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I decided at 15 that I didn't want to be one of those artists that gets up and sings love songs they don't mean. I decided that I was going to be me to the fullest extent, that my songs were going to reflect relationships I've had, things I've been through, and even the stuff I'm embarrassed about.

I started writing songs at 17.

I started young. My first record came out when I was - what? 18? So I was in the studio when I was 15, 16.

So when I got to be about 13 or 14, I started listening - even though my parents music was way cool - to contemporary hard rock at that time, which was Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Ted Nugent and all that, and that's just where I came from.

I've always had a teenage thread running through my music.

It wasn't until I was about 17 or 18 years old that I got into music.

When I got old enough to go to night clubs to hear that music at the age of 15.

Music became my focus. At 13, I was jamming with my mates. At 15, I was playing clubs.