1. What inspires you to write music ?

I’ve never believed in the Romantic notion of inspiration; that of being inspired by looking at a mountain or reading a poem etc. It may work for some people but it never has for me.
The great Russian composer Igor Stravinsky once said something along the lines of ‘inspiration comes after you begin a piece’ and I think there’s a lot of truth in that; if you sit around waiting for inspiration it may never come, the best thing to do is to just sit down and start writing and hope that you become inspired by your own ideas.
If I had to name an inspiration or influence it would be filmmakers and writers rather than things like nature, emotions, other music etc.

2. You have mentioned that filmmakers and actors inspire you, how so? Would you say this is more than other musicians?

It’s their method that inspires me. It may be something to do with the fact that they work in the very concrete medium of vision rather the abstract one of sound that a musician works with.
Take Stanley Kubrick for example. Each film is in a different genre, they all tell a story in a different way and they all look different whilst retaining Kubrick’s thumbprints. He was a perfectionist, an obsessive note-taker, researcher and planner.
The Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier divides his films into very clear chapters or parts, particularly influential upon me when it came to writing my new album ‘Seasons in Flight’ as I had a hard time deciding on a track order. My solution was to split the album up into distinct parts.
David Lynch once said that every medium (film, music, painting etc.), is infinitely deep and once we get started then we can keep on going and going.
A lot of composers only seem to cite other composers as influences. I have a hard time thinking of composers who influence me because a) there are so many and b) I think all music I hear influences me to an extent.

3. Do you have healthy competitiveness with other musicians?

I’m not a competitive person by nature, which may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing depending on your point of view. Whether we admit to it or not, I think everyone aspires to be as great as somebody else to a certain extent, to have the same amount of respect as them, to be as talented as them. What we need to do is to use those people as motivation to succeed and achieve rather than to envy them.
Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; the trick is to identify them in yourself and use them to your advantage.

4. Would you consider making music for film?

Definitely. I’ve written specifically for some independent films and music of mine has been use in others. It’s fascinating trying to express not just what’s on the screen in terms of vision, but also the concept of it.

5. If so, which would be the ideal type of film (i.e. drama/horror, etc.).

I don’t tend to divide films (or books, music etc.), into categories and genres; as long as it there’s interest there, I enjoy it. The films that tend to interest me however are those which don’t necessarily follow a traditional narrative structure, those which are experimental and those which are not typically ‘filmic’. Basically, anything that tries to bends the rules and doesn’t dumb itself or its audience down.

6. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

I’d love to collaborate with a dancer on writing an original show/ballet. It’s one of the few things I’ve never really contributed to and would enjoy the experience of writing for choreography or having music choreographed. Similarly, I’d like to work with a writer/actor someday, whether it’s a play or a piece of performance art.

7. What can we expect in the future with the new album and other plans?

‘Seasons in Flight’ is due for release on April 29, 2013. The title is taken from Brian Aldiss’s collection of short stories by the same name. It’s a collection of stunningly beautiful, evocative stories about ordinary people in ordinary circumstances having to deal with difficult and complex situations.
The album has had the longest writing period of any of my albums and it is the most varied of them in terms of dynamics, tempo and style. The essence of my style remains, but with a few surprises thrown in.
After that I think there’s going to be a bit of break in terms of album writing. They’ve appeared in relatively quick succession (four in three years), so I may spend some time on smaller and miscellaneous projects.