Q: As you grow older, what would you like to do with your music?
A: I just want to excel musically, instrumentation-wise, as well as just my tone in general. But I think that as my audience grows with me, that my lyrics will change and they’ll be more directed for the older audience. I mean, right now I’m singing to young and old. I’m singing to basically anybody who wants to listen.
Q: When you were a kid and you were learning how to sing, who was it that you were trying to emulate?
A: Nobody. I was just singing. I would never try to be like anybody. I definitely had people that I looked up to. I looked up to Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and Boyz II Men. But I never tried to sound like anybody.
Q: When did you know that you’d made it as a performer?
A: I don’t think that I’ve succeeded yet. I mean, I have to a certain extent. But this is just the beginning.
Q: It’s been reported that you have a “swagger” coach. Can you explain to me what is that?
A: It’s pretty simple, it’s basically a swagger coach, he kind of teaches me, he helps me just stay swaggerific. I don’t know.
Q: What is it to be swaggerific?
A: You don’t know? I mean, it swaggers. It’s confidence, it’s style, I don’t know how else to put it. It’s swagger. It’s a word.
Q: You’ve said that you grew up beneath the poverty line in Stratford. What was your childhood like?
A: I mean, some people have it misconstrued. I wasn’t poor. I definitely didn’t think of myself as not having a lot of money. But I definitely did not have a lot of money. I couldn’t afford to get a lot of new clothes a lot of times. But I had a roof over my head. I was very fortunate. I had my grandparents, I saw them a lot, they were very kind. So I grew up getting everything that I wanted.
Q: How have your friends reacted to what has happened to your success?
A: My friends are very supportive. I have two really close friends—Ryan and Chaz. They’re really close to me.
Q: You thank Ryan and Chaz in the liner notes to your seven-song EP for “helping me stay just Justin.” How do they do that?
A: They’re very happy for me but they really don’t care about any of this. They like me for me. When we’re hanging out and I say something stupid or something, they’re not going to treat me like I’m a superstar, by any means. They’re not going to treat me like I’m bigger than everybody else. They’re just going to treat me like Justin. They’re going to pop me in the head and not care. I get to see them at least once a month. I get to fly them out to wherever I am. I’ve flown them out to L.A. and Atlanta. I think it’s really important to just have your close friends around you. We’re very active, we play basketball and hockey and soccer and stuff. We go to the movies with girls and stuff like regular teenage boys.
Q: You don’t live in Stratford anymore—I gather you live in Atlanta.
A: I have a house in Stratford and I got a house in Atlanta but I don’t really live anywhere—I live on the road. I’m kind of like living in a suitcase, travelling so much. My day changes every day—some days I’m doing one thing, other days I’m doing another. But I usually work all day.
Q: Are there things about Stratford that you miss now?
A: Of course, I miss my family, I miss my friends. I mean the city itself, which is very pretty and familiar because it’s really all I ever knew. But it’s more my friends and family. I could go without the city. It doesn’t really matter where I am as long as I have family and friends close to me. It’s really all that matters.
Q: You also mentioned in the liner notes to your CD about your mother, that you might want to buy her a house. Have you managed to do that yet?
A: Of course, I definitely want to buy my mom a house once I get enough funds. I think that’s definitely something that I want to do. I think that any person, it’s their dream to buy their mother a house. Don’t you?
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