Shortly before I started writing the songs that would end forming the album First World Problems, I had scrapped my whole musical identity and started over. I'd been making music for awhile, and I was at a low point -- it was too much hassle to keep a band together, and I was between jobs and couldn't afford lavish production. So I chose a new name and a new approach: I started recording by myself with nothing but synths and drum machines.

That approach eventually yielded First World Problems, a group of pop songs preoccupied with fame and the creative process. I wanted to express something truthful about my frustrations and desires, and found that I was able to be the most honest when I used sarcasm and humor. The various narrators represent different aspects of my personality, blown up to larger than life-size to put their flaws and motivations on display.

"Narcissist" is partly about poking fun at my own self-involved tendencies, and also about a personality trait which I think is not uncommon among performers. After all, what sort of person tirelessly self-promotes and toils for little compensation, all for a brief chance to be the one in the spotlight?