Quotes from Josh Tillman

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.

I play sad bastard music. For the money.

I would play my Dungeons and Dragons songs and watch people's eyes glaze over, and then I would start joking around between songs, and all of a sudden people were lighting up and engaging.

What a crazy coincidence that the teaching of Christ sees to be so compatible with late-era capitalism, suburban isolation, rampant consumerism. And so I am not ever surprised when I see evangelicals contort themselves to justify supporting Donald Trump.

Love is the substance of human survival.

There's a lot of risk in putting what you suspect you really are into your music.

People think the world of music is so great, and it's just not. It's so boring, the way music is conceived and then declawed for public consumption.

The main criticism people have of me is, 'Why are you trying so hard? This guy's exhausting.' Yeah, I am! That's my way of trying to get love.

I'm not bamboozled by the fact that people are disgusted by me. I'm not my biggest fan either.

When I was young, I had this contrarian thing, and my music for a long time was an extension of that. I didn't want to entertain people; I had too much vanity to be an entertainer. I think that some layers of vanity came off.

I think that providing obstructions in the live setting is when you get something that actually means something, as opposed to just aping your way through your greatest hits.

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

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 love the exhilaration of feeling a pull quote come out of your mouth. The words just taste better.

People used to see things that disgusted them and say, 'I never want to see that again.' Now we've reached the point where we see things that are disturbing and revolting to us, but we want to see more and more of it.

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.'

Laurel Canyon is kind of grotesque. It's this nature-themed place, and everybody is kind of angry.

I was kind of bored playing drums in a band. Which was depressing, because playing in the band was kind of a golden ticket.

My guiding principle when writing with other people is that it's not worth it to give someone a song unless it hurts for me to give them that song.

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

Interpretive thinking, as an art form, is dying.

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

I think Kanye West is a hilarious writer.

With sad music, or music that's perceived as sad, there's a sense of solidarity that can be really powerful. My songs are all joyful to me.