Bebo: Well, whether I admitted it or not, for years I was drawing my identity from how people responded to my music. I always talk about writing honest songs, and I think I do, but in terms of how they are received, it was an intense struggle for identity. I think this battle with anxiety has put me in the right place. I questioned whether I was supposed to do this, and I've learned that I am supposed to, but it can't be about how people like me or how they respond anymore. So now the internal part is that I'm beginning to be in a place where I can say that I'm OK with whatever the response is. This allows me to write songs that might be a little more pointed at culture that I might not have written before. I can take risks with this record that I couldn't in the past.

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CMP: Is that weird to be known for being an honest songwriter, and, yet, you're saying you're just now finding the ability to be completely honest?

Bebo: I was just talking to a friend about this. The first single is called “Pull Me Out,” and I've been doing a lot of media for the new album. I told him it's really funny because after an interview, people will thank me for talking about anxiety and say, “Thank you for being brave in that.” That's the word that people use, but it's funny because I'm talking about this weakness of mine after already dealing with most of it. I'm talking from a place of strength about my weakness. I've come through it a bit. The reality is that I'll always be dealing with it to some degree. But if I were to stop in the middle of a song [during] a concert two years ago when I literally thought I was going to die, then I'd be really honest. I couldn't breathe. That's real honesty, because I would be talking about it in the concept of not knowing what to do with it.

I would love to be in the place of being that guy. I don't know if I will ever get there, but that's what I am shooting for. I'm aiming for the day that I can stop in the middle of a song and say, “Hey, I'm feeling insecure” or “I can't breathe right now.” I think [I’m] moving toward vulnerability constantly, especially in my own songwriting, but I still have a long way to go.

CMP: Looking back, were there ever any moments to let the “cat out of the bag” at one of those shows that you felt that way?

Bebo: I was absolutely tempted to do that. In those moments—and this is the craziness of it—I didn't know how to literally do the next song. Honestly, I was struggling so much that I didn't know how to play a song. It was beautiful in the sense that I literally had to pray constantly in the middle of a song to get through it. I know that sounds crazy, but that's literally where I was internally. But what stopped me from saying anything was my insecurity. That's always what stops me. I think that's what stops all of us. I've always wanted to be in control, and I was not in control. So this has been a huge struggle, yet beautiful in a way.