“Otherwise they’re not going to feel great when they’re up there miming it.”

100 percent, my whole life. I went to school, I did music theory,

As a kid, I wasn’t given the sense that celebrity, or fame or any of that,

Was something to be impressed by, or to seek out. It was always impressed upon me that making something well crafted

I felt like I wanted to make more than just music.

I’m pretty committed to being a filmmaker because it incorporates everything I love: music, art direction, story, and you know – everything.

And I try to preserve whatever’s of value and achievable in their idea.

I’ve never made a video where I didn’t talk to the artist before I wrote the treatment.

Basically, I enter into it knowing we are collaborators.

I always wanted to be a musician.

And I’ve tried to do that where I can in my field.

If it’s something I can’t achieve, I tell them straight.

My process in making a music video is pretty much a formula of talking to the artist.

I did voice training and piano lessons, and while I was a decent musician.

It didn’t seem like enough for me.

I try to bring musicians into the logistics of filmmaking.

Musicians ultimately are who they are, they aren’t actors, so as a clipmaker you have a responsibility to protect them.

I love stories that put you on the edge of your seat and make you feel something.

I think most artists feel like they’re outside society – no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your bank account, whatever is going on in your life on the professional side.

If people invited Muslims into their home every week by way of a TV show would go a long way to making people feel comfortable with Muslims and countering misconceptions about who we are. Plus, of course, that will make it easier for us to impose sharia law across America.

The romantic stuff comes a lot easier when you’re experiencing true love. It feels better, it feels more natural to record love songs when you’re in love.

The experience of being on a show that is very much in the center of popular culture is exciting. You really feel like you’re reaching people.

I did not feel a particularly strong call to any one subject, but read voraciously and widely and began to find science interesting.

Comedy can reach many more people than, say, a serious lecture on the topic. And comedy might just be the access point to reach people who want to be entertained and also learn something.

I just feel like I have a lot to prove.