How did you hook up with Colbie Caillat?
[Producer] Mikal Blue’s manager had found my music on CD
Baby—this was before MySpace. I got a call from Mikal, asking
me if I wanted to record my songs in L.A. I met Colbie through
him because he produced both our records. She and I started
writing together, and those songs turned into her first record.
Your styles have a lot in common. Is it easier to co-write with someone
who sings and plays like you?
Not necessarily. I think we sound like each other because we
started this whole thing together. We started playing together,
and that was the sound that came out.
You now have this great network of writers and producers that you
can get songs to. Does that give you a sense of freedom?
Yeah. It’s great to know that now I don’t have to write a song
for myself. A lot of times you might come up with an idea, and
you won’t know where it came from, but it doesn’t represent
you. It’s not something that you want to sing. It’s really cool
that I can give it to somebody else and it doesn’t have to be a
wasted idea.
What’s the best piece of songwriting advice you’ve gotten?
I remember early on, I had a handful of songs and someone
told me, “You’re going to need to write 100 more before you
really start to like them.” That was true, although I didn’t believe
it at the time. As for advice that I would give, I’d say play and
write with others as much as you can. I’ve been really fortunate
to write with good people, and I’ve learned everything from that.