Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Never let your fear decide your fate.
I've always found it pretty difficult to write a happy song.
You got to head north. It's always about going north, you know?
I just find that with music I've always felt a sort of comfort.
I really love music and I want to make it better the best I can.
I ran away for a couple years just to prove I've hever been free.
You start treating your body right and your immune system is better.
The world's pretty trippy. I just like to travel around and see what's out there.
I've had the same friends I've always had. I mean, I've lost a few over the years.
I can tell when something's real, or when something's put together. I can just feel it.
I'm my own worst critic and harshest critic and I just want to put honest music out there.
I don't think we'll really know what's going on until we enter the next dimension and all that.
My drummer is my favorite drummer in the world, and he also happens to be the funniest person you'll meet.
Look, one of the things that I know for sure is that none of us truly knows. That's it. It'll hit you later.
Let's say I'm at a party and I don't like the feeling I'm getting, I'll just leave. Why do I have to be there?
I don't know that I can say what exactly love means to me because it would be hard to put that into perspective.
I've had the same core group of friends that I've always had. We're surfing, so that definitely keeps you grounded.
When I cruise around, I can't help but study people's faces and emotions and wonder why they're feeling the way they are.
Trying to put music out there in the world is a pretty exciting, yet terrifying, thing and I've just been through the ringer.
I have a lot of questions and I don't have that many answers. So what better place to exercise those thoughts than the lyrics, I guess.
You don't put out music unless you have a sense that people will maybe like what you're doing or you're standing for something artistically.
Since I was a kid, when I pick up my guitar it's been hard for me to write some sort of bubblegum lyrics. It's not really ever been my route.
My point is I'm kind of an outlier. For whatever reason, the success still blows my mind - that I'm able to talk to people about the music I've written.
Some people are more affected by, I hate to use the word "success," but I don't know what else to say, but some people are more affected by that than others.
My first attempt at real music was when I was 13. My first signed band was when I was 21; that failed. I got another deal at 26; that failed, and then I was broke.
I find that a lot of times when family members get bronchitis or the flu or something like that, I'll kind of skate through and be really lucky and not get that sick.
If you're waiting around for something to be handed to you or win the lottery, chances are nothing is ever going to go down, you know, so you got to make it happen on your own.
My point is, I don't see the need to eat animals. I love animals; besides the horrible stuff that's put in meat, I actually love cuddling with animals and petting them and stuff.
I've been through a lot of ups and downs. I've been on both sides of it all, I guess. So there's not one specific event or thought that I'm dealing with or drawing from necessarily.
I want to surround myself with the people I care about and that has a lot to do with what love is. It's surrounding yourself with the people you do love and trust, and that kind of thing.
There's a bunch of songs that I call B-sides on the record that you could argue could maybe have some potential commercial success with another artist, but for me, they just felt really whack.
I like to write pop songs and the stuff I write is fairly poppy, so I thought maybe my lot in life was to write pop songs for people. It never felt right writing songs for other people to sing, though.
I've always found it pretty difficult to write a happy song. Since I was a kid, when I pick up my guitar it's been hard for me to write some sort of bubblegum lyrics. It's not really ever been my route.
The older I get, the more I realize that you don't have to be around people you don't want to be around, and you don't have to be in a situation you don't want to be in. You have the power to rise up and leave.
Coming from heavy music too, it's really hard to have heavy music not sound too butthead-ish or jock-ish, and there's a fine line between Limp Bizkit and Nirvana - there's a fine line there, and it's terrifying.
There's a lot of different things, but I think love gives us peace one way or another, and a calming effect on our soul, so I don't know exactly what love is to me, but I know I try my best to surround myself with that. Whenever I can. It's hard sometimes.
I was in a hardcore band that had no melody, no chance of finding any success, and I was just trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with my life. And that came out and changed my life forever - on an artistic level, and a lyrical level, for sure.
Videos are tricky because stuff sounds amazing on paper and it seems like it's going to be this mystical experience and you're going to look back and go, "Wow, that was magic." But more times than not, it doesn't end up that way, so I never know what I'm going to get.
I don't know that I can say what exactly love means to me because it would be hard to put that into perspective. But the older I get, the more I realize that you don't have to be around people you don't want to be around, and you don't have to be in a situation you don't want to be in.
I haven't touched meat or anything like that in over six years. You know what's pretty trippy, once I stopped, I didn't get sick from that point on. I'll get a light cold once in a while, but ever since that, I've just been completely on my toes and it helps for surfing too, to stay light on your toes and be healthy.
I would say it's always been in me to want to have victorious songs. I sort of want my songs to have a feeling of victory, but through a lot of pain. Like, you're 75 percent to the top of the mountain and sometimes you fall back to the bottom, but hopefully by the end of the record you'll feel like there's no mountain at all.
I never wanted to do music to get girls, right, to get popular, or anything like that. I really love music and I want to make it better the best I can. I can tell when something's real, or when something's put together. I can just feel it. So I'm my own worst critic and harshest critic and I just want to put honest music out there.
More than anything, I’m excited to have the artistic freedom and opportunity to make a sophomore record. Everybody dreads the sophomore slump, whereas I am embracing it and can’t wait to either go down in flames, or take it to another level. It’s not going to be in the middle – it’ll be one way or the other. That’s how it has to be.
Everybody has got their vibes - it could be mountain biking, it could be hiking, but for me, it's surfing and music. There's a lot of different things, but I think love gives us peace one way or another, and a calming effect on our soul, so I don't know exactly what love is to me, but I know I try my best to surround myself with that.
In fact, on a side note, after the success of the first record, I got asked to write for some pop artists, as everybody does, and I did a couple songs for some of these massive stars and the review that I got back was, "This artist likes the song but it's too POP-y for them." I was like, "What do you mean, I thought I was writing for a pop star."
I never try and force-feed any song idea or lyrical message. It's really what's on my mind and what comes out of me. And a lot of these lyrics are metaphors for specific life situations that I've been through, and in most cases, the struggles. Something about human beings wearing sadness heavily on their sleeve inspires me to make something uplifting about the situation.
I can always be reminded how small I am when I try to surf a wave that's a little bit out of my league, and I just get pummeled. And, when your life flashes before your eyes kind of stuff, deep down under the water where you don't know what's up or down, and that kind of thing, or just Mother Nature reminding you how small you are compared to it. That's kind of the main thing for me.
I just find that I enjoy the music that feels like there's a journey to the top of this mountain, then you're at the top of the mountain finally with this magical feeling, and you're stoked because you made it, and you're up there, but there's a little bit of sadness to think of all that you lost along the way to get there. I guess I relate and enjoy the path and the struggle very much.
For whatever reason, the success still blows my mind - that I'm able to talk to people about the music I've written. I always felt like there was something there because you don't put out music unless you have a sense that people will maybe like what you're doing or you're standing for something artistically. I don't mess with that. It's more about just music and trying to keep the integrity, I guess.
Growing up from Nirvana to all the bands I was listening to at the teenage time, those were my best friends, more than my real friends. Those were the people that sang me to sleep or gave me the confidence I needed to go to first period. When we're all so insecure with weird stuff, when we're having weird feelings toward girls or guys, or whatever. It's the insecurity of life that we all go through. So music helped me.