A lot of artists talk about getting out of their comfort zones and being the most proud of their newest album. But it is true for me. I rethought a lot of what I do.

I can't sit and compare my trouble to Brian Wilson but I came from a blue-collar family of fishermen. Music was an escape and a way for me to dream of better things and a better place to be. Let's just say I was an insecure, scared kid.

Sometimes being an artist means knowing when to let someone see something in you that is there that you can't hear or see.

I would rather have people be even cynical about me than to feed the negative vibe.

I brought in producer Johan Carlsson [Ariana Grande, One Direction, Flo Rida] and asked, "Can you make this better?" And he did.

I look at my little ones and I love them so much. I think to myself, "By God, if my son is gay, it's not that he was turned or learned into it. My son, his soul, the way he was born ... this is him.

I realize I have made a lot of mistakes and done things wrong. I've done things I wish I could have done in another way. I didn't come in with the same kind of desperation that I may have had on the first or second record. I didn't come in thinking, 'Oh God, please. I hope this does well because I have nothing else and I worked so hard at this.'