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When I was a teenager, I began to settle into school because I'd discovered the extracurricular activities that interested me: music and theater.

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

I always wanted to play music and have it be my career and knew this by the age of 12.

As a kid, my main interest was dancing. When I was 8 years old, I was in a hip-hop troupe.

I was a kid, and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play the drums, you know? All I wanted to do was skateboard, but I was still learning and taking it in, so it was good.

When I was 12, I was doing competitive jazz, tap and ballet in Michigan. The studio put the best dancers together, and I joined that. We always did really, really well in local competitions.

I was 17 years old and in my first band, and we played at the university. I was kind of a gawky, unpopular teenager and there was about 400 people smiling and dancing to what we were doing.

I just love performing so much, and I threw myself into every musical theater production that was going in my home town and at school. And then, I went to the National Youth Music Theatre, which was really a galvanizing experience for me when I was 17.

When I was in school, you could pick any instrument you want, and they'd teach you how to play it. That changed my life. I loved playing music in school, and it sent me on my path as a musician.