CODY SIMPSON

I want to do everything I can in my own life to protect and preserve the ocean.

It's nice to have the creative freedom to write about whatever and no longer feeling those restrictions I had when I was 15.

I love being unpredictable and unexpected.

Having pop sensibilities from my past and also being a lead blues and sort of rock guitarist allowed me to bring that kind of beachy rock groove.

I get to travel so much. I get to see so many different parts of the world. I get to meet new people every day. I experience new cultures, meet new fans from different countries. I get to perform for them, too.

Sometimes I wish there could be a little more mystery and I'd been an artist in the 1960s when you could release your music and play the shows and no one would know anything about you other than that.

No pop for me. Pop's dead in my mind.

I really like 'Wish U Were Here.' It's about being on tour, but really missing someone and wishing she was there with me. I shot the music video at different places all around the country, where I've been on tour.

I try to stay very, very true to my roots and my lifestyle and I wanted to be able to share that with my fans.

Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Neil Young and Bob Dylan are my main influences.

My first taste of theater was my middle school play. We did 'The Jungle Book.' I auditioned for Mowgli, which I didn't get. I ended up playing a part as one of the monkeys.

Miley is one of my best friends, and she helps with some of that transitional stuff - trying to escape your childhood. She's super open-minded, and I'm working on becoming more like that.

I think 'Free' captured a moment in my life where I was finding myself. There's a lot of content on there about breaking free and just developing your own philosophies, and ideologies, or world views or whatever.

I found myself in a meeting on my 13th birthday, which I really had no idea the enormity of, but I was in a meeting with the CEO of Atlantic Records, who sort of signed me right then and there as I was playing guitar for him.

People feel so much more comfortable bullying behind a screen than in person. It gives them a mystique and makes them say things that they would never be strong enough to say in person.

As a musician, you want to be your own favorite artist and be able to make the music that is an accumulation of all your favorite influences.

I wrote my first song when I was about eight. It was about putting a diaper on a chicken!

I grew up a competitive swimmer. I wanted to go the Olympics. Both my parents were professional swimmers. I competed internationally quite often, right up until I moved to California to pursue music.

You know, as far as public perception goes, if you get seen with some people one time, everyone thinks you're in that group.

I want to make music and that's it.

You can say, 'Put your hands up.' And 30,000 people put their hands up. It's one of the craziest things.

To be honest, the acoustic stuff's my favorite thing to do.

I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to take my music and how I wanted to be portrayed, and it was sort of, not done for me, but more directed.

With the Internet, fans feel like they know you and I love that kind of connection.

I have a fresh start, now that I've turned 18, which feels like such a symbolic age of independence and hopefully a new phase of my life.