probably the boldest, in a way, is “Fire Escape” just because, um, it’s not a, I mean, it’s just a song with a lot of emotion in it and there’s a 35-piece string orchestra singing on it. Yeah, “singing” on it, I mean playing on it. And after I heard the strings. I had already done the vocal to it, and after I heard the strings, after they put that on later, I was like, “Shit.” My vocals…I like Nina Brandt. I need to rise to the occasion, because this is a whole new song now. This is like, a BIG song. And um, I think I remember being really pissed off, I think, when I recorded the vocals. Somebody pissed me off or something, and I was like, “Hit record!” And I like, went into the vocal booth and I just sang it. And I felt like my voice was cracking and I was like, “Whaaa!!!” And I was sweating, and it was really real, you know? And that’s how I like to do my vocals. I want to be inside the song. I don’t just want to sing a vocal and them comp a perfect thing together. I want to be able to, like, go in and fucking, like, just deliver it. It may not be perfect. It may be like, “Oh, yeah, my voice sounded like it was about to blow out at certain points,” but so what? I felt it. I was in the moment.

CN: So that would also be the boldest song in terms of emotional and lyrical content as well?

DB: Not necessarily. I mean, you know, it’s a sad song. I think in lyrical content. You know, they’re all…there’s many layers to the songs and they get bolder depending on which meaning you want to look at. I mean, “Mirror, Mirror” is actually a very bold song for me. It’s about a lot of things. It’s about, you know, having a victim mentality and realizing that maybe, you know, you’re the one to blame.

CN: I listen to that one and it’s like, are you talking to yourself in the mirror or are you talking to the other person?

DB: The way I wrote it, you can take it a lot of ways.

CN: It’s very intriguing to think about it, actually.

DB: When I write songs, I don’t always think about what it means. I just write it. I write what comes to me and then later on I’m like, “Wow. That really…that’s exactly what I meant and I didn’t even realize that.” I write the song and I just try and tap into the place where—you know, I just start singing things. I just starting singing words. It sounds like I’m speaking in another language. And then eventually the word starts to form, and then I realize, “What am I trying to say?” You know? And I have to listen to myself. And I’m like, “What are you trying to say to me right now?” And it’s just like some crazy, like, weird feeling. But, um, you know, and then all of a sudden the words start coming out and then I go back to it later and I’m like, “What does this mean?” And then I’m like, “Whoa… This is deep. There’s so many meanings in here.” You know, a lot of it’s about living in such a, you know, appearance-based society, you know, vanity. It’s about victim mentality. Blame. It’s about blaming everyone, you know, when you’re the one who needs to make a change, you know? It’s about a lot of things. But that’s a pretty bold one. That’s like, taking responsibility. Is it you or me? Is it me or you that’s lying? Maybe I’m just like, full of shit, ya know? [huge laugh]

CN: I like that one a lot, too.

DB: Thanks.

CN: Which of your musical influences would you most like to meet or have met, if they are deceased, and why?

DB: Well, obviously I’d love to meet somebody like John Lennon, you know? I mean, I love John Lennon. Beethoven or Chopin I’d love to meet. One musical kind of idol that I just got to meet a few days ago was Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates. And I’m completely obsessed with Hall and Oates.

CN: I was going to ask you about being on his show. (click here to view show)

DB: I’m so obsessed with Hall and Oates. [she makes girlish big eyed look and we both laugh] Even more lately. Like, I’m kind of just, the more, I never really spent a lot of time with them, and I have to admit that there was a time when I actually really did not like Hall and Oates. I didn’t like Carol King, I didn’t like Hall and Oates, I didn’t like any of the kind of music that I feel like I actually pull a lot from. I hated The Carpenters. My parents would turn it on and I would be like, “Uhhuuhhhh. That’s awful music.” And now I’m obsessed with Burt Bacharach. I’m obsessed with The Carpenters. I’ve realized that I hate it all, but that’s what I absorbed and it’s almost like I’ve made it mine. And it’s like, I’ve turned it around. And now it’s like, “Wow. This is amazing. This music is incredible.” And so, yeah, working with Daryl Hall, um, last week, taping the show, Live At Daryl’s House, was just pretty much insane. He sang four of my songs, and we did it with the whole band. I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen the show. You know how it works, but we kind of duet on all the songs. I did two Hall and Oates songs. We did a cover, and yeah, to hear him, like—he sang “Fire Escape” and he sang the second verse and all of a sudden he’s like, [imitates Daryl] “My bleeding heart…” And I was just like, “Holy shit!” He literally took the song to like, Hall and Oates land. I was like, “This is incredible!” [laughs] So uh, yeah, that was incredible, just as a songwriter, I have so much respect for him and I think he’s just such a genius and I love his style, so that was pretty exciting.

CN: What artistic disciplines, other than music, inspire you?

DB: Artistic disciplines… Well, it’s very hard for me to be disciplined. Um, artistic disciplines…wait, sorry, say the last part of what you just asked.

CN: Like dance or painting…

DB: Uh, I love photography. I really love photography, and I’m not like, great, but I love photography. If you could call, I guess, perfume…like, there’s an art to being a perfumer. I’d love to be a perfumer because I’m obsessed with fragrance and really understanding all the levels of fragrance and the layers and it’s like this fine…

CN: If you had your own perfume, that would be awesome.

DB: It would be awesome, but then it’s like, Paris Hilton has a fragrance and Britney Spears and then it’s like this whole thing where it’s not about the fragrance. I’m actually obsessed…I don’t even want it to be like, my name or anything. I want to start a fragrance line. I’ve always wanted to start a fragrance line. I love jewelry. I love to make jewelry and stuff like that. But um, yeah. Those are the ones that I’m really into. [both giggle]

CN: What’s the most unexpected thing that happened in the studio during the recording of the album?

DB: Um… [laughs] We’ll stay away from the bad things. Most unexpected thing…Probably the most unexpected thing for me was walking into the studio--when I heard that there was going to be strings on the album, I thought, okay, there’s the guy that did the arrangement. And so we talked about the arrangements, and so I just thought, oh, people are gonna come in and like, overdub these different parts. ‘Cause like, we talked about all the different parts, and I’m like, “Wow, this is gonna sound really big in the end.” And I thought, probably like, oh, a ten string section and wow it’s gonna be amazing, ya know? I walk into the studio and there’s like, 35 people in there. And you know, many from the New York Phil[harmonic], and a guy on French horn, who’s apparently like the premiere French horn player in the country…and that was insane, like to hear my songs with a 35-piece string orchestra. I mean, I cried. I was like, “This is insane.” You know what I mean? I stood there like, [makes crying voice], “Oh my God! Aaahhh!” [laughs] You don’t realize that your songs, you know, come to life and all these people are putting all these things into it, until you are like, “That’s incredible. You just brought it up to a whole new level.” And you don’t think that it’s gonna be like that when you are sitting in your room writing a song at two in the morning, ya know?

CN: Right.

DB: So that was probably one of the highlights for me.

CN: I wanted to ask you about some songs that aren’t on this record.

DB: Oh! Please…

CN: Two of them that I really like…

DB: Okay.

CN: “Sweet River Tree”…

DB: Okay.

CN: And “Cheap Ass Love”.

DB: [laughs loudly] Well, um, “Sweet River Tree” was probably, it was the first song I wrote that kind of embodied the sort of sound of this record. It was the first song that I’d ever written that actually was—it was my song—it was where I found my voice. I was sitting in a rehearsal space. I had a show the next day and I had hired some band to play my songs. I was gonna play a show in L.A. and we had just had this rehearsal and I was so depressed afterwards. I was like, “God, these songs suck. I suck. I hate my voice. I hate the way these songs sound. Nobody’s inspired by this. This sucks. I should just give up.” And then I had—everybody left because like, they were finished, and I was sitting there and I had like 45 minutes left of the rehearsal space. And I was just sitting there in front of my keyboard like, totally depressed. I was like, “God, this sucks.” And I thought to myself, “What would I want to hear? If I wanted to hear myself singing something, what would I want to hear?” And I just wrote “Sweet River Tree”, and I started singing it. I just started singing it. I started like, whatever. And then I finished and there was a guy that came in from, that was working in the rehearsal space, and he was like, “I don’t know what that was that you were playing, but that was really beautiful.” And I was like, “Really? Thanks.” So the next night I played it at my show. I was like, “Yeah, this is totally new. I’m just gonna try something out.” And I played it and everyone came up to me afterwards and were like, “That’s your sound. That’s you. For the first time I heard you. I heard something that you do, that you’re about. I felt it.” You know what I mean? And that was like, the starting point for me, was that song. So that kinda, that’s always gonna be special to me.

And then uh, “Cheap Ass Love” I wrote when I was in England and I had a Blackberry and I didn’t have a lot of friends but I had a Blackberry and so I felt like I was connected to the outside world. So I wrote the song about my Blackberry because it was the cheapest form of love and friend, some really half-assed friend was my Blackberry. And I wrote that. [laughs] I’ve always loved that song. There’s something about it I’ve just always really liked…

CN: I do love that song. [laughs]

DB: Yeah. I like it a lot, too. It’s actually on the Japanese release. They released it for the Japanese album, so…

CN: “Sweet River Tree”, the lyrics, it sounds like it could be almost political.

DB: Yeah, I mean, it is. It is, in a way. It’s like, it’s kind of about, ya know, the world, just like, ya know, taking advantage. Like, what are ya gonna—a lot of it was just about destruction of rainforests, it’s about—ya know, I’m from Africa, so you know I got to see a lot of really crazy things living in Zimbabwe. And it’s like, all these little children, their parents have died of AIDS, their government doesn’t give a shit about them and is essentially like, so corrupt, I mean, and so, I feel really passionate about that stuff. And um, it’s just kind of like reflecting on, like, wow, like, nature and all the beautiful parts of life and what really matters is just so overlooked by like, money…you know, like, war…power, like, quest for power…and it’s just like, you know…

CN: That’s one reason why that song stuck out for me. That, and it’s so pretty in the way it sounds. It wraps around it and pulls you in.

DB: Yeah. It’s just like, basically saying that people are essentially fucking themselves. “You’re burning down, like, wow, good for you! Look at what you’ve done! You’ve created an empire and you’re burning down like, this incredible, you know, world. You know, we have such a beautiful world and you’re just fucking it up. You know, wow. Look at what you’ve done. Good for you. You’ve got the power.” You know what I mean? It’s kind of ironic.

CN: I find it interesting that you call your album Bible Belt. I grew up in the South, and where I grew up is called The Bible Belt. So, I kind of felt that a lot.

DB: There’s a lot of layers to it. A lot of people are like, “Oh, are you from The Bible Belt? And it’s like, no, I’m not. My dad was a preacher. I had a very strict upbringing and it was very restrictive and I felt repressed and it was like a belt, you know? You know, the belt is a form of punishment, it’s like, a lot of things, you know? And it’s all in the name of The Bible. So I couldn’t imagine a different title.

CN: That’s the way it is living in those Southern states, just because the religion is so overwhelming and repressive.

DB: Yeah. You know, and a lot of people think this is a Christian album. And it’s like, just listen to it. It’s not really a Christian album. I rebelled when I was a teenager, and I’m not rebelling anymore, because it’s not an angry album. I’m not angry because I already processed it. I’ve essentially taken all those things that I was raised with, you know, all these really religious kind of ideologies, and you know, heaven, angels, you know, miracles, and all these things, I’ve taken all that kind of, all those ideas, in a way, and I’ve absorbed them, and I’ve transformed them from what they were given to me as and I’ve turned them into something that’s mine, you know? And now they’re mine. And they are what they mean to me. And it’s not religious. I’m not religious at all, but I’m still, those kinds of things are very much a part of me. So, it’s just interesting how the process goes. You know, you rebel and all of a sudden you realize, like, “I’m a product of my childhood. I can’t get rid of these things, but these things are actually now really beautiful. They’re a part of my art, you know? It’s like, scars, you know? It’s a beautiful scar. And this is what makes me, me. Do you know what I mean?

CN: Exactly.

DB: Yeah.

CN: What’s in favored rotation in your iPod, and why?

DB: [giggles] Well… Let’s see. I mean, lots of Hall and Oates, because obviously I’ve been obsessed. Um, you know, I’m into a lot of old like, disco and cosmic disco, Giorgio Moroder, John Fortage, John Miles, um, Michael McDonald…I’m obsessed with Michael McDonald. [laughs] Doobie Brothers, um, what else, what else… um, I love rap, like, early ‘90s rap, hip-hop, you know, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, gangsta rap, Southern rap… I love it. Um, I have a really weird mix of music that I listen to. I listen to dancehall. I listen to, you know, so many different kinds of music that has nothing to do with me. I mean, I love so much goth music. You know, I love Sisters of Mercy and The Cure and Bauhaus and I went to see Peter Murphy in concert a couple months ago.

CN: Were you at the Highline Ballroom?

DB: Yeah.

CN: I was there.

DB: You were? That’s awesome! [both laugh] I went to meet him backstage afterwards because my friend was his tour manager, my friend from L.A., and uh, so, yeah, that was pretty awesome. I got to kind of hang out with Peter Murphy for a minute. [laughs]

CN: He’s great.

DB: Yeah, he’s so great.

CN: I loved his little prayer he gave for Michael Jackson. That was great.

DB: Yeah. That was great.

CN: He went from berating the heckler, cursing out the heckler, to doing an Islamic prayer like [snaps fingers] that, and I was like…

DB: Everyone was like, “What the fuck?” I was like, “Go on. Go on. Sing it. Sing it.” It was so good.

CN: Like, in the blink of an eye. It was so amazing. Only he could do it. I love that man.

DB: Oh, and one more thing about musical heroes, dead or alive…Michael Jackson. I mean, I am like a humongous Michael Jackson fan.

CN: Are you?

DB: Yeah. My God. I think he is one of the most genius, like, genius geniuses of all time…

CN: Who inspires you most as a humanitarian right now?

DB: As a humanitarian… Um, I mean, I don’t know. There’s so many people doing a lot of things. I mean, Annie Lennox is doing a lot of good things. You know, these are just celebrity kind of things… Gosh, I don’t know. I just… I’m a big fan of Obama. I think he’s doing really great things. I don’t really know who’s inspiring me right now as a humanitarian. I feel like everybody could be doing more, actually. It’s kind of more like the individual, the smaller the people, there are so many people doing so many great things that are not on the radar, you know what I mean, that are making changes. There are so many women—like, I just went to this kind of seminar honoring women in San Diego that was for Fortune Magazine and honoring powerful women. And there was a woman who spoke from—I can’t remember where she was from, like Somalia or something, I can’t remember exactly—but she was kind of given this award because she has basically came from this incredibly oppressive village and they treat women, you know, basically like, you’re basically like, a servant and you shouldn’t be educated. These women are basically rising up against this and are like, “No. I want to learn. I want to learn how to use computers. I want to get educated. And they are essentially, like, working against all odds to educate their villages and to train girls to kind of rise up and say, “No, we’re not gonna do this.” And that, to me, is so powerful. And this woman spoke. And she gave the most heart-warming speech about what she’s doing to kind of help her village and how far she’s come, standing there in San Diego at this like, $6,000.00 a ticket event, standing there talking in front of some of the like, biggest, heavy-hitters, you know, women in business, essentially. And she’s talking about all the things she’s doing. And she’s getting an award, and it’s just like, “Wow. That’s so incredible.” These are the people that I really have so much respect for, because they weren’t born into it. They weren’t like—they didn’t have the opportunities. They created them. You know what I mean? That is really powerful. And those are the people that I feel are really making the biggest differences, you know?

CN: What is your greatest fear?

DB: Ooohhh. One of my greatest fears is flying. I’m petrified of flying. I absolutely hate flying. And my other one I don’t even want to say because I feel like I’ll jinx myself, but I’ll tell you anyway…being buried alive. [screams] Aaaahhhh… That is like my greatest fear, ever!

CN: [laughs]

DB: [makes a really mortified face] I just like, oh, you know, and something horrible happening to my family… You know, that’s always, like, my greatest fear. But uh, and war…the ugly side of human beings is so scary to me.

CN: We are pretty bad, aren’t we? We are the monsters.

DB: We have the ability to be the most evil people.

CN: Yeah, you saw a lot of it in Africa.

DB: Yeah. It’s just like, power and…[trails off as if lost in a memory] Ya know, it’s crazy. [laughs nervously]

CN: What are you most grateful for at this point?

DB: I’m most grateful for everything. You know, I’m most grateful for everything that I thought was an obstacle, you know, which was an obstacle. I’m grateful for the fact that I had to push really hard against something in order to—I had to fight. I had to fight back what I was given in order to get what I have. You know what I mean. And I’m most grateful for that because if I didn’t have that, I would have probably have never worked. I would have just been complacent, and I had something to rebel against. You know? And that’s really powerful. And that’s essentially been, you know, the backbone of my entire creative process, my journey, my life, all the things like my dreams—that’s been the core for everything, you know, is the struggle. And so, I’m most grateful for that.

I mean, obviously, I’m so grateful for all the opportunities and all the doors that opened and all the people that have—I mean, I have the most incredible team of people working with me. And that’s so much more than they need to, because they believe in me and they believe in what I’m doing, and that’s…I mean, that’s incredible, you know? And I’m so lucky to have that. You know, but it all came from a—there’s a reason why I’m here the way that I am and it’s because of the fact that I had to rebel. I had to push against it.

CN: Sometimes if you don’t push you don’t get anywhere, though. You sit back and just coast…

DB: Yeah, but it’s all up to you. I believe the power is in the individual, you know? And you create whatever you—I really believe in, like, you have the power. People really have so much more power than they realize they do. You know? It’s all psychological.

CN: It is. It’s true. How did you meet the guys at S-Curve and your producers?

DB: I met them when I got a publishing deal at EMI in the UK. They sent me out to work with Betty Wright in Miami, just for a little while. We were out there just kind of meeting and hanging out and then they called Steve Greenberg to get her phone number. And he called when I was down there and he was like, “Who’s this girl? What’s she about?” He was just curious. So I played for him over the phone. And then he put me on a plane and flew me to New York and I played for him. It’s like a little thing, little thing, little thing, little thing and all of a sudden you look back and you’re like, WHOA! If that didn’t happen, this wouldn’t have happened. If this didn’t happen, this wouldn’t have happened, ya know? It’s like…

CN: The train of coincidences…

DB: I know. You’ve just got to follow. You’ve got to follow the path. You’ve got to follow the flow, and you’ve got to know when to like, go down a road and when to be like, “No.” It’s hard. You know? And it’s trial and error, but you have to be open to things and you can’t be so rigid in your, like, kind of ideas about how you think your life should go that you just close doors before you’ve even checked what’s behind it.

CN: A lot of people do that. A lot of people do that.

DB: Hhhmmm… Yeah. You have to be open. I thought I was going to be scoring movies. I never thought I was going to be singing.

CN: That’s hard. Time codes and everything…

DB: Well, it’s political, more than anything, you know?

CN: You think?

DB: Yeah. It’s intense.

CN: I have a friend who does some of that. [whispering] I’ll introduce ya. Now let’s make sure I save this right. I’d hate to erase it. [whispering] That would suck…

DB: [laughs really hard]