I think that sonically, music speaks volumes more than words do, and I have always thought that and will continue to think that for the rest of my life.

I try to shut my brain down as much as possible. And let the melodies flow, if possible.

It's just not an image I had ever put out about myself - the bedroom synth guy. The whole thing seemed ridiculous.

I want a song that raises the hair on the back of my neck when I sing it live and I want to feel it every time.

The greatest thing about my house was that I was in the far end of it and I could make as much noise as I wanted. By the time I moved out, I had a full-sized piano, two full-sized organs, bits and pieces of a drum kit, and a whole computer set up for Pro Tools. I had this mattress in between the piano and the organ. That was the only walking room.

I felt like I needed to get a few side projects out of my system before I settled in to do the new record. Usually what's asked of you, everything's a year cycle. When you get caught up in that cycle, it can be kind of brutal, actually. It was good I got to take a year off, with no pressure coming from anywhere.

As a teenager and a young adult, I never felt like my own story was interesting enough to tell, so I always wrote lyrics from someone else's perspective - told someone else's story.