You can't listen to what people who aren't musical have to say. When Anytime was released, I had bad reviews, and at first I was hurt. Your songs are like your children. You don't want to hear, 'Your kid is ugly.' But I knew the record was good and it would sell.
I kinda went back to that period between '88 and '94 where I felt like I was the most creative, without being hindered by powers that be. I was no longer going to try to hinder myself to what I thought was going to be on the radio.
I am just a guy that watches sports all day.
I am just like all the jerks and idiots you know. I am just a guy that watches sports all day.
I decided I am not going to say things I do not mean anymore.
When the label came to me to say, 'would you like to do another record,' I said, 'Well I got these sixteen songs sitting here, so let's do it.' And that was pretty much it... I never stopped writing, it's just the way that the business is now; you just try to find a different model.
I went back and listened to the first three albums I made and tried to figure out what was special about them, why people keep going back to them. I think it was because I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea if they were going to play it on the radio or anything. All I did was write songs, so that's what I got back to.
I think I'd have to say my favorite IWC. They have been around for so long and the craftsmanship is top notch. A watch maker that has been in business over 100 years has to know what they are doing.
I'm not thinking about what needs to be on the radio. I'm not thinking about anything other than - I'm just going to let this music come out of me and not have any sort of preconceived notion of what I should do. I'm just going to do it.
People now have been conditioned to believe they should only buy one song at a time, that nobody can make an entire record that would merit you paying, you know, $7, $8, $10 when CDs in the '90s were $18, $19 and people bought millions and millions and millions of them.
I'm not like a legend that - so I'm sort of in the middle in this sort of gray area where, you know, I'm creating music, and I'm not saying there isn't an audience, because there is; because all of those people go out and spend $80 to $150 on a concert ticket.
I'll always write music. Whether I release a record, whether I let the public hear it or not, I'm always writing music.
I do not wear my emotions on my sleeve; I write about them.
It is great to have your own label; you can cultivate your own artists... I've worked with pretty much everyone I wanted to.
Know the business; you need to know the business side of things.
I'm probably the furthest from being romantic that you've ever seen; I'm not even close to being romantic in any way until I have to be.
I write about moments, and I don't make blanket statements about anything because no one has all the answers; nobody's come up with a foolproof way to do anything when it comes to emotions.
I am at my core a singer/songwriter a la James Taylor or a la Billy Joel. It's not that I don't want to work with people, but I do just love doing my own thing.
People don't like when you point out to them and remind them that they're not very smart.
I am a writer - that is what I am before being a performer or musician. I love waking up in the morning and then going to sleep that night with something that did not exist.
