In April 2004, Clarkson entered the studio immediately after the Independent Tour. She said in an interview, "I've written most of (the songs) so far, but there's some people who have some stuff for me. I'm not one of those people who thinks you have to write everything. (I'll sing it) as long as I can relate to it." During the album's development, Davis revealed that he was reluctant to let Clarkson write material for the album. He revealed, "I always encourage people to write their own songs, but in the pop arena, where the career is totally dependent on hits, you get skeptical. Artists with great voices like Melissa Manchester and Taylor Dayne could have had much longer careers if they didn't insist on writing their own material." Clarkson reiterates that she's been writing songs since her teens, but rather than argue over labels or abilities, the two reached a détente—she would co-write half the album, with the other half being penned by other songwriters and producers. She said, "I just think it's funny that all these middle-age guys told me, 'You don't know how a pop song needs to sound.' I'm a 23-year-old girl! But I was fighting those battles alone." In February 2004, Clarkson met with musicians Ben Moody and David Hodges, who had just departed from their band Evanescence in late 2003. She said, "I didn't know that he (Moody) wasn't with Evanescence anymore," Clarkson said. "I just really liked their vibe and I thought it might be cool to work with one of them. So I just randomly asked people I work with, 'Hey, do you think that he'd work with me?' And then I found out that he kind of split and that's what he's doing ... so it worked out perfectly." Moody recalled, "It's cool because she wants to do some branching out, and I'm doing nothing but branching out, we got together and she had all these songs in mind of what she wanted to do. It's just a really, really cool process for me, because everybody is a new experience. Everybody works differently."