Gavin DeGraw

Gavin: I guess I'm happy that I'm getting the attention. Otherwise, I'd just be playing in a local bar in front of my family members, and I'm sure they'd get sick of that in no time.

Gavin: To me, all I ever want to do is play, and nothing else ever crossed my mind concerning a career. Just playing. Only the execution of the songs.

Gavin: (On performing in New York before being discovered) The smallest things seemed like huge achievements. Like if I had a bar that was just going to hire me for that month, that was a really big deal. ... if you can get a gig in New York, you can get a gig anywhere. A steady gig. I miss that sensation of a small achievement feeling like a really big deal.

Gavin: I took a lot of time to open myself up to taking chances musically. When I first started playing music, I was intimidated by the strain of trying different things - harder things - vocally. I think listening to real classic soul material made me learn how to feel music that's sung. The strain of attempting different things is what makes it interesting and makes it vibe-able.

Gavin: Some songs happen in an hour, while others take years. "More Than Anyone" came together in about a day, and my publisher signed me based on that song. But if you think that's the only way to write, I definitely don't agree - it's like saying if you don't get it immediately, don't do it at all.

Gavin: I don't have any expectations for myself, I'm not looking to be the next big anything. I don't want to have that hype around me because people tend to think that if there is hype, then it's just hype. I want to prove it on my own.

Gavin: (On before becoming a singer/songwriter) I needed a job. I was scrounging drinks. I was the guy that would walk up to the bar and drink someone else's drink.

Gavin: "Chariot" is a metaphorical vehicle for getting to a place in your mind that is a more broken down and laid back. It's somewhere to be just for a moment--instead of being wrapped up and living wherever you're living and consumed with what you're doing. It's a place to release and chill out.

Gavin: You still have influences [when writing songs]. You don't pull it from out of the air from nowhere. No doubt about it that your past musical experiences help manipulate whatever creativity you have. It's not necessarily helpful to see it written down on a piece of paper.

Gavin: [My ultimate goal is] to leave this world a better person, and for me to not be the only one who knows it.

Gavin: To me, all I ever want to do is play, and nothing else ever crossed my mind concerning a career. Just playing. Only the execution of the songs.

Gavin: I feel like the public in general is in such a great reactionary period of rejecting the over-pop type mentality of what goes on with music, it's almost like anybody's game and anything is game. Anything is acceptable musically, lyrically. It's almost a better time than ever to be putting music out there.

Gavin: Nothing [is] more important than clay you have sculpted yourself.

Gavin: [My work in a recording studio] definitely made me think about making records differently. At first I felt out of my element, because you have to learn the language and the science of making a record. It's a real process to get to the point where it doesn't sound like it's a process. We really worked at making it breathe.

Gavin: I'm not that interested in being liked for the wrong reasons. I'm more concerned with just getting something positive out there. And hopefully people will recognize that it's honest and respond to that, rather than feeling like it's something they've been told is supposed to be cool. I'd rather be judged by how it makes people feel when they hear it. Writing and playing songs and making a connection with people those things make a lot more sense to me than trying to be the Next Big Thing.