When I was growing up in L.A. in the late '70s and early '80s, Michael Jackson's was the first face on TV that looked like mine.

Chrissie Hynde is the blueprint for any teenage pop star wannabe looking to have some real cred.

From their '61 Cavern Club debut to their last rooftop concert eight years later, The Beatles gave every serious artist in their wake the songbook and sound for their career. It's the musical trough from which nearly every musician drinks.

I get my clothes from three sources: Target, thrift shops, and friends. It's simple and it's cheap.

I live with my family on the top of a hill in the country, and during the days, my house is quiet, save for the occasional excitement of the FedEx truck heading up the driveway. I write.

It is impossible to read for pleasure from something to which you are both father and mother, born in such travail that the writer despises the thing that enslaved him.

Canada has been phenomenal to myself, my brother, my sister, their kids, my parents. They came there. They worked very hard. They came with a great education, very good heads on their shoulders with the simple thought of going there with almost nothing and just saying, 'We're doing this to give our kids the best opportunity possible.'

I was seeing kids my age playing shows at their parents' houses or the couple of all-ages venues that existed. I feel like I saw so many different kinds of music that I wouldn't have discovered on my own.