On Friday, Students on Target hosted Groovin’ on the Grounds, an all-day festival and concert that emphasized wellness and health for students. The concert, which began at 3 p.m., featured such acts as Better Than Ezra, Ying Yang Twins, Bonnie McKee and pop singer-songwriter Ryan Cabrera. Cabrera closed his show with several acoustic guitar performances, an LSU cheerleader dance routine, and covers of Paula Abdul and Paul Simon songs. Before his show, Texas-native Cabrera took a few minutes to answer some questions about life, music and Ashlee. Zachary Broussard: How did you get where you are today? Ryan Cabrera: Pretty much just by playing every show I could; I took every single gig that was ever offered to me. I just started trying to get better and better being on stage. Then, me and Jessica Simpson had the same voice teacher, and she called up her dad, Joe, who is her manager and was like, “You’ve gotta come hear this guy play.” So he flew to Dallas, saw me play, took me to New York and L.A., and I sang for labels behind their desks. So I signed with a record label and started writing an album. ZB: You started out playing with some bands. Do you ever miss playing with any of them? RC: No, because I have a band now. What happened was I was in a band and then I made a solo, little record — kind of an independent thing when I was 17 years old — and it started to do really well. I was like, “I’m writing all the music myself and arranging all the music myself, so I might as well just do my own thing. So then I went on the road touring for two years with just an acoustic guitar and started to pick up members, and now I have a full band. It’s fun because I get to play with a full band, but it’s still separate because it’s my music. ZB: Is there any ill-will between you and your original band? RC: There was for a while — they hated me. But they’re all good now. ZB: What inspires you to write, since you write your own music and lyrics? RC: Obviously, one of the things that is almost impossible not to write about is love and your views on that. I also like to write about life and the way people live and my observations on that, God, spiritual things and nature, and imagination. Some songs are more fun and quirky — songs that I was having a good time with — and some are really serious like a car crash. ZB: You write a lot about love; have you ever had your heart broken? RC: Yeah. I wrote a song about it called “She’s,” which was like my first, like the puppy love thing, but it still sucks, no matter what. It’s a simple song, but sometimes the most simple songs are the most effective. ZB: How’s the tour been so far? Is this your first major tour? RC: First major headlining tour, yeah. It’s been awesome. To promote this album, I was on the road for two years before it even came out. My first tour was a college tour because it was free, and that was the only way I could tour at the time because my record wasn’t out. I stayed in the frat houses, slept in bathtubs — I did it all. Now I can finally do my own shows, which is the biggest blessing in the world. ZB: Are you heavily involved with the producing part of the album? RC: Absolutely. I made it a point that I had to co-produce my first album, and labels don’t usually let you, as a new artist, do your own. But I think since I was working with John [Rzeznik], they were like, “OK just go for it, just do it.” So, we spent a month together and we recorded the album in his house. My next album I’m actually going to produce myself. ZB: What was it like working with John? RC: It was very intense. Making an album in a month is really hard to do, with all the stuff that goes into it. So, we got some really intense moments. ZB: Being a pop star, you’re a lot different from regular pop stars in that you write your own music and lyrics, but the majority of your fan-base is still young teenagers. Do you ever worry about that? About what other musicians may think? RC: Not really, because I made my album and made my music and I can’t help is what it’s looked at as. But what I can help is making the best music possible and putting on the best live show, which is, to me, the most important thing. ZB: Are you nervous when you perform? RC: Not really nervous as much as I get really excited. I never want to lose that. But I’m never nervous because I kind of just play, and if people like it, then that’s amazing, and if not, then oh well. I get nervous on TV shows sometimes, though. ZB: Is your family just blown away by the level of success you’ve achieved? RC: Yeah, they’re still kind of shocked about it all. They definitely didn’t like it when I told them I wanted to make music; they thought I was crazy. It has taken a long time to finally prove to them that it’s a real job. My grandma’s still trying to get me to get a job. They’re like, “How about going back to school?” and I’m like, “I’m fine. I’m not going back to school.” ZB: What do you think sets you apart from other performers? RC: I think just real music that’s honest. And putting on a good live show. And being part of everybody instead of being this thing that’s unattainable. I get on stage and just hang out, and that’s the vibe I want. We’re all just hanging out. ZB: What would you be doing if you weren’t singing? RC: Working at Chick-fil-a, doing the drive-thru. ZB: What’s in your CD player? RC: Very random, Tony Bennett, very random. I’m on this kick right now of old-school soul. ZB: What embarrasses you? RC: Not much. If you see the show tonight, you’ll realize that I don’t get embarrassed very easily. ZB: If yourself from ten years ago came and met you now, what would he say to you? RC: I was a little punk kid, I would beat myself. Today I realize how dumb it is to try to be cool and try to mess with people. I was a little punk kid who thought I was untouchable. I got locked in a locker for like three hours. I was a little skateboarder punk. But now I’m all about getting along and being cool with everybody. ZB: What do you use to hold your hair up? RC: Lots of paste. It’s called clay. It’s very disgusting, I wouldn’t advise it to anybody. It stays in your hair for about two weeks. ZB: What’s the story with you and Ashlee Simpson? RC: There is no story. We’re just friends. We’ve been broken up for about two months. So it will take a while because the TV show’s on now and people think that that’s happening now.