'They Don't Care About Us' by Michael Jackson - This song makes me want to dance, and I fell in love with it watching 'This Is It' with my kids.
People were very passionate and over the top about showing me their love and affection, and they memorized my songs in Spanish.
I'm all about telling stories. I like people to picture the music video in their head when they're just listening to the song.
In 2008, I was more just thinking about using the touchscreen for writing the songs. From there I started thinking about how I visualised music.
When I got into music, I wanted to learn guitar just enough to be able to write songs. I wanted to be able to express myself.
'Nashville' songs and country music have always been about storytelling and about the heart and confessionals. They're monologues.
I'm definitely interested in making more music and uploading new covers; I like to take suggestions because it's more fun if people know the song.
Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.
Music is a powerful tool in galvanizing people around an issue. There's no better way to get your point across than to put it in a beautiful song.
I was never too keen on the British music press. They've called us a supermarket hype, and they used to suggest that we didn't write our own songs.
My favorite music is never the music that anyone else likes, and other people's favorite songs are always my least favorite.
When you look at anyone's iPod or iPhone and their music collection on there, it's not the same 10 songs. People like diversity.
I wanted to write songs which I think is a different thing. I wanted to write music that is informed by folk music. The chord progressions are obvious references.
There's nothing I like better than talking to kids, just sharing the music with them. To relate to them, you need to play songs they're familiar with.
With sad music, or music that's perceived as sad, there's a sense of solidarity that can be really powerful. My songs are all joyful to me.
I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first.
We have to make sure the music and the message and the words and all the elements come through in our songs and every time we appear in public.
People listen to music with cavemen ears: Is it a bird song or the call of a lion? The audience at a musical is dancing in their hearts.
As would-be songwriters, our interest was in black music and black music only. We wanted to write songs for black voices.
Music is a very powerful thing. If I'm angry, I can write a song about it, and it seems to make everything okay.
Let's have the music that will open the door to millions of people... the kind of music that will not make people think only of the song or even of the singer... not music that is confined to the merely personal.
