Category: Interviews

“I make things to say 'this is how I see the world', and to ask if you see it the same way.”

“I’m not saying that music is the notes of the piano, and philosophy is just the words. There is philosophy in the notes of the piano, and there is music in the words.”

“I just try and write something that is, in any shape or form, going to be enjoyable.”

“Then you realise that you do Rammstein with string quartet, but with your rock band, you do Debussy — and somehow, there’s just these layers and layers.”

“Do memories make us who we are? And if we lose them, does that mean we automatically lose ourselves?”

“After confronting my anxieties about myself, I came to the conclusion that my music ‘is’ me; my perspective will always be part of my music, whether I try to or not.”

“My musical inspiration always comes from the essential principle of Eastern philosophy, that is: everything is flowing, interconnected, dependent on each other.”

“I really like to explore different sonorities — different sounds that can be used with electronics and acoustic instruments — trying to get some form of middle ground between the two.”

“That’s what it feels like when I’m working with electronics — I feel like I’m creating a moment, a live moment for someone to listen to.”

“We should really look after the score, and the idea of the score, because it’s one of the only things that capitalism hasn’t taken away from us.”

"I see [visuals] as very integrated into the piece, and the process. I feel like some people make visuals that you don’t need to have with pieces, but mine are very integrated — one doesn’t work without the other."

“It was completely about 'let’s play how we feel', that’s what it was all about — communicating with each other, expressing our emotions to an audience — beyond that, it didn’t really matter what it sounded like.”

“I’m just trying to make the most sonically sensuous, magic sound-stuff-thing that I can.”

“The way that I experience music is, in a way, very physical; it’s very often about impacts and certain touches.”

“You see a colour, you see an image, and that is gonna have an impact on how you play a piece, especially if you have some freedom on how to do it. But you, as a player, need to be open to that.”

“I find there’s always lots of music drifting about in my head; like a big ball of yarn, with strings you can gently pull to see if they unravel.”

“I came, genuinely, from just wanting to compose. I’ve had an orchestra playing through my head since I was nine, and I didn’t know how to notate it.”

"Rather than “the system is the piece”, the system is creating something which then I may or may not feel free to change and adjust. It became more of a balance between the abstract and the process."