Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I'm a homebody times ten.
I treat Hollywood as my high school.
People think I shave my eyebrow... It's a scar.
I listened to a lot of Marvin Gaye and Motown records.
I'm always inspired by people who have really cool Twitter profiles.
If a girl sings a sexy song, I actually become even more attracted to them.
A lot of people don't know, but New Jersey has, like, 700,000 acres of farmland.
The advice that I wish I would have given myself is to not care about what other people are thinking.
I downloaded ProTools - legally, of course... and I wanted to impress girls by making remixes of songs.
The scar on my eye is a result of the doctor's sewing up my face. It was 450 stitches and plastic surgery.
I'm down to act a little bit - go on a couple auditions or make one of those three-second cameos with one line.
I would leave school and be bummed out for 15 minutes, and then I would take my mind of things by making music.
I'm in L.A., I'm in my early 20s, and I'm like, 'There are so many pretty girls here! Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on!'
I came out to L.A. to be a songwriter and not an artist, and I'm so excited because I always secretly wanted to be an artist.
The phrase "Be Good to Each Other" is very important to me and something that I wish had been said more when I was in high school.
One of my goals is to find an unsigned YouTube artist and feature them on my album. That's what I wished someone would've done for me.
I've always weaseled my way into Grammy parties to network and everything, but now I have a legitimate reason to be there - it's so cool.
If I was on a 'Modern Family' kind of show, and they said, 'You have to say that the burger is $5.55; Have a good day!'... I could do that!
The fact that people are actually shaving their eyebrows is very flattering. But it's crazy that people are singing songs I wrote in my bedroom.
It's crazy because I have a scar on my right eyebrow, but people who don't know me very well think that I just intentionally shave that part of it.
I don't love the whole Hollywood mentality, but I do love the weather and how motivated everyone is around here. It motivates me to make fun music.
Shy Carter helped me write 'One Call Away.' He is a brand new artist. I really want to help jumpstart his career because I think he's super-talented.
I started making remixes for every specific girl I wanted to date. That's how I learned how to use Pro Tools, and then I started making my own music.
I didn't grow up wealthy. We couldn't even afford spaghetti sauce when I was first born, but my mom and dad worked really hard and came from the bottom up.
When I wrote 'Marvin Gaye,' my whole intention was to make a record that people would put on a record player... and just instantly make out with each other.
I leave Hollywood, I go somewhere else and make some music, and then, when I have to go back to work, I try and take as much that I get from outside Hollywood back with me.
I was carrying my friend in his casket to put him in the hearse, and I was thinking, 'I need to write a song for this guy, because he always told me I would have a No. 1 song.'
I was raised in a Catholic school, and I would always go to church on Sunday, and I would hear the same music over and over and over and over again, same gospels, hymns, everything.
I know not everyone is a musician, but it's important to find that craft and put all of your energy into that. It's about leaving the bad vibes and going to where the good vibes are.
I started piano when I was four. My mom taught me. And then I went to Manhattan School of Music during high school, like every Saturday. And then I went to Berklee for college, in Boston.
I actually get a lot of messages with people saying, 'What's a Marvin Gaye?' and, I mean... Oh, wow. I must be getting old, because someone who was born in 2004 just asked me what a Marvin Gaye was.
I've worked with Lil Wayne and Wiz, but I'd like to work with Snoop next. I love 'Paid tha Cost to Be da Boss' and 'Doggystyle' and pretty much anything he puts out. And Ice Cube - like, all the legends.
When I was growing up, you had to conform and do the same thing that everyone else was doing. I would just go home and make music and be able to make myself happy, but I know that's more of a challenge for some people.
When my dad played me 'Walking Man,' I heard those chord changes and that melody, it completely blew me away. Maybe you wouldn't really hear the James Taylor influences in my music, but they're definitely buried in there.
When I get high anxiety, I vomit. My mom was so stressed out. Then I found out I was staying in John Mayer's old dorm room, and I had a nice roommate. That completely brought me down. I was completely comfortable at Berklee.
I don't love the whole Hollywood mentality, but I do love the weather and how motivated everyone is around here. It motivates me to make fun music. I'm an East Coaster - I'm from New Jersey, so I'll probably feel like that forever.
My first date ever, I was kind of nervous, so I was like, 'I'm going to bring Brady to this walk on the beach with this girl,' and she was like, 'Oh my gosh, I have a King Charles Cavalier, too.' I'm like, 'Money, perfect, amazing.'
Marvin Gaye is an inspiration to me. He was one of the first Motown musicians that my mom and dad introduced me to, and I always thought it would be a good idea if I was ever an artist, and now I am, to make a record called 'Marvin Gaye.'
I would be a giraffe because I just want to experience what a sore throat and being a giraffe feels like. It would be really uncomfortable walking around in the Sahara and being like, 'I really need, like, 15 lozenges for my giraffe body.'
I think with me and the type of music that I'm trying to make, it's always going be soulful because I grew up listening to different types and variations of soulful melodies and jazz, but experimenting with different types of stylistic souls.
Everyone's gone through a breakup, and I've dated girls in the past where... I've never had a messy breakup, thankfully, but I'm never the one to end it. I'm always caught off guard as to why things ended because I guess I'm oblivious in a way.
On YouTube, when you have a big viral success with a song that isn't your own, the natural inclination for most YouTubers is to keep doing that. What you really should do is show people that you actually have substance and can write your own music.
I went on Ellen once, and even then, I was just a bad performer. It was nerve-racking at first playing in front of all her fans who really wanted to see her. Her fans are so young and accepting to new people, and it helped that they knew 'Marvin Gaye,' too.
I was bit by a dog when I was two years old, and it almost mauled my face. It almost killed and/or blinded me. I was this close to dying at two, which is terrible. I survived it, and there was no head trauma or anything like that. Honestly, it was a miracle.
When we used to go to the car-wash where people would wipe the windows, my dad would go out and help them and then tip them as well, so I learned my empathy from my dad, and my mum is very empathetic too, but in a very stern way; she will always check my ego.
'Marvin Gaye' came about my first day in L.A. It was kind of crazy that that's my first song that I wrote and it blew up that much. What's crazy is the next day I wrote 'See You Again,' so that's pretty interesting. I was trying to prove myself as a songwriter.
I've always made weird sounds with my mouth. I've always been fascinated by the sound design, what you can do with your mouth. I was the kid dancing around in third grade on the basketball court. While everyone would be playing sports, I would be jumping around.
I write about love, but it's me wanting to be in love. I've never been in love. I love my mom, my dad. I want to be in love. I think I have to allow myself to get there. I'm just so in love with music. It's weird. I'm at a crossroads because I want to be in love.
I used to be opposed to collaboration, and that's probably why the music in the past wasn't as good. Writing with other people, especially the great writers that I've had the privilege to write with, it activates something in your mind that you wouldn't use alone.
I think it was at 16 when I forced myself because my dad had nagged me for an entire year. Like, 'Come on, sing for people. You have a nice voice,' and I just wouldn't do it. One evening, I just decided, 'Screw it, I'll do it.' I remember it was really bad. But I did it. So that was good.