My parents bought this baby grand piano, which was in my living room, that I owe a lot to. I would just play it and write on it for hours. It was my favorite toy.
— Borns
As far as playing instruments, it just feels good to have it under your hands. Cause sometimes those instruments have minor imperfections. Sometimes because they're so old, they're always out of tune a little bit.
In 2016, I was pretty green. I was budding. Some flowers were shooting off.
Nothing grounds you like a real authentic Mexican taco.
Circuses don't treat their 'performers' very well - whipping them, trying to make them terrified.
No, I don't think songwriting is emotionally challenging - I feel like it's almost a way to sort through your emotions and put them out there.
I feel like piano is my main instrument. I'm most comfortable on the piano.
It's very easy in the studio to get overzealous with your vocal takes, thinking, 'Oh yeah, I can do it over and over. I can sing at the top of my range for this whole song.' But when you're doing it every night on the road, it's pretty intense.
My vocal influences are a lot of jazz singers: Billie Holiday, Julie London, they had this tenderness to their voice.
A big piece of my heart is definitely in Michigan and will always be in Michigan. Growing up there is definitely a big part of who I am as a person.
Dreams are pretty unexplainable. Have you ever tried to explain a dream to someone, and they're like 'Yeah, that sounds not as exciting as you think it is?'
I like the idea of creating from your inner youth. You don't have to think too hard about it. Just make what feels good.
There's this poet named Walter Benton, I really like his stuff. He always uses landscapes as a metaphor for the female body.
I don't want to make a living. I want to make a life.
I'm not growing out my hair just to be androgynous.
I was pretty young when my folks were playing those kinds of records, '70s rock and psychedelic stuff. So I just remember those songs being synonymous with my childhood, and I was always trying to imitate them on piano.
My parents played the Bee Gees; Earth, Wind & Fire; Michael Jackson. The best pop music to infiltrate a child's mind.
No one pursued music professionally in my family but they are all music lovers.
I'm influenced by a lot of different genres of music. So I'm constantly trying to rework production and make things interesting in the live show and on records.
I grew up in Michigan. I feel like a lot of my childhood was in solitude, in the woods or making tree forts.
That's one thing I really wanted to work on after 'Dopamine,' my falsetto.
To make a genuine record, it takes more than a cool beat and some auto tune.
Allowing yourself to suck is the hard part of writing music. If you allow yourself to suck, you will probably write something better.
My folks bought a baby grand piano and that's where I did the majority of figuring out the songs I heard on the stereo.
Yeah, moving to Los Angeles definitely influenced my sound.
I grew up with my mother as a Tonic Shaman.
There's a book called 'The Baron in the Trees.' A friend got that for me because I was kind of a tree-dwelling nomad for a bit. I kind of associate myself with the book.
I feel like I'm never playing the same sized venues within two or three shows. It keeps me and the band fit in a way. It keeps us on our toes just because you don't get used to one size and one energy. It's good to switch it up.
My favorite songs of all time are songs that take you on a journey and give you pleasurable moments you weren't expecting.
I like writing love songs. I really like romantic poetry.
I'm a professional musician.
You should always read the ingredients in coconut water. It should say 100% coconut water.
We're always trying to make advancements in the arts and technology, so it's somewhat inevitable that we're going to make holograms of people.
I dance as best I can. I try to let the music flow freely through my legs.
I love learning how people hear my music because everyone has different references.
I try to challenge myself.
I have these lacy shirts that look kind of like my grandma's curtains that I wear.
I have the luxury of having the choice to perform and go up on stage every night.
I feel like music is always alive and well.
I had a band when I was in middle school, but I was the drummer. I kind of thought if I was going to be in a band, I'd be the drummer. I'm innately drawn to rhythm. But we didn't have any shows. We just jammed in our parents' basement.
I bought a Three Dog Night album when I was pretty young, and I remember listening to all those songs. That's just greatly crafted songwriting, and the songs have such great harmonies. I remember marveling over those and trying to figure them out on piano. That was my early education - figuring out records, older records, as a kid.
I really like Colin Blunstone, the lead singer of the Zombies.
I grew up watching 'The Tonight Show' and Jimmy Fallon on 'SNL.'
I like to buy books at airports sometimes.
The ultimate language of love is music... The ultimate connector.
If you've never been to Michigan, everyone thinks it's completely rural. It's a destination state. You don't really drive through; you're going there for a reason.
A lot of my songs are inspired by a muse of some sort, whether she's real or not.
I want people to know me in my home state. I want their approval.
Most of the time, it's pretending I'm somebody else to get into a different head space. A lot of times, it's just, 'Who do I want to be onstage tonight? Is it going to be Marc Bolan, or is it going to be Grace Jones, or Roy Orbison?'
When I wrote 'Dopamine,' I was so enamored by Los Angeles and finally making music I was really excited about.
