Josh Groban

It wasn't that I got pinned against my locker, but I was intensely aware that the things I valued weren't shared by anyone. Girls didn't like me, and I had few friends.

I was the boy who liked to sing his own songs at talent shows, and I was suddenly officially uncool.

Don't try to be like me. Try to be like yourself. Try to be very good at being yourself.

I grew up in Los Angeles, and my first musical theatre experiences were at the Music Center in downtown L.A.

As a new artist there's always outside influences trying to tell you how to make a song better for radio and how to do your hair.

I've seen a lot of people burn very brightly and very quickly, and I think you can become overindulgent sooo quickly in this business, and so I try not to fall into any of the trappings that would affect me very negatively.

Comedy and music are so similar because it's all about timing.

The best way for me to teach myself an instrument is to just jam on it, and sound awful sometimes, and sound great other times.

I did improv in junior high school. Figuring out my comedic timing helped my confidence in talking to the bullies and talking to people in class. If I could make them laugh, then I was in; I was OK.

I'm ruthlessly picky when it comes to the crafting of an album, the choosing of musicians, the right mikes, the right studios. There was a time when it was, 'whatever you want.' Then, as you learn a little bit more about your tastes, I don't give in to that kind of thing.

The time period I had in my life to look like an idiot and fail, and for no one to see that, came and went when I was 17. When you have early success, people are just lying in wait.

What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title.