I'm fascinated by evil queens. They're very alluring and repellent at the same time, and I'm into that dichotomy.

I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales.

There's a big difference between the Arabic and Western scales. One uses quarter tone system and one doesn't. So in order for me to compose real Arabic scale melodies, I would need an Arabic keyboard, and I don't have one. So I had to compose Arabesque melodies.

The first question [American college kids] asked me was, 'What state is Kuwait in?' They thought Kuwait was in America.

For instance, members of the elite will never allow their children to become musicians normally, because it's - not embarrassing - but it's not done. There's a very famous composer from the '70s from a well-known family that disowned him, and he's a man, so there's this historical precedence with their relationships with musicians - not so much music as it's this abstract thing - but externally with artists.

I still think you people need to be curious [in order to absorb the culture]. You need to search Uzbekistani pop music.

I'm not a philosopher so why should I provide anyone with the answers? I'm just a musician, I don't have any solutions. All I'm doing is questioning the status quo, with every record I've made, to a certain extend.