I'm vulnerable to criticism. Any artist is because you work alone in your studio and until recently critics were the only way you'd get any feedback.

It's an amazing feeling to go into a studio and really be alone.

The daily act of writing remains as demanding and maddening as it was before and the pleasure you get from writing - rare but profound - remains at the true heart of the enterprise. On their best days writers all over the world are winning Pulitzers all alone in their studios with no one watching.

When it comes down to it it's about who you know and who's a fan. It's about whether you're the right age whether you're hot or not whether the studio is into you or not.

What turns me on about the digital age what excited me personally is that you have closed the gap between dreaming and doing. You see it used to be that if you wanted to make a record of a song you needed a studio and a producer. Now you need a laptop.