I didn't know what to expect, having not been an artist before. From the outside, you only see romantic snapshots of what seems like a great lifestyle, and it is, but it's also grueling.

I like to come up with lots of different sounds. So the final version of a song might have been 10 completely different songs before we finally got it right.

The key to me is being different not for the sake of being different, but being the most authentic version of what you do. And definitely it takes a willingness to be different, because there was resistance for me early on, and I feel like that's usually the case when there's a certain paradigm or trend happening, and you step outside of that.

I experimented and explored ways to find my own niche in Nashville, and I was having trouble with it for a while because stylistically, I didn't feel like I necessarily fit in.

I don't know where my fashion sense comes from, exactly. I've always been interested in, not necessarily being unique, but not necessarily sticking to the preexisting paradigm - whether it be clothes or music or whatever.

From the outside, being an artist seems like a dream life, but there are much darker aspects to it.