When I was confronted with official tuition, the academic thing, I could see no relationship whatever between that and the music I'd been writing since I was 11.

My attitude to writing is like when you do wallpapering, you remember where all the little bits are that don't meet. And then your friends say: It's terrific!

When I was a kid, I wrote music - from the age of 11 until the age of 18.

Minimalism now is a reaction to what came before. It's absolutely of its time. Music moved into the set theory thing, and moved out of it.

I didn't have a record player.

The thing about influence is that any composer worth anything will give you the same names.

People say my music is English. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's not me writing English music, but that English music is becoming more like me.