Ryan Tedder

“I would rather put out two year-defining songs a year than flood the market with eight or nine songs.”

“Melody is the single most important thing to any song, period. I don't care what anybody says, it trumps everything. Not because that's my opinion but because I think it's actually indisputable fact. The human brain retains melody easier than it retains words. It's that simple.”

“I think the true test of a pop song, for me, and I've talked to a lot of other writers about this, is you take your demo, you pop it in your car and you drive down Sunset Blvd. to Santa Monica, and that's the Hollywood car test.”

“I'm just a regular guy, but if you cross me it will get physical.”

“I'm not interested in corporate magic or fame.”

“The classic, quote/unquote, craft of songwriting still works; it still is relevant.”

“I think the best songs are being written by the very under-stated, under-appreciated indie artists. The thing that separates them from mainstream success is they either consciously or unknowingly refuse to deliver on a big chorus.”

“When I moved to L.A., I was penniless, absolutely beyond broke and in debt up to my eyeballs.”

“I live in Los Angeles, which is the second most polluted city in the world, and I wake up in the morning to dirt all over my window.”

“I grew up listening to English music.”

“I'm actually introverted and shy.”

“The cool thing about writing music, writing anything, is that once you publish it, it's there forever.”

“Crowds respond to anthemic choruses.”

“If you're talking to an architect, he can look at a blank piece of paper, and once the initial design is there, the formula kicks in. Each room should have something unique and different about it - much the same way that in a song, every eight bars or so, a new piece of information should be introduced.”

“Nobody works harder than Lady Gaga. Nobody. She is unbelievable. I don't know how she sleeps, or when or if.”

“I wish people would spend their money on hybrid cars.”

“Honest always sells. Always has, always will.”

“I'm a huge Lady GaGa fan - she makes the world a more incredible place.”

“I am not opposed to doing a side project, like Death Cab for Cutie, where it's completely different from my own band.”

“I'm terribly forgetful. I've lost laptops, cell-phones.”