Writing for other artists helped me figure out that magic you have to capture to make everyone connect with a song.

The drumming helps a lot when I'm producing songs or writing songs. My knowledge of drums helps more in that aspect, (although) I don't know, man; I'm not great at any of them.

You know, my sister sings, my brother plays drums in my band. My whole family is a bunch of musicians.

I just write songs that I strongly believe in and that are coming from inside. There's no tricks. It's honesty with big melodies.

If I was a billionaire, I'd be smart with my money.

My father moved to Hawaii from Brooklyn and my mother came there as a child from the Philippines. They met at a show where my dad was playing percussion. My mom was a hula dancer.

It's dedicating yourself to your craft. Spending thousands of hours in a studio learning how to write a song, learning how to play different chords, training yourself to sing. You know, to get better and better.