I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Music had been my first love among the arts, and I was fascinated by it, as I still am.
I wanted to explore the connections between different kinds of music.
I loved music from earliest childhood - from as long as I can remember.
Music was the first thing I did where I was naturally talented.
I was a student at Harvard, and that's where I learned about so-called avant-garde music. Jackson Pollock, abstract expressionism and painting were well known at this time.
I have that huge print from Pollock by the piano because the influence is reciprocal. He was into hearing music while he created, and I sometimes do the opposite. I'm influenced by everything from an ant to a dream.
I've always had a deep passion for a lot of early electronic and sampled music.
I began composing works which were imitative of the music I was being told about. I was also very interested in translating the music into visual terms.
I just happened to start playing music for the conceptual ideas.
I think early on in my career, I was heavily inspired by bands like Throbbing Gristle and Test Dept, and films of David Lynch, for example, where the soundscape plays a very important role in the listening experience.