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" I love what I do. I love playing music. "

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" Generally, the songs that are the scariest ones are the ones that people connect to. "

" I'm painfully a realist but ruthlessly an optimist. I think maybe it's because of my faith - I've always got the hope that there is something out there to make it all worthwhile. "

" I think I have always made really beat-driven pop-rock records. "

" I'm actually named Matthew William Kearney: my middle name is named after my grandfather. "

" I grew up in Oregon, so there was always a lot of that folksy, Bob Marley stuff. There was a mural of Bob Marley on a wall at my high school. "

" I think you can hear all my hip hop influences in 'Just Kids.' "

" I've always been a writer. I've always done writing or spoken-word, hip-hop stuff with my friends. "

" Choosing an acoustic guitar for a live setting can be different from picking out one for recording. One doesn't always work for the other. The sonic properties can be vastly different. "

" I don't spend afternoons practicing my guitar to get better. I do read, though, to get inspiration for my lyrics. "

" I read about two reviews early on when my first record came out, and it just freaked me out, good and bad, so I've never really kept up with that side of it. "

" It's been awesome going indie. I don't need to be on a major label. I love not having to walk into a specific radio person's office to try to convince someone to play my songs. At the end of the day, it's more work, but I've discovered that I like to get my hands dirty. "

" I can't help but do things my own way. "

" All of my acoustic playing came from my songwriting. All of the chords I've learned and all of the voicings I play them in are a direct result of composing. "

" I enjoy changing; I think it's more fun to try something different than to just do what you did last time. As an artist, you just want to keep creating, keep finding a place that really inspires you that feels fresh and new, and keep it exciting. "

" I love Bruce Springsteen's writing, but I grew up on '90s hip hop, like Tribe Called Quest. "

" When I set out to write, I want to write something that will rip your heart out and connect with you. Great songs connect beyond genre and style. "

" I had the lyric 'Chip Don't Go' and a few words, and my wife came in and said that it sounded like a good song. I thought I'd finish writing it up and posting it to YouTube. I didn't realize it was going to take off like it did. "

" Songs like 'Learn To Love Again' and 'Rochester' and some of the more gut-wrenching ones deal with the pain of the younger times of your life... trying to make sense of some the stuff we probably all went through. "

" As an artist, you tend to gravitate to the opposite. I know, when I finish a song or an album, I'm interested in doing something completely new. It doesn't always happen, but that's the idea. My poor fans - I don't know if they love that or hate that. "

" I didn't know music would end up being my job, but I loved it so much I wanted to do it every day. "

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" You write these songs which are really dear to you about your family or friends, loved ones, and then you get this call, and they say, 'It's perfect for two vampires making out in the back of a car.' It's some random TV show, and so I say, 'Oh, yeah, perfect - that's what I meant it for.' "

" I never wanted to be on an exclusively Christian label. "

" Ultimately, when you write from a vantage point of faith, humility, and openness to the world around you, people have to respond because those same truths are instilled in them. "

" 'City Of Black And White' was me trying to do something more mature, more adult contemporary. "

Black And White

" Hopefully, reading and being around great literature inspires me to write songs, but I'm not sure about that. "

" The first album was literally the first 12 songs I've ever written. "