I started playing piano when I was 6. And I knew that wanted to be involved in that form of expression whether it was through music or acting or dancing or painting or writing.
I don't know any other lifestyle. I get up in the morning and I really do feel that the world is my oyster and I start that way the same as I would if I were preparing to write a song: put a blank piece of paper up on the piano and you go for it.
I was half asleep lying there writing this lyric in my head at about 3:30 in the morning. I woke Steve up with this idea and then we went into the living room where there was a little upright piano and finished the song. I wonder where that piano is now?
My mom's a concert pianist so she started teaching me when I was around seven. When I was eight I started writing my own songs and kinda started putting piano and singing together. But I'm trained classically which is a big influence on me I think.
It's quite hard to have your mom as a teacher - it's like she's not necessarily a 'real teacher' for me. But she'd always teach me to really hear the music and develop my ear and to try and hear the harmonics of the piano.
I took piano for many years. I kicked and screamed through all of my lessons but my mom really insisted.
But my mom was a pianist and she taught piano out of her house. I was just so excited being a little kid and having all these other kids come to my house twice a week. I thought it was a big party.
I grew up painting and playing piano so when I was a little kid I thought I was going to be an artist or a painter but my mom had me taking piano lessons for about 10-12 years as a young kid.
I got started when I was 3 years old because my father was a music teacher and my lessons were free. Instead of learning to walk you learn to play the piano.
Part of the joy of music is listening to lots of different kinds of music and learning from it. Specifically for me I like writing songs that move me and what moves me are beautiful songs on the piano or the guitar and really really heavy music.