WESLEY SCHULTZ

I was born in New Jersey, but it doesn't sound like I'm from a certain region.

The basic idea is always constructed around piano or guitar and a voice, that's what we live and die by, because if you build up from that foundation, it's going to be strong.

But the Grammys is just not something I can take too seriously. It would be a mistake to hinge my happiness on something so completely out of my control.

When I was a kid, award shows were super-interesting for me. But when I started making music, it was kind of hard to watch because I believed in what I was doing and yet knew I didn't really have a shot.

There are a lot of obligations when you put out a record and it does well. People want to talk to you, which is nice. So then you make sure you do that.

I've always had service-industry jobs, because those were the easiest to quit or take time off from.

I think the hardest part of being in the band and trying to make it is waiting, you know? I think, to be fair, if we would have gotten a big break early on, it would have been wasted on us. All of that perseverance you often learn by failing. We went from barely being able to book anywhere to being nominated for Grammys. It's a snowball effect that happens to a lot of bands. I think the hardest part is having a side job: bussing tables, bartending, and waiting tables to make ends meet. Sometimes they are really worth doing, because one day things might actually work out in your favor.

I think the death knell for any musician is getting a job that you like and pays enough that you just stay there forever.

I thought music could take you to a place where you didn't even feel ownership of it, you just felt lucky you were there. It's like church without God, or something. It's about feeling, hope and catharsis and things that are nurturing.

I'm trying to write every day if I can. I think the idea is to try and chip away at it as opposed to just sit down one day and then turn it on like a flick of a switch and expect everything to happen.

But the Grammys is just not something I can take too seriously. It would be a mistake to hinge my happiness on something so completely out of my control.

When I was a kid, award shows were super-interesting for me. But when I started making music, it was kind of hard to watch because I believed in what I was doing and yet knew I didn't really have a shot.

I was born in New Jersey, but it doesn't sound like I'm from a certain region.

I've always had service-industry jobs, because those were the easiest to quit or take time off from.

The basic idea is always constructed around piano or guitar and a voice, that's what we live and die by, because if you build up from that foundation, it's going to be strong.

I think the death knell for any musician is getting a job that you like and pays enough that you just stay there forever.

I thought music could take you to a place where you didn't even feel ownership of it, you just felt lucky you were there. It's like church without God, or something. It's about feeling, hope and catharsis and things that are nurturing.

There are a lot of obligations when you put out a record and it does well. People want to talk to you, which is nice. So then you make sure you do that.

It's a pretty great thing to have a record that at the end of the day you're not totally sick of and you're actually proud of. We're pretty lucky, because a lot of bands come out with their first record on a label and they're forced to make decisions they might not stand behind because someone's telling them it's a good idea. We didn't have to do that. I think that's one of the things I'm most thankful for.

I'm trying to write every day if I can. I think the idea is to try and chip away at it as opposed to just sit down one day and then turn it on like a flick of a switch and expect everything to happen.

I think the hardest part of being in the band and trying to make it is waiting, you know? I think, to be fair, if we would have gotten a big break early on, it would have been wasted on us. All of that perseverance you often learn by failing. We went from barely being able to book anywhere to being nominated for Grammys. It's a snowball effect that happens to a lot of bands. I think the hardest part is having a side job: bussing tables, bartending, and waiting tables to make ends meet. Sometimes they are really worth doing, because one day things might actually work out in your favor.

I think that it feels really good to be recognized in a sense of being nominated for Grammys and things like that, but part of it is, we spent a lot of time on our own making music: seven or eight years and nobody really paid attention. It feels good. We also learned to not pay too much attention to things like that, and I think it made us stronger.