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I always start with the music and then try to figure out what I want to write about lyrically.

We love great melodies and great songs that have great hooks and melodies, so we start a little bit more on that side as opposed to other people that start more lyric-based. Sometimes we'll do it the other way.

Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.

Anything is food for starting a song. A song can start with a lyric idea or a melody or just a sound that inspires.

I usually write lyrics first, and then when I get home or close to any kind of instrument, I usually make a melody for those lyrics.

Lyrics can be important, but ultimately, what pulls people in on a song is melody and the tracks and the way music feels.

I usually start with a lyric and see where that takes me.

I have a tape recorder, and I just sing into it. I like to write that way. Sometimes I'll just get melodic ideas, and then I'll go home and sit down and add the lyrics. Or sometimes I'll get a lyric idea that I love. Usually it's pretty combined. Usually I get some kind of a lyrical concept and a melody and work with that.

In a song, you have to have a lyric that gives us new ideas on how to live, a lyric that makes us feel, and a melody that gives you some kind of body response and emotional response.