I'm sure that a lot of my friends - even though they're curious about the music of nations that are not on their radar - still don't know what Kuwaiti music sounds like.

I feel like I got my first real taste of Caribbean and Cuban culture while I was there. I have quite a sizeable Cuban vinyl collection from Miami thrift stores.

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

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.

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

There are very few pop people I'm interested in working with.

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