You play a couple of shows, and these label guys come - and they leave halfway through a show. Then the phone calls just stop. And your heart is broken.

I really wanted to approach performing live differently than most people who just play guitar and sing.

My love of R&B and hip-hop has influenced my life not even as a musician, but generally in terms of growing up and looking to America as an inspiration.

I made a note in my head to be aware of things as they were happening, because they might not happen again. Up to that point, I was not really that appreciative of what was going on, or thinking about documenting life in a plainspoken manner. I was talking about my life and writing songs, but then I would go back and listen and they were about dreams, and legends, and metaphors and that was just not my life!

I like what I like, I don't like what I don't like, and I'm very bad at toning myself down.

I'm learning on the guitar all the time.

The idea of trying to predict what people will or won't respond to is risky.