Some of their best songs don't have bridges and choruses. So that made me think I should trust my instincts. My songs were okay, I figured. I didn't need to change anything.

We just did a few takes of a song and just picked the best one. It was real organic and genuine.

Theres so many other things to write about than unrequited love.

I grew up around poets and novelists and my dad wrote poems about everything - from a cat sleeping in a window to a car wreck he passed on the highway. I learned not to censor myself: that was one of things I learned in my apprenticeship, my creative-writing apprenticeship with my dad.

It's just the more you do it the better you get, or at least that's how I feel in my case. I think it's a combination of confidence and just having done it this long and just learning. I'm always learning. I'm still honing my craft.

I grew up in a very literate, very independent household where people spoke their ideas and were very supportive of helping each other find their own way

Have compassion for everyone you meet, even if they don’t want it.