I know 'Hallelujah' isn't actually a Christmas song, but it has that cozy, haunting vibe that sounds like a winter's night and belongs by a fire.
Bonnie McKee
I started writing my own songs from the time I was a little kid. I would write my own lyrics to other people's songs that I heard on the radio and take whatever song and make it about fairies and angels - whatever little girls sing about.
Try to say something familiar in a unique way so that it's sing-alongable, even if you don't speak English.
A line has to have a certain number of syllables, and the next line has to be its mirror image.
'I throw my hand up in the air sometimes' is when you don't get your way - when you give up, and you're handing it over.
I thought back to my middle-school experience of having slumber parties and watching Romeo + Juliet and staring at Leo and thinking about my first kiss and what I wanted it to be like. And when you have your first real love, it's an epiphany, you know? It's like a whole new world.
I think the key to writing hit songs is simplicity.
I'm kinda famous for my barbecues - I'm always hosting parties.
It's great to just reach out and give something to the fans when they're hungry for it.
When I moved to Seattle in fourth grade, I joined the Seattle Girls' Choir. It's a world-class choir, and we competed, toured Europe, and went and sang at the Vatican, so it was a really awesome experience to have that young.
If I know I will be working with someone and they are not keen with writing with a girl, I like to be non-threatening and cool so they will trust me. It's a thought process of who work and how I want to present myself.
I've had a lot of successes as a songwriter, and I really have nothing to prove in that arena, so I'm just excited about the next challenge of pursuing this artist thing.
I realized there are so many steps from getting a deal to having a hit.
One thing I'd tell an up-and-coming singer is to never rely on other people for anything. The more self-sufficient you can be, the better off you'll be.
I was born in Northern California and lived there until I was about eight years old. Then my parents moved me up to Seattle. I lived there from ages eight to 16. When I was a California kid, I remember running around in my bathing suit and barefoot all the time and getting a suntan.
I wish I wrote 'Don't Speak' by No Doubt. I mean, that is a classic heartbreak song; it gets me every time.
I like to think of myself as the people's pop star a little bit. I respect Lady Gaga so much, and I love what she does, but she has this kind of mysterious, out-of-reach thing. I'm just not that - as much as I'd love to have that sort of mystique, I think I'm kind of an open book.
When I think about 'Since U Been Gone,' I think the first thing that comes to mind is 'Livin' On A Prayer' - they're kind of like sisters, a little bit. And 'Call Me Maybe' was so wildly original, and so quirky, and so satisfying.
When I write for myself, I think about myself and draw from my own experience.
I've always had a teenage thread running through my music. On my first album, I had a song called 'Confessions of a Teenage Girl.' It's about using your feminine wealth to get what you want.
I love shoes. I am a shoe fanatic. I love my Giuseppe Zanottis - he is my favorite. I have them in every color. Other than shoes, it's important to have a great black leather jacket.
A lot of times, if you're not getting inspiration right away, we'll listen to stuff to get inspired.
I'm visually stimulated, so I watch TV, movies, even Pinterest. A song could come from something as simple as being words splashed across a billboard or changing everyday turns of phrases.
People like hearing songs that sound like something they've heard before, that's reminiscent of their childhood and of what their parents listened to.
In my mind, I imagined L.A. to be skyscrapers on the beach. Of course, that's not what it actually looks like. And growing up watching 'Beverly Hills 90210' and 'Melrose Place,' I always had an obsession with L.A. and California in general.
When my parents were like, 'We're going to the Northwest,' I thought, 'You've gotta be kidding me.' I was so depressed. The cold weather really did not agree with me. When I moved back down to L.A. at 16, I felt like it was home - it was where I belonged.
When I'm dealing with Britney Spears and Katy Perry, these massive brands, like, really, very Coca-Cola, you know what I mean? There are certain kinds of standards. There are risks you can take, and there's risks that you don't. And I think I'm interested in taking a little more risk in my own music.
When I get an artistic itch, I have to scratch it.
I have a notebook of concepts. There are titles everywhere if you are looking for them. I pull from them. There is a secret list that I keep for myself about what I want to sing about, and those are the ones I know I am not going to give up for someone else.
My No. 1 is Johnny Depp, ever since 'Cry Baby.' He had my heart.
I have been doing some writing on the side a little bit with artists that I'm really excited about. Kind of more up and coming people. But, I'm focusing more on my own project. It's a full time job being an artist!
The original title was 'Waking Up Diagonal'. It's the first line of the song. I just thought it was more interesting than 'I Don't Care', which is such a boring title to me. When I hear that song, it breaks my heart a little bit because it's my story.
I like big, soaring melodies and fun, splashy lyrics. Maybe like what Blondie would do in 2013.
I was always super, super musical. So my parents recognized that and put me in choirs, piano lessons, and all that.
I've been singing since I could talk, pretty much. My dad was really musical and taught me how to sing harmonies and got me a karaoke machine with tape decks.
I've always had a teenage thread running through my music.
I saw Tina Turner do 'Proud Mary' on TV, and it was so electrifying and such a unique experience. I remember crying out of excitement, and I knew that I wanted to be a performer and make people feel excited and moved, and that's why I gravitated towards it.
There are some artists that don't like working with other females, which is fine. They have their own thing. I personally love being surrounded by other females.
I think what it means to be an 'American Girl,' and what I wrote the song about, is our freedoms. The idea that we as Americans can be what we want to be and say what we want to say and that we take it for granted.
'Teenage Dream' was the most difficult song I've ever been a part of. We wrote five different versions of it. We couldn't get the lyrics right. Max Martin and Dr. Luke wrote most of the melody, and then Katy Perry and I were responsible for getting the lyrics right.
For 'Dynamite,' Max and Luke went to dinner and left me with a melody, and then I put it together.
I was writing songs as a kid about leprechauns and Catwoman and teapots - whatever it is that little girls wanna sing about. The first song I wrote was called 'Kitten.'
After struggling for so long in the industry and writing so many failed songs and hearing 'no' for so long - I'm so grateful every time I hear a song that I was a part of on the radio.
When I'm writing for other people, I have to play it safe.
There's a lot of little 'Bonnie-isms' in 'Teenage Dream' that I was hoping to keep for myself.
I wanted to make a video for the holidays, but none of the traditional holiday songs were moving me.
I was discovered out of nowhere. I didn't have family that was in the industry. I didn't know anyone in L.A.; I didn't have any reason to have been discovered. Nowadays, you have YouTube, and people are scouting more, but I really was plucked out of obscurity.
I always had the fantasy of Hollywood and Los Angeles and the beach, not realizing that Hollywood was so very far from the beach.
I feel like a lot of pop singers hurt themselves if they don't have the proper training.
'Teenage Dream' was the hardest breakup for me.
