As a kid, I was depressed and riddled with anxiety. The bottom dropped out when I was 19.
When you know part of the industry thinks of you as a one-hit wonder, that's painful.
With my songs, the question is always, 'Can you pull it off live, alone on just an acoustic guitar?' That's the litmus test. If I can, then it's a song I ought to record. If I can't, it's probably not good enough.
One of the dumber things my manager said was, Stick to the melody. But I can't.
Cynicism is tough. A cynic's point of view is really pitiful. I derive pleasure out of a lot of things in life. As long as I'm fairly healthy, it's hard to stay dismal for very long.
