Early in my songwriting career, when I was learning a lot about writing songs, I'd force myself to sit down until I came up with something.

I wouldn’t necessarily say she is a country artist. I mean, obviously Taylor Swift started in country, but she morphed into somewhat of a cultural icon, so, who am I to judge what she is?

I always want to have a personal relationship with everybody that works for me.

My thing is you just have to try to feel young and stay young. Obviously you get a little older, but I still want my music to be young. I don't want to sound like an old dad onstage, so you just have to write music that sounds young.

You know, if Kelly Clarkson wants to do country albums because that’s what inspires her, then let her do it. Look at Kanye West or Ludacris ... they aren’t rappin’ and cussin’ like they were on their first few albums, so what does that make them? It’s all in the eye of the beholder and the listener. We all use our outlet to grow ourself.

I think it's always important to constantly keep the band on their toes and try new things that you hope will work. That's how 'Apologize' was born, and maybe down the line another little song will be born by that mentality. I've always really liked that song.

My main thing is I'm gonna go out there every night and give it all I got and just try to put on the best show I can. That's just the way I'm programmed and wired.