Quotes from Ezra Koenig

There aren't that many people walking about who are a total class stereotype.

Musicals don't get enough credit for being so surreal. It's like an alternate universe.

For you to be able to take a picture of yourself that you feel good enough about to share with the world - I think that's a great thing.

My dad has a really great record collection that basically went up to the year I was born: 1984.

It's so easy for anyone to deal with their own guilt of being a middle-class white music fan by pointing to other people who they perceive to be richer than them, whiter than them.

All I know for sure is that issues like race, like class, are always best approached with compassion and open-mindedness.

If kids and teenagers can get into a band, it's probably not because they think it's brainy.

If you're lonely, bored, or unhappy, remember you are mad young. There is so much time to meet new people and go to new places.

I'm pretty sure that the Walkmen are the band that I've paid to see the most in my life.

I grew up listening to Jay-Z, and I think the first time I really became obsessed with learning and thinking about lyrics was when I started listening to rap; I was 11, 12, and started becoming aware of music beyond the familiar.

I still to this day get the most inspiration from rap lyrics.

Growing up listening to rap music, you almost feel like you should have haters. That's an important part of being a successful musician. It's a good thing, I guess.

Rapping and singing are not two polar opposites. There's so much middle ground. And I think there's a lot of people who find that middle ground.

You can be 24 and continue to live like you're at college, or even continue to live like you're in high school. Or you can put on a shirt and tie and pretend to be an adult.

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood, and I got a scholarship from my dad's union to go to college. I went there to get an education, not as an extension of privilege.

It's pretty cool that people will pay for something even though they don't have to. It's totally different now to back in the day. Now you're paying for a record because you believe in the band. In the future that will be the only time people will pay for albums, because there's some kind of connection.

Tom Cruise is one of the most successful actors of all time.

Making every record is a process full of tough times.

It's cool to have instruments lying around because they give you different ideas.

I do think sometimes there's danger in guest appearance mania. I've seen too many examples that sound cool on paper, like 'Oh, get that guy to sing the hook on that guy's song ' and then that's all it is. It's a cool idea that sounds good on paper.

I don't like to generalize but I've had nothing but bad experiences with Mexican food in Europe.

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood, and I got a scholarship from my dad's union to go to college. I went there to get an education, not as an extension of privilege.

I grew up listening to Jay-Z, and I think the first time I really became obsessed with learning and thinking about lyrics was when I started listening to rap I was 11 12, and started becoming aware of music beyond the familiar.

It's pretty cool that people will pay for something even though they don't have to. It's totally different now to back in the day. Now you're paying for a record because you believe in the band. In the future that will be the only time people will pay for albums, because there's some kind of connection.