I didn't really listen to rock 'n' roll until I moved to LA. We would ditch school, go get high, put on Zeppelin IV and just bug out.

One musician listens to another musician, and you get inspired and then you do your thing, but it's yours.

When I'm in the studio, I write the music, I play the different instruments, I produce it, I arrange it, and it's a self-indulgent exercise. It's the way I make my music. And when I'm acting, I get to leave myself behind, which is a relief. I get to collaborate with a director; I respect the director's medium and all the actors and actresses. So at the end of the day, it's about a character and it's about a director's vision. It's a really good balance for being so intense and alone in my personal process of making music.

I feel like I'm only in the beginning of my career. I've only made five albums. It's not a lot.

I made the record that my life had me make. Each one is like a diary.

Keeping grounded and keeping focused and keeping calm and thankful, that comes from God.

The story that I wanna tell is pretty much about the way I grew up. Being bi-racial, growing up in a big city and being an artist.