As struggles go, being an artist isn't that much of one.

I've always thought that art is a lie, an interesting lie. And I'll sort of listen to the "lie" and try to imagine the world which makes that lie true...what that world must be like, and what would have to happen for us to get from this world to that one.

If I tried to make a commercial album, it would be a complete flop. I have no idea what the world at large likes.

My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow where and when - and he won't necessarily be able to reproduce it again afterwards either.

You either believe that people respond to authority, or that they respond to kindness and inclusion. I'm obviously in the latter camp. I think that people respond better to reward than punishment.

Possessions are a way of turning money into problems.

John Cage made you realise that there wasn't a thing called noise, it was just music you hadn't appreciated.