Ezra Koenig

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 remember the first pangs of stress arriving at the end of school. Once I graduated I had to get a full-time job, worry about health insurance, saving money, paying rent - things I'd never thought about before.

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.

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

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.

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.

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