I'm obviously really opinionated, but as a producer, you don't necessarily want the person you're working with to try to impress you - you want them to just be themselves. Then you can edit or mess around with what they've come up with. But you have to allow the artist that space.

Some people have been listening to the Beatles their whole lives; I didn't discover them until I was 18 years old. As a result, I'm still very affected and moved by their music - maybe in a way that's different from someone who grew up around it.

When I dont have a good time making music, I think of quitting a lot. I really do. I can create something else. Ill do something else.

I have ideas all of the time from the beginning, but they never really wind up turning out like I thought they would.

Even with artists I love, only about a third of their music is what really hits the sweet spot for me.

Going back and forth between wanting to be respected artistically and wanting to move people is its own challenge.

If you're 22 years old and you can't believe you're even in the position to have a career making music, the first thing you're going to think is: Maintain. Don't lose it. And that's precisely what causes you to lose everything.