“Look, one of the things that I know for sure is that none of us truly knows. That’s it. It’ll hit you later.”

The older I get, the more I realize that you don’t have to be around people you don’t want to be around, and you don’t have to be in a situation you don’t want to be in. You have the power to rise up and leave.

Coming from heavy music too, it’s really hard to have heavy music not sound too butthead-ish or jock-ish, and there’s a fine line between Limp Bizkit and Nirvana – there’s a fine line there, and it’s terrifying.

My point is I’m kind of an outlier. For whatever reason, the success still blows my mind – that I’m able to talk to people about the music I’ve written.

I can tell when something’s real, or when something’s put together. I can just feel it.

I ran away for a couple of years just to prove I’d never been free.

I just find that with music I’ve always felt a sort of comfort.

You start treating your body right and your immune system is better.

I like to write pop songs and the stuff I write is fairly poppy, so I thought maybe my lot in life was to write pop songs for people. It never felt right writing songs for other people to sing, though.

When I cruise around, I can’t help but study people’s faces and emotions and wonder why they’re feeling the way they are.

Since I was a kid, when I pick up my guitar it’s been hard for me to write some sort of bubblegum lyrics. It’s not really ever been my route.

Trying to put music out there in the world is a pretty exciting, yet terrifying, thing and I’ve just been through the ringer.

I’ve had the same core group of friends that I’ve always had. We’re surfing, so that definitely keeps you grounded.

Never let your fear decide your fate.

There’s a bunch of songs that I call B-sides on the record that you could argue could maybe have some potential commercial success with another artist, but for me, they just felt really whack.

My first attempt at real music was when I was 13. My first signed band was when I was 21; that failed. I got another deal at 26; that failed, and then I was broke.

I have a lot of questions and I don’t have that many answers. So what better place to exercise those thoughts than the lyrics, I guess.

There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it.

It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know.’

You know you’re old when someone compliments you on your alligator shoes, and you’re barefoot.

Shakespeare wrote without knowing he would become Shakespeare

I only know how to play two ways: reckless and abandon.

The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account.

Everything has technique to it. So if there’s something you wanna try out, I think it’s always good to get a trainer or listen to people who know what they’re doing.

What’s better? Dogs or broomsticks? I mean will the world really ever know?