You already know JHart, even if you don’t know JHart.

The gay songwriter, full name James Abrahart, has penned tracks for artists like Camila Cabello, Justin Bieber, Betty Who, Keith Urban, and Usher over the years. Now he's putting the finishing touches on his own debut EP, Vol 1. – Songs From Therapy, due out early next year. NewNowNext sat down with the 30-year-old Brit to talk about his songwriting process and stepping out from behind the scenes.

Your upcoming album was literally inspired from your personal therapy sessions. Was there a moment in therapy where you were just like, "I need to capture this"?

It didn’t actually strike me at first. It was going to therapy and then straight to the studio afterward, thinking about what I talked about. I thought, why not record the sessions and bring them to the studio?

After having written for so many artists, what inspired you to put pen to paper for your own debut?

I love writing for other people and helping them say what they want to say, but I felt like there was still a lot that was hard to say through others. Being a conduit for other people doesn’t always do it, so I had to do it. This also happened for me at the right time, and I felt a responsibility to talk about what I was feeling. When I started to go to therapy, there was so much I was unpacking that I hadn’t dealt with. It was sort of a serendipitous alignment of things that were happening in my life. I also got the call to go on tour at around the same time.

Now that you’re taking center stage writing and performing, do you have some takeaways from working with other artists that you are applying to yourself?

On a performance level, absolutely. I had debilitating stage fright, but I forced myself on the stage. There’s no better way to tackle it than just doing it. Me being scared was no longer a good excuse not to do it. I also talk to my family. There are six of us. My mom is my biggest fan, and my dad is my “tell-it-like-it-is” guy. There are producers I speak to for advice along the way as well.

How was it going on tour this year and playing at one of the most epic Coachellas ever?

It was unreal. I was thinking about all I’ve done personally and it makes me really proud. At the beginning of the year, I had no idea I was going on tour. I’m just glad I didn’t go on after Ariana Grande!

“Why Does It Hurt” is the latest single from the upcoming EP, asking an important question that many of us have experienced after a breakup. What is some of the feedback you’ve received from fans?

I’ve received so many amazing messages on Instagram. I felt like the “ego” angle on why it’s hard to move on isn’t something I’ve seen covered before. We know what’s best, but having our ego makes it hard to move on. It’s like, you broke up with me...but because it happened like this, it’s hard to move on.

We’ve had a pretty good year of LGBTQ presence in music. Who are some of your favorites?

MNEK, King Princess, Hayley Kiyoko, I love Olly Alexander—so many. It's been amazing to see what this year has done for music and how diverse it’s been. I grew up in the south in Christian schools and without many LGBTQ artists I could look up to then. I would love to collaborate with as many as I can, and it’s so good to see how many artists are putting their stories out there.