I love communicating with people, and sometimes language is not enough. I think that's what poetry is, where you can mess with language and get through to things that can't be described or communicated through regular language or scientific processes.

I like to go to old versions and find out what effect beats and scales have on your body, how they can transport you.

I think it's quite jarring and exciting when you see someone in the thrall of being completely transported by the music they're sharing with you.

There actually had been a tradition within English music of the '60s of people looking eastwards, maybe in quite a naïve way, but nonetheless, you had musicians like George Harrison or Bryan Jones recording the musicians of Joujouka in North Africa.

I think where you play is important.

I am very sensitive to music, so I can quite easily allow myself to access that space in which I am completely taken over. And you can get quite a reaction out of the crowd when you do that.

On a very technical level, I am a geek who is interested in the intricacy of rhythm playing, so I like comparing and working out its details.