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my music has impacted or affected their lives. More than anything, I think I have had servicemen and servicewomen tell me that they've gone through scary things and been away for long amounts of time in places that were obviously not comfortable for them, and that songs like "Home" brought them a ton of peace and got them through a tough time. I think when people say things like that to you, as an artist, it gives you a sense of understanding that what you do matters. I don't mean "matters" in a sense of being more important than the jobs of other people. But when you're missing people and you're away from your own family, there is power in music. There is power in sharing songs like that and allowing people to interpret them in their own way. I've heard the same stories from people who have gone through terrible breakups and people who have been legitimately lonely. They've said to me, "The song, "Haven't Met You Yet" is getting me through." And then Christmas comes up and I'll hear from people that that's all their kids listen to in the car, or it makes them think of their grandfather who they lost. It's a testament to the power of music. Melody is the voice of God, I think. I'll tell you what I have always found fascinating about you, and I'm a fan of music from earlier times. I'm forever listening to music from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. What's so interesting about you is that you came along in the very early 2000s, when everything was hip hop, and rap/rock. What made you believe that you could even break through as somebody who was crooning these songs from a bygone era? MB: It was probably stupidity [laughs]. I mean, thinking that I might have success was probably naiveté. But honest to God, I think I was blinded by the love of the music. And by the way, I love all kinds of music. I love rock, R&B, and rap. For me, if it's good, it's good. It doesn't matter who did it or where it came from. I hoped that I could trust my instincts. I've been listening to this author and speaker named Dr. Joe Dispenza. He studies the patterns of the human brain and how we create our own reality. He essentially talks about how anybody who has ever achieved something great, has been able to believe in a vision and believe in a life for themselves that they couldn't yet perceive with their physical senses. When I read that you, from the age of two, knew you were going to be a singer, slept with your Bible at night and prayed for it, and you held strong to that vision for all of those years before it actually materialized in your life, I put you in that great category. Does that make sense? MB: Yeah, it does, and there's a few people like Eckhart Tolle with The Power of Now, and some of these other philosophers who also talk about that. There is a Canadian writer [Malcolm Gladwell], he wrote a book called The Outliers. His whole premise was that to truly become great at something, you need to put in ten thousand hours of work. And if you find anyone who's become truly great at what they do, they have put in that amount of time. There are little parts of what you were talking about that mix with the practical application of doing things enough and focusing enough. You learn by osmosis and your experience helps you to grow. Then by the time you get your opportunity, you're ready. I think that probably had a lot to do with it for me. Number one, I loved it. I had a passion for the music and the songs, and all of that. But I did the work; I practiced, I sang, and I studied. I took it all in and I digested it as much as possible and downloaded it as much as possible in every kind of genre. I get what you're saying. You're talking about visualizing. I have a friend who tells me often that he used to walk down the street and say to himself, "I have a million dollars." Not, "I want a million dollars," but, "I have a million dollars; I am successful." You're living it and believing it, rather than wishing for it. MB: Yes, but this is a difficult conversation, because I think for people who have had the success and who have done that, they can confidently say to you, "Yes, it works. It worked for me, I did that." For most of the people who don't have that, I think they look at it as pish-posh. I think people are afraid to relinquish their faith over to something that may leave them empty handed. It's the fear of, well, if I really invest myself in this process and I really believe, and it doesn't materialize in my life, I'll be devastated. Therefore, I'm going to remain skeptical. MB: There's times where I think to myself, "My God, I worked at visualizing and praying and wanting and putting out all of that stuff to the universe, and it worked." But then there's a lot of times where I have to say to myself that I was just so lucky, so lucky. I mean, a million dominos had to fall in the most perfect way for this to have happened in my life. The question that I really ask myself is: If I had to do it all over again, would I be brave enough? Mmm, okay. I'll ask you the question. Knowing everything you now know about the music industry, about the odds, about everything you're aware of, if you had to start from square one, would you have the courage to do it all over again? MB: No. You don't think so? MB: I don't think so. Wow. Well, thank God that's not an option! MB: It's a hard question to think about, because reality doesn't come into it. I came home yesterday with my wife and we had to take our son to his checkup, the scans, and every thing [Michael is talking about his son Noah, who is currently in remission from pediatric liver cancer]. We take him every three months for checkups, and it's really scary. My wife and I actually talked about this and we said, "My God, look at what we did." Here we were, she was 23 years old and I was 32. We met in Argentina and we fell in love. Everyone told us that it was impossible. They told us not to do it, because it was too far away, the whole long-distance relationship thing. And we did it. We got married. Everyone said, "That's crazy. That's not going to work. And whatever you do, don't have kids, because that'll be murder." And then we had kids. And then there's what happened to our family (referencing Noah's cancer diagnosis). One of the first things a doctor told me at one of the hospitals we'd gone to was to stay strong and help each other through this. A friend of ours, when we had asked why the doctors keep telling us that, this friend of ours who works with families going through things like this, said that something like 92% of couples who go through this… Get divorced… MB: Get divorced. And many of the 8% who don't, have [more] children. And of course, my wife and I thought here we are with a beautiful daughter. We were in the car yesterday and I looked at her, and said, "Would you do it all over again?" She then answered, "Of course, I would do it all over again. I wouldn't want anything different. You guys are the greatest joy of my life." But then my question to her was, "But would you be brave enough to do it all over again?" And then she said, "I don't know." And I would have to say the same thing. I don't know.