I subscribe to the myth that an artist's creativity comes from torment. Once that's fixed, what do you draw on?

I've been asking myself: 'Why put together these things - CDs, albums?' The answer I came up with is, well, sometimes it's artistically viable. It's not just a random collection of songs. Sometimes the songs have a common thread, even if it's not obvious or even conscious on the artists' part.

Always be skeptical about simplicity.

I wanted to be a secret agent and an astronaut, preferably at the same time.

I like to combine the dramatic emotional warmth of strings with the grooves and body business of drums and bass.

Singing is a trick to get people to listen to music for longer than they would ordinarily.

It's not music you would use to get a girl into bed. If anything, you're going to frighten her off.