I used to hyperventilate, but I don't do that anymore.
I don't think I'll ever feel perfectly balanced, but I feel like I'm figuring it out, and I'm surrounded by really wonderful people that want to see me succeed and be happy. Life is wild.
I always had a hard time communicating my emotions. I'd retreat into my bedroom and listen to music. And when you're a teenager, you're dealing with all these hormones. It's like, 'What are these?'
When I first started making music, it was where I went when I couldn't express myself, when I wasn't able to connect with other people, when I couldn't talk about what I was going through.
I'm not the sad sack that people might think I am. But I think that if I didn't write and perform, I probably would be.
I'm not a down-in-the-dumps person. I think some people assume that I am because of the music I write.
I've always liked to learn how to do things - I'm a hobby person. So I'll learn something at a beginner's level, then usually move on to the next thing.
Just getting older, you stop caring what other people think, but also, you know who you are, and you know what you want.
You'd better have something good to say if you've got a roomful of people who've paid to see you.
Most musicians are normal people who want to hang out and are really down to earth.
I always write from a personal place - whether it be about my friends or myself or a story that I heard.
I believe my songs are strong enough to stand on their own - even way back then when they were recorded badly and minimally.
I'm a sucker for a love song!
I hit 'record' whenever I'm going through a really hard time. I don't listen to it for a couple of days, so I have some perspective. If it's too personal to share, and I feel like would alienate the listeners, then I usually don't share that stuff.
In some ways, being on the road is like summer camp. There's a camaraderie, but I'm also learning how to be more of a leader.
In my teenage years, there was a lot of angst going on.
I was in musicals. and I was in the choir when I was younger. Before I started writing my own songs, I thought I wanted to be on Broadway, but it was nothing I ever really pursued.
I guess I usually write when I'm in a really intense headspace, because it's my form of self-therapy.
I try to focus on the melodies and try to make everything else minimal. The melody and the lyrics are most important to me.
My mom used to ask me when I was gonna write a happy song. I still tell her that it's when I start to write really happy-sounding songs that everyone needs to start worrying.
As a kid, you put musicians on a pedestal - well, I did. The more you meet bands, and the more you hang around them, you can have normal conversations.
I don't like to hold back. Especially with who I am and what I do, it's all me. Everything's my name; it's what I do. It's how I feel. It's what I think.
I definitely wouldn't consider myself a professional, but I like to dress up like one.
I'm still friends with most of my exes. There are only one or two people that I'll never talk to again.