I have a fan base eager for more stuff. That makes me more than happy. I know I have an army behind me.
At the end of the day, we want love, and we want to feel loved.
When I want to get inspired, I'll put a Pixar movie on silent and listen to Nas.
I think honest lyrics help somebody say, 'I was struggling with this, but if Jon goes through that, too, and if Jon's telling me that his life isn't as good as it seems on his Instagram,' that helps somebody in their day to day.
People don't realize I make records eight or nine months before they come out. I'm directing the videos; I have a lot of work to do. I'm very involved in all that stuff creatively.
I'd watch Pixar movies for, like, six hours, back-to-back. I'd watch 'Finding Nemo' twice a week, back-to-back-to-back, three times in a row.
I used to work at a catering hall in Hauppauge. Anybody who works as a server in a catering hall, more power to you, but I wanted to make music.
I wrote 'Monster' and thought that it would solve a lot of my problems, that I'd have money in the bank, but I felt no different. I was still searching for something.
I always want to approach records from where it feels very graspable. You know what the song's about, but it's presented to you in a way that's like, 'I never heard something like this before,' but it doesn't push you away.
Rapping was a hobby; when I went to college, there were a ton of dudes rapping. I think that's where I got my rapping chops up.
I was raised on 'TRL' and listened to every genre that sounded good to me, from Sum 41 to Jay Z to Band of Horses to J. Dilla to Deathcab for Cutie to Pharrell.
I just never really though you could or couldn't listen to a certain type of music.
I loved everything, but it was Kanye West who really changed everything for me.
A lot of the album 'The Definition' was made from two things: Pixar movies and J. Dilla.
As far as the U.K. goes, The 1975 is one of my favourite groups in a very long time. I love the sonics. I love everything they do.
As long as I don't have to go back to the catering hall and wait tables anymore, I'm very happy.
The first 12 bars of 'Pre-Occupied' explains my entire career.
If I could be generous and move forward and spread my feelers business-wise and also creatively, that's the best position to put myself in.
You can't really force kids to like music. I'm a firm believer in an organic fan base.
Originally, 'The Monster' started out as this indie, Florence And The Machine, tribal-y, almost Spanish-esque dance record.
