I have to shut down from other artists, because otherwise I end up giving them my stories.

If you're talking to an architect, he can look at a blank piece of paper, and once the initial design is there, the formula kicks in. Each room should have something unique and different about it - much the same way that in a song, every eight bars or so, a new piece of information should be introduced.

Any time you have a song that is directly connected to a very specific musical trend of the moment, you have immediately cut it off at the knees, doesn't matter if it goes to number one in the world, if you're too attached to a production style.

I think the true test of a pop song, for me, and I've talked to a lot of other writers about this, is you take your demo, you pop it in your car and you drive down Sunset Blvd. to Santa Monica, and that's the Hollywood car test.

I live in Los Angeles, which is the second most polluted city in the world, and I wake up in the morning to dirt all over my window.

The Beatles are the most credible band in the history of music.

I find the songs that have the most human components in production are the ones that will stand the test of time.