I’ve always been inspired by Nirvana and that whole vibe, but yeah, just living here, walking down the street in the frickin’ rain, has been a big influence -- especially for my song “27 Club.”
That title refers, of course, to the group of great artists like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, and Amy Winehouse, who all died at 27. You’re currently 27, which makes the song extra dark.
Yeah, I had to tap into that dark s--t. I had gotten in a weird place with drugs, and I had to make a decision -- like, am I going to keep doing this? -- because I knew it could get really bad. The record was originally going to be called 27 Club, actually, because that was the first song I wrote for it.
Why did you pick “Negative Nancy” as your first single from Whatever?
I like it because it’s so raw. It doesn’t sound overly mastered or produced -- it’s just me having fun in the studio. I wanted to shock people a bit, because “Negative Nancy” is probably the wildest track on the album.
And what about "Whole 9 Yards," which we're premiering?
There’s a sexual double meaning there, like, I’ll take your whole nine yards and I’ll take you for everything that you are. We wanted a young, summer thing for the “Negative Nancy” video, but the “Whole 9 Yards” video is completely different -- sexier, more grownup, more makeup.
The “Negative Nancy” video put you on a high school softball field. Are you sporty in real life?