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I remember when I wrote songs when I was about 16, they all sounded the same because I didn't know anything. And all the subject matter was all the same because I hadn't actually done much.

I've been writing music since 4th grade, and I love putting words together and expressing things in a way that you can move your head to and you can really relate to, because I have a lot to say.

Writing songs helped me figure out how to communicate with other people. I finally figured out that if I could express something in a song, I could probably express it in my real life, too.

Because my musical background is so diverse, it lends me to have very much my own style and it helps me to relate to the music as I'm going to play it. I just write. And if it comes out country, it's a country song. The funny thing is, I write all across the board. I just write what hits me at the time.

I was in a band at school, and almost from the day we started, I started writing songs, just because that seemed what you did.

The best thing we've learned is when you are attempting to write a full song, write a full song that day. When we first started, we would have great ideas, but there's something about a moment and a vibe that's being created in time that when you return to it, it sometimes works, and it sometimes doesn't.

The first time I tried to write was when I was 14, after I got an electric guitar. I put a song together, and it wasn't that bad! The writing came natural to me.

I didn't really start writing music or lyrics or turning them into songs until I went to San Francisco.

When I start writing, I'll have a vague concept or I'll just have a title, and the song just goes on its own direction. Usually it goes in many directions within each song. They get really convoluted sometimes.

I've always written songs since I was a kid - always.