You can be born into a musical family and have an ear for music but being technically gifted, be it playing an instrument or songwriting, takes years to get good at. So for me, I'm excited to start over, and yeah, I have a few talents I can build off of. But I see this as a long process; it's a marathon.

I can count my friends on one hand.

I looked up to my father when I was 7 and 8. I believed it was my calling to be in the big leagues. I'd been raised by a family that always told me I could do anything I wanted.

I view my pitching on how confident I was out there, period. And if I lose that confidence, I can become a prisoner of my own mind.

When someone becomes successful or rich and famous, people perceive that person as being different. But I'm the same guy I've always been.

It would be great to just be able to ignore everything and pitch to a spot, to suppress the intellect and let the intuition take over.

I just write mechanical things.