I'm fortunate I have this coterie of musicians around me to help take music to next level. Being surrounded by so much creative energy, so many creative people really feeds that creativity in me

I mean, at the end of the day when I'm making a record, what I want to do is what I do

I'd have these weird experiences where I'd just be walking down the street with this chord progression in my head, this happened more than a few times, and I'd walk home and find a fax in my machine and it would match the music in my head

But really important, perhaps most important is the craft; how you make your record, the creation of these sonic worlds you want your listener to hear.

It's inevitable your environment will influence what you do

I'm a pretty big P.J. Harvey record fan and you can really hear New York in his record

Simon Hale, the British arranger, does all string and wood arrangements on my records