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.

When you're around enormously successful people you realise their success isn't an accident - it's about work.

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.

I knew I could make money from songwriting, so how much and when was not really the question.

The classic, quote/unquote, craft of songwriting still works; it still is relevant.

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

When life gives you the opportunity to check off a thing on the bucket list, you have to check them.