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" I was chubby in high school. I used to go to my information technology class, and I would type really fast to get the lesson done quick because the teacher had a little acoustic guitar, and there was a girl I had a crush on in the class. I would take the guitar and pretend to be some great singer-songwriter, serenade her with joke songs. "

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" I try to sort of make myself emotional in the moment when I'm writing, and that always translates better. When I'm writing, I can't do abstract. "

Tobias Jesso, Jr.

Writing

Better

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" I have always had problems with my voice, and the piano helped me believe the song could be bigger than my voice, and I could play with new melodies and things that I couldn't on guitar. It was easier to make the sound fuller and easier to get away with not being as good. "

" I was putting songs on Facebook and YouTube just for my friends. When one got over 100 plays, I would do a dance. The first time someone that I didn't know commented, it was a dream come true. A year and a half later, I played 'Fallon.' "

" Obviously I'm not the best singer; obviously I'm not the best piano player or the best songwriter, but I'm doing my best on all of 'em. Once you have all those things in place, then I think everything falls the way it should. "

" I think the first time I tried to write a romantic song, it was just horrendously embarrassing. I remember thinking, 'Okay, I'm not going to do that anymore.' I think that sort of embarrassed me for the next 10 years. "

" I often compare my voice to an old car you're only 50% sure will turn on when you need it to. "

" Some people get on the whole touring circuit for years and years and years on one record. What interests me is sitting down at a piano, writing songs, getting into a studio and exploring new sounds to come up with something I'm really proud of. "

" Some of my best songwriting choices started as mistakes or learning curves, when I accidentally hit a 'wrong' key or something. I try not to lose that the more I learn the how's and why's of piano. "

" Piano is one of those instruments you don't have to be good at to sound good - you just have to know where to put three little fingers, which is really pretty easy to figure out. "

" I just like being as romantic as possible. I thrive off unrequited love. I've been in love in one way or another since I was 14. I go full-on in and get obsessive. "

" L.A. can make you feel like you've already made it. You're living off 40 dollars a week; it's nice weather. You go outside on your bike; you go to the coffee shop, and everybody is doing nothing. It doesn't leave a lot of room for ambition. "

" I'm a piano player and singer who can't play piano very well or sing very well. That isn't a recipe for success. I have to get better. "

" I often find myself writing little ditties I can imagine becoming rap songs. Not the actual rapping part, just the chorus. "

" When l write my own stuff, that's my only alone time. From wake-up to going to bed, I'm with someone. I don't like to do anything alone. I guess it's insecurity. When I travel, I won't go anywhere without people to go do something. I'm happier around people; the more people the better. "

" Everyone in my family is pretty much tone-deaf. "

" In one week, I got hit by a car - it busted through my hand - and my mom got cancer. "

" I don't think I ever heard music playing when I was younger, other than the radio. My parents got me a Walkman and stuff like that, but I was always way more into listening to music than they were. "

" I learned piano off YouTube and still do a lot. It's hard to find contemporary indie music on there, at least lessons, because the reach is smaller. I did it so people like me out there could learn my songs if they wanted to and maybe, in a small way, to pay forward all the free lessons I've had over the years. "

" I don't feel like I'm the type of performer who's going to knock your socks off. I'm trying to get over my nerves. "