I'm in an odd position because I write across so many genres for so many people and they all influence me, and if I'm going to write as honest an album as possible, it's going to be layered.

Honest always sells. Always has, always will.

I can go write an absolutely saccharine pop record with a really catchy lyric for another artist that could become a hit without meaning anything to me, but that's more the science laboratory, that's the other thing.

When I moved to L.A., I was penniless, absolutely beyond broke and in debt up to my eyeballs.

Melody is the single most important thing to any song, period. I don't care what anybody says, it trumps everything. Not because that's my opinion but because I think it's actually indisputable fact. The human brain retains melody easier than it retains words. It's that simple.

There is maybe a cynicism because of my past as a writer.

I think often times if a guitar riff is centered around the chorus or if it follows the chorus, then it often times turns into the actual hook.