At the beginning of the 20th century, the ambition of the great painters was to make paintings that were like music, which was then considered as the noblest art.
The way 'Lux' was made is that there are 12 sections in here, though two of them are joined together. So there are really 11 sections, in a sense, and each one uses five notes out of a palette of seven notes, and my palette is all the white notes on the piano. That was the original palette.
I wanted to get rid of the element that had been considered essential in pop music: the voice.
When I finish something, I want it out that day. Pop music is like the daily paper. Its got to be there then, not six months later.
The biggest crime in England is to rise above your station. It's fine to be a pop star. 'Oh, it's great, lots of fun, aren't they sweet, these pop stars! But to think you have anything to say about how the world should work? What arrogance!'
For instance, I'm always fascinated to see whether, given the kind of fairly known and established form called popular music, whether there is some magic combination that nobody has hit upon before.
I suppose I am reluctant about being any sort of 'star' and I didn't particularly want to be portrayed as one.
I think generally playing live is a crap idea. So much of stage work is the presentation of personality, and I've never been interested in that.
I don't like celebrity programmes - but I do like programmes about how ideas are formed and evolve.
I think one of my pursuits over the years is trying to answer the question of, 'What else can you do with a voice other than stand in front of a microphone and sing?'
Perhaps when music has been shouting for so long, a quieter voice seems attractive.
I've had quite a lot of luck with dreams. I've often awoken in the night with a phrase or even a whole song in my head.
Instruments sound interesting, not because of their sound, but because of the relationship a player has with them. Instrumentalists build a rapport with their instruments, which is what you like and respond to.
I want to rethink 'surrender' as an active verb.
I hate the rock music tradition. I can't bear it!
Even though I'm known as a pop musician, I have a seriousness about what I do.
I think there's a lot of similarity between what people try to do with religion with what they want from art. In fact, I very specifically think that they are same thing. Not that religion and art are the same, but that they both tap into the same need we have for surrender.
I love good, loud speakers.
I always use the same guitar; I got this guitar years and years ago for nine pounds. It's still got the same strings on it.
One often makes music to supplement one's world.
