I wanted to put jazz on the record, all the loves of music that I had on the record, so I could show people I was ahead of my 19 years. It may have been over the heads of some people.

Everything I have now is so real, so vivid.

I'm never satisfied with what I do.

I'll always write music. Whether I release a record, whether I let the public hear it or not, I'm always writing music.

Back in college, when I got kicked out of school, I was still in school, I'd just written the song that got me my record deal. If I hadn't gotten kicked out of school I wouldn't be where I am now. Three months after that, I got my record deal and the rest is history.

You know, most of my career I wrote about moments in time. All of us have felt one thing or another and it didn't last very long. Now I'm drawing from real experience. It's a huge difference.

I started as a writer and when I sent my demos out everyone wanted to know who was singing and if that person wanted a record deal.