Even when I interviewed bands, it was about asking them about writing songs, so it was more for me than anybody else.

You will never have the answers, but you have to keep pushing yourself and keep reading and keep working on yourself.

Ive been making music since I was 14, but for a while, I was afraid to perform.

I hardly ever go back to Florida. It's really hard to go back. I mean, I hated it so much. I didn't grow up in a great neighborhood, and it puts me back in that feeling of, "I want to get out immediately." That was kind of the push and what still pushes me, that I don't want to end up back there.

I was just a music lover who wondered what it would sound like if Otis Redding strapped on a guitar and played in a punk band. Thats it.

I realized that the reason why my head was so cluttered and why I was so unstable and not taking care of myself, all of these things, was that I was unhappy. If I wanted to get to a happier place and find some kind of peace, I was going to have to address problems with myself, things from my life up until that point that I hadn't dealt with: insecurities, fears, and those kinds of things.

It's not enough to have good intentions. If you want to be a good person, you have to make good decisions all the time and live a life that's worth living and that you can be proud of, and that's what I wanted.