What I ended up learning was that I had to do what I do well, and do it really well and say, 'Maybe there is no pop music that sounds like this now, but I can make it so maybe tomorrow what I like can be what everybody likes.'

I started off making music that made fun of pop; now I'm nominated for helping produce pop songs that aim to be as honest as possible.

Los Angeles is a huge, great diverse place, but I had to find the version that worked for me. I am lucky I did because I probably wouldn't be where I am had I not.

A lot of what we do in the studio on a day-to-day basis is you try to cast a line as far out as you can out into unknown waters and reel it back in, cut out stuff that isn't working, cut out stuff that isn't connecting to people.