"In the Navy, the path is paved for you. Your job is to be a soldier and fit in. As long as you stick to your place, it's actually really easy."
"I tend to obsess over my passions."
"I loved the bootcamp and the training. It was the actual Navy and the structure after it that I realized wasn't for me because they're building soldiers. It's a system, and you can't really stick out; you can't be the oddball out in the military."
"I feel like, when you turn on the radio and you hear a great song, you know it's a great song, and you sing along. We all know what a great song sounds like, so we all have that instinct, it's just being able to accept your own instincts when you write that song."
"My sound definitely pays a lot of homage to the Nineties, but not just the dance music. There's also breakbeats, R&B, the big ballads. It's that whole era infused with very modern sounds."
"It's hard to dance to really fast music. All you can do is pump your fist to it, and after a while, you're going to have a seizure."
"When something really grabs me, I dive into it."
"You cannot teach a person how to write songs. It's about being your own person and following your instincts."
"I tend to sort of dive into things without worrying about risk or anything. Like, when I get an idea, I tend to just go for it and see what happens."
"You're taught that you can keep going in the military. Your point of collapse is not what you thought it was. Your body is built to survive, and when you think you're going to collapse, you still have so much more left in you."
"The moment I wrote my first song, I got addicted."
"As an artist, I feel so fortunate to be able to learn from all these great musicians that came before me, when some people have nobody that came before them."
"I believe that anyone can be what they want to be; it just comes down to hard work."
"I love Canadians. I think we make an impact around the world just when people meet us, and whenever I meet another Canadian, I see it as well."
"I probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the gay community supporting me. I wouldn't be the artist I was today if it wasn't for that because that was the only community that let me try, let me perform without knowing who I was."
"From the age of three to 15, I wanted to be a ballerina and trained really, really hard. Then I had that classic movie story moment, where I had an injury and had to give up my dream."
"You cannot go wrong by learning classical music because it trains the ear."
"Oh man, the Vengaboys are my guilty pleasure."
"I was a very unpredictable child. I'd pack a bag and go off and do a hike in the mountains for 10 days."
"I didn't date for my entire teen life - it just wasn't on my mind."
"I was in a rock band; I was my own folk singer; I was in a death metal band for a very short time; I was in a cover band, a jazz band, a blues band. I was in a gospel choir."
"I didn't want to be that artist that is successful as a result of someone else. Not that that's wrong, but I felt like I had what it took. I really believed I could do it on my own, so I wanted to try, at least."
"People have mentioned, 'Maybe you should try to be more sexy. Look at how this butt stuff propelled this person to the top of the chart; it's amazing!' And I'm like, 'What if I really want to sing something to people?' I speak my mind. I want to be that person people feel they can listen to."
"I don't think shoving my butt into people's faces will tell them anything about who I am. How is that connecting to your audience? What is that doing for your music?"
"I'm very naturally happy, quirky and positive."
