OneRepublic

Ryan: I could have just written songs and lived a carefree life, but I knew that I had to be an artist. I wanted to form a rock band and create my own sound.

Ryan: The songs touch on things like despair, lack of hope, and frustration. They have to do with my own journey; they're about times when I've felt stuck-that I'll never achieve my goals. But ultimately, in the songs, I resolve it by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and realizing that no matter how bad things get, there's always a way out.

Ryan Tedder: You go to a U2 concert and it's like church, I'd love to make people feel like that. I don't want someone to just say, 'Oh, nice voice, nice song.' I want that person to walk away and feel like he or she has had a religious experience; we want them to feel moved.