My first attempt at real music was when I was 13. My first signed band was when I was 21; that failed. I got another deal at 26; that failed, and then I was broke.

You don't put out music unless you have a sense that people will maybe like what you're doing or you're standing for something artistically.

The world's pretty trippy. I just like to travel around and see what's out there.

More than anything, I’m excited to have the artistic freedom and opportunity to make a sophomore record. Everybody dreads the sophomore slump, whereas I am embracing it and can’t wait to either go down in flames, or take it to another level. It’s not going to be in the middle – it’ll be one way or the other. That’s how it has to be.

I've always found it pretty difficult to write a happy song.

Growing up from Nirvana to all the bands I was listening to at the teenage time, those were my best friends, more than my real friends. Those were the people that sang me to sleep or gave me the confidence I needed to go to first period. When we're all so insecure with weird stuff, when we're having weird feelings toward girls or guys, or whatever. It's the insecurity of life that we all go through. So music helped me.

I was in a hardcore band that had no melody, no chance of finding any success, and I was just trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life. And that came out and changed my life forever - on an artistic level, and a lyrical level, for sure.