I wrote the song "Monster" with Corey Lowery the first time I went down to his studio in Atlanta. I had heard some of his work and really wanted to write with him, so even though we had never met in person before, I flew down there for 2 days and had 3 completed songs by the time I was on the flight home. It was one of the most fun and productive writing sessions I have ever had. The reward was worth the risk! All 3 songs made it on the album, and I now have a new friend and 'big bro' that I get to keep making songs with for a long time to come.

"Monster", which is now the single off my new album, was the last song we wrote during that trip. While finishing up the songs from the day before, we were talking about my love of hard rock and metal, my personality and my look, how people generally react to that, and my previous experiences in the music world (some good, some not so good), and decided these were things I really wanted to share. It was important to make the music and the lyrics as raw and as real as possible, while embracing who I am as an artist and as a person.

Writing this song helped me overcome a huge cloud of negativity and anxiety from some past experiences that was preventing me from getting out of the temporary rut I was in at the time, and I hope that this song can help others with that as well.

It's also one of my favorite songs to perform because I get to really play into my 'manic' side. It also doesn't hurt that I have such amazing musicians on the album, and the track itself: Billy Sheehan, who produced and played on the record, Ray Luzier, Russ Parrish, Corey Lowery, and Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal, who plays the solo in "Monster", amongst others on the album.