"People always look at me confusingly when I say the RHCP are an influence. It’s in the backing vocals that John Frusciante does that you can hear here. It’s also in the vocal melody blending in with the beat of the song. To me, the records they did with John are always a source of inspiration."

"Marvin Gaye is the first person who taught me to write from a place of experience and talk about what was right in front of me. And his style of background vocal production is something that I listen to all of the time for inspiration. My favorites are 'Flying High in a Friendly Sky' and 'Wholy Holy.'"

"Blue Sky. I love Blue Sky. It was just very inspiring to me, and I love that movie. Jessica Lange is such a huge inspiration to me, because she plays these very sexual, dark characters, but also she shows vulnerability and innocence. And I think that contrast is something that I’m just very drawn to watch."

"If Terry Gilliam was my “wild man” hero in my youth, then Terrence Malick was my poet. Both of these films were textbooks on how films can transcend simple storylines with visual poetry. Both still hold a tremendous amount of power today, and I try to rewatch them at least once a year for a shot of inspiration."

"If Terry Gilliam was my “wild man” hero in my youth, then Terrence Malick was my poet. Both of these films were textbooks on how films can transcend simple storylines with visual poetry. Both still hold a tremendous amount of power today, and I try to rewatch them at least once a year for a shot of inspiration."

"Post-college malaise. The quarter-life crisis. Obviously another huge inspiration for Garden State. So beautifully acted and photographed and written and directed. As you can tell from my list, I love movies about lonely people finding people to make themselves feel a little less lonely. That look on both of their faces on the bus at the end . . ."