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" I was sick of waiting for people to jump on hooks for songs I produced. So I tried singing myself, and I haven't looked back. "

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" I grew up on Dilla, Timbaland, Pharrell, all these drums that are super pocketed, so all those influences come out on a song like 'Ungrateful Eyes,' with all the crazy drum swing. "

" Sometimes I feel drawn to writing about my shortcomings because I'm chock full of them. "

" My brother is 10 years older than me, so whatever he listened to is what I listened to, and it was all rap. "

" 'Translations Through Speakers' was literally, I'm translating very spottily what my aspirations are. "

" I'm fascinated by Jesus and pray to him every day. "

" I have a fan base eager for more stuff. That makes me more than happy. I know I have an army behind me. "

" The way Ben Gibbard paints a picture, you feel like, 'I was there that day with him.' You really feel the way he paints pictures and speaks and talks. It's almost like talk-singing. Paul Simon does that very well as well. He's a huge influence of mine. "

" We're not as happy as our Instagrams and Twitters make us out to be. "

" I'm just a product of the '90s, to be honest. "

" I wrote 'Monster' and thought that it would solve a lot of my problems, that I'd have money in the bank, but I felt no different. I was still searching for something. "

" When you get a song placed with two of the top stars in the world, like Rihanna and Eminem, especially as a new writer, they're gonna take a huge chunk of your publishing. That's just the way the business is. I'm not complaining. "

" Originally, 'The Monster' started out as this indie, Florence And The Machine, tribal-y, almost Spanish-esque dance record. "

" I loved everything, but it was Kanye West who really changed everything for me. "

" I wanna make music; that's all I wanna do. "

" As long as I don't have to go back to the catering hall and wait tables anymore, I'm very happy. "

" Rapping was a hobby; when I went to college, there were a ton of dudes rapping. I think that's where I got my rapping chops up. "

" I think honest lyrics help somebody say, 'I was struggling with this, but if Jon goes through that, too, and if Jon's telling me that his life isn't as good as it seems on his Instagram,' that helps somebody in their day to day. "

" If I can show people how vulnerable and how flawed I am, maybe others will relate. "

" I don't view any of the hits I've ever written as the climax of my career. They're just minor stepping stones. "

" People can relate more to being honest about your problems, your insecurities, and the things that you find wrong with yourself. Because that's how we really are. "

" A lot of the album 'The Definition' was made from two things: Pixar movies and J. Dilla. "

" I used to work at a catering hall in Hauppauge. Anybody who works as a server in a catering hall, more power to you, but I wanted to make music. "

" I'd watch Pixar movies for, like, six hours, back-to-back. I'd watch 'Finding Nemo' twice a week, back-to-back-to-back, three times in a row. "

" You can't really force kids to like music. I'm a firm believer in an organic fan base. "

" I was raised on 'TRL' and listened to every genre that sounded good to me, from Sum 41 to Jay Z to Band of Horses to J. Dilla to Deathcab for Cutie to Pharrell. "

" At the end of the day, we want love, and we want to feel loved. "

" Sometimes, people will fight over five, six percent, because if it's a smash record, that can mean a lot of money. I don't really care. "

" I think some of the best music throughout the actual history of music itself came from cultures where they're not really looking for outside themes. It's developed from their hometowns - it's what they love and what they love to do. "

" I just never really though you could or couldn't listen to a certain type of music. "

" I'm born and raised Long Island. Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Ben Gibbard - melody-driven guys... They shaped me, molded my music. "