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For me, Anthony Powell is a religion. I read 'A Dance to the Music of Time' every few years.

In a way, 'Billy Elliot' was autobiographical. I can't dance, but I think his dancing was me discovering about writing and literature.

I began to write a kind of waltz and in a little more than an hour I had the theme written.

In that long sequence, when Lawrence enters in the desert to rescue a lost man, Lean listened the music I wrote and wanted to extend the scene to let my work stay completely.

I danced with passion to spite the music.

Rachmaninoff made a musician out of me. His 'Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini' was the piece that sent me into raptures. It spoke to me. To me, it was a tender entreaty for the misunderstood.

Rhythm is the life of space of time danced through.

When something is written for you or handed to you, sometimes there's a very interesting dance as you discover what it is that's required.

One of my big inspirations was Chuck Berry, and his playing was always about the rhythm and the lyrics. So I've always been that way in my playing, really.

With Schubert, a lot of the melodies are very simple, but he's in this groove. He's in touch with his heart.