I've changed the way I look at things. When I put out a record or single I don't allow myself to set up expectations like, "This song must be a number one hit. Its got to sell X amount of records." I have fallen into that trap before.

Writing the songs and producing the songs and arranging them and recording them is your canvas and your palette and your brush.

It's better to not set your expectations high. And that's what happens when you have a long career - not every album is going to be record setting.

Computers and the Internet have made it really easy to rant. It's made everyone overly opinionated.

I've changed the way I look at things. When I put out a record or single I don't allow myself to set up expectations like, "This song must be a number one hit. Its got to sell X amount of records." I have fallen into that trap before.

I tend to get my hands into all these other things and all these distractions, and after a while I start feeling depleted.

But at this phase of my life, I want to write and not have to think about whether a song is going to be a hit. I want to explore the music that inspires me, and I don't want to ape myself.