I hate the rock music tradition. I can't bear it!

People tend to play in their comfort zone, so the best things are achieved in a state of surprise, actually.

You don't have to act as if you know what you're doing

Most of those melodies are me trying to find out what notes fit, and then hitting ones that don't fit in a very interesting way.

If you are part of a religion that very strongly insists that you believe then to decide not to do that is quite a big hurdle to jump over. You never forget the thought process you went through. It becomes part of your whole intellectual picture.

More and more I find I want to be living in a Big Here and a Long Now.

What matters in modern music is not the part you can write down, the words and the tune, but the rest - the texture, the atmosphere, the references and associations.