I always write from rhythm first, so if I need a song fast, I have to start there. Then I just threw some electric guitar at it.

So many policy decisions that effect musicians are being made without any input from musicians at all.

Mostly, the people in "the room" are paid lobbyists representing interests that could afford to pay them. No wonder policy isn't being made that helps smaller, independent musicians or those unaffiliated with a larger entity.

When I began writing songs, there was a pretty direct line between what was happening in my life and what I wrote about. So my first album was really all about my failed attempts to make a particular relationship work.

I started to understand what the song could be about. The ache of nostalgia even for things we don't like, the commitment to keep moving despite that ache. It made me think of how I relate to my privilege - as a white person, as someone who grew up upper middle class.

It's funny because my main awkwardness around writing the song had little to do with the method.

I always write from rhythm first, so if I need a song fast, I have to start there. Then I just threw some electric guitar at it.