A big part of making an album is that you want to have enough material - you want to have enough stuff for people to hear and know that it represents you.

If you know what kind of music somebody loves, then you can kind of figure out why they do what they do.

The musicians themselves don't seem to know enough about why they're in the positions they're in, so they're afraid to lose those positions.

All I do is listen to music. It's a weird thing. It's like I have so much catching up to do. I've always been over my head. That's just the way I work best, you know. Like when you're studying for school you think, "I can only study when I have to study the night before." That kind of means you're lazy or you're a procrastinator, but for me with music it's a similar thing. It's like I've been over my head for most of my career so to speak.

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

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.

No matter how naturally gifted you are, it's your passion that's going to make you better and maybe touch some people.