In a way, composing on the melodic level is an expression of a melodic truth, almost like a geometric truth. If it has clarity, other people will recognize it. There's no way of isolating it in a gallery on a white wall and saying, "This is a work of art. This is a mathematical proof."

In a way, all recorded music is reduced to the same level, no matter what it is. You find it in the store, you put it on and, "Oh, that's not cool. That's gangsta rap. That's white supremacist punk." But in a way, the content is removed from the intention of the people that made it. That's the commercial level of music.

Who approaches collaboration with agenda in terms of content? The agenda is only in terms of process, which is generosity, listening, careful thinking.

I don't like to treat words and sounds like objects. You have to penetrate deeply into their meaning.

I love the pleasure of finding the same truth in two different places. It has a lot to do with a soul.

Even if you're a genius and you invent your own language, it doesn't become a language until there are people using it.

Learning how to listen to others and how to listen to your own thoughts is the ultimate process.