When I was 15, I made a solo record. It made Artie very unhappy. He looked upon it as something of a betrayal.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Artie travels all the time. The rehearsals were just miserable. Artie and I fought all the time. He didn't want to do the show with my band; he just wanted me on acoustic guitar.
Artie is a singer, and I'm a writer and player and a singer. We didn't work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.
When we came into the studio I became more and more me, making the tracks and choosing the musicians, partly because a great deal of the time during Bridge, Artie wasn't there.
When I was 13, I told my dad I needed to record myself because I sounded awesome, even though I didn't. By 18, I was a lot better. Then I got a publishing deal, so I was writing songs for other people professionally.
I started young. My first record came out when I was - what? 18? So I was in the studio when I was 15, 16.
I wanted to put out a solo record because I was stuck on a major label and sick of it.
I didn't make a solo album until the year 2000.
As funny as it sounds, the best thing I got out of making a solo record was to realize how much I love being in a band.
I did a lot of writing for a lot of different kinds of bands that I was in and out of during those five years and that left me with a little body of songs that I liked better when I played alone, so I ended up going out solo and very soon made my first album.
When I was 15 I became a full-time singer in a band. At 18 I made my first record.