At the same time, there's me standing there saying, "Well, I'm not going to do that. Why am I going to try to make songs for one audience, when I feel that the record I have created has just enough material for the American audience as it has for European audience or anywhere else for that matter?" For me, it was the principle of the matter. I felt confident with my music. As an artist, you have to stick with that, because there are other people who really don't see the same vision.
I had the same thing on the first album. People told me that I could not release "Fill Me In" as the first single. "You have to do ‘7 Days.'" They all have their own interpretation of what you should do, but I'm a big believer that if I'm going to fail, let me fail on my own terms. And that's pretty much why the third album was dropped – because I wasn't really prepared for trying to be reactive and try to create a whole record for an album I'd already created.
What's the significance behind the title Trust Me?
I was just trying to make a record, but with the record company … sometimes there can be too many cooks in the kitchen all trying to throw in their different opinions on things. I wanted to make a record new and fun like I did in the past where I didn't know about the industry and I didn't know about business – I just made the music because I loved making music. I thought, "Let's all respect each other. Trust me. Let me do what I do and hopefully we can get out there and sell a record together because we all want the same thing." So, the album's title is really all about trusting.
Since a lot of Americans haven't really had the opportunity to hear some of your previous work, when you look back at your first album, Born to Do It, what significance do those words have for you today?
I'm even more passionate about music now. You can become jaded about the music industry during times where things are not going the way you want. In this career you have ups and downs, but they make you who you are. It's all about how you deal with the lows – that's what makes you appreciate the highs. I still feel, and I will always feel, that I was born to do this – I was born to make music.
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