Music is one of the few things I'm relatively good at, one of the things I understand a little better than everything else.

People think that since we're on a major label, all of a sudden everyone's telling us what to do and it's really not like that at all. They're just saying you should tour because you can finally get out of debt and everyone's coming out to the shows we sold.

I think there are things that need changing obviously. I think there are things that I think we overdid on the first record, I think there are things we didn't do enough of on the first record. And as a writer and directing this project, I know when to pull off now.

I don't think people talk about mental illness a lot, but they need to know it's OK to talk about how they are feeling. People are afraid of telling the truth because they think it's going to hurt everyone around them. I've kept so much inside that I've literally lost it. I wish more people would get help when they feel like they need it-- not just to look to medicine, but to the support of others.

I mean, I am a little different from the band in that I, I'm pretty much an isolated writer. I don't associate myself with a lot of other writers, unless like, I'll write someone like a fan letter, and we start talking from then on, or like a songwriter that I like, you know.

I hated the blog hype and how fast everything was happening. It didn't feel natural to me. But at the same time, what's more natural than thousands of people sharing your music because they just really like it?

I became really creative around the time I started understanding that people could be creative with music and that that was allowed. I stated taking piano lessons at age five, but I never did what my piano teacher told me to do. I would just do whatever I wanted.