“I promise you, if you look at YouTube and see some of my first covers,...” — Shawn Mendes Quote

I promise you, if you look at YouTube and see some of my first covers, you will hear that I don't sound good. But I was so obsessed with it and wanted so much to be good at it that I forced myself to figure out what sounds right and what sounds wrong.

I'm tortured because I care.

I come up with more ideas when I'm on the road, but I don't get to finish them. I don't get to fully flush them out because I'm so busy on the road. I'm very all over the place, but I'm definitely most creative when I'm out here.

You have to work the crowd.

I'd love to work with Bruno Mars and Ryan Tedder.

We don't like talking about race in the U.K. - it's a very sensitive subject. People get extremely defensive and run for the covers, but I believe we have to talk about it.

I think all the covers I do have nice sentiments, particularly 'Your Song.' People write me very sweet messages about that song, though I'm sure there are people out there saying that I've ruined it too!

My father brought me a box of books once when I was about three and a half or four. I remember the carton they were in and the covers with illustrations by Newell C. Wyeth.

When I write a scientific treatise, I might reach 100 people. When the 'National Geographic' covers a project, it communicates about plants and fish and underwater technology to more than 10 million people.