When you grow up in the music industry, trying to be Britney Spears because that's what sells records and then you realize, 'All I have to do is be myself? I should have thought of that a long time ago,' it feels good to have success come from what's actually inside of you.

All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.

I write music with an exclamation point!

What is music anyway? It's a form of communication, and that's why I play the kind of music that I think - that I hope - can communicate with people.

I was a good amateur but only an average professional. I soon realized that there was a limit to how far I could rise in the music business, so I left the band and enrolled at New York University.