"Where do we even start with Fred Hammond? I grew up going to church, the faith is really strong in my family, I don't think there was a week that passed where he didn’t get played in my house so I’ve got a great love for his music. It’s just interesting how gospel music in particular breaks the idea that music is for entertainment. Music shouldn't always be for entertainment, I think that’s an important notion. Music is a gift, music is given to us, whether you believe in nature or a creator, however you want to call it. And it's tough when you become an artist and you have to step into commerce for your art, which is tricky you know, you’ve got to make bread, but I always need things to remind me it isn't always about getting on stage and making people jiggy. Music is a spiritual thing. I think gospel music does that best. The music that resonates in some sort of deity does that best ‘cos its not trying to appeal to anyone in a way. This is like worship, devotion. And Fred Hammond’s catalogue on top of that is just so funky, so sick, the arrangements, his vocals. He’s one of my favourite artists full stop. I just geek out over his stuff. And the fact that I've just always had him in my life. It's funny when I talk to other people that didn't grow up in church and stuff they’re like, ‘Yeah, man, Fred Hammond was in my house every week too!’"

"That always sticks in my mind; Timothy Hutton, Mary Tyler Moore. Isn’t it devastating? It was just such an amazing performance by Mary Tyler Moore. I love a great family drama. There’s nothing like it, and Judd Hirsch as the therapist. It was just so beautifully written and sad. I love going to movies and crying and feeling moved and like you’ve changed. It’s one of my favorite things. That’s why I wanted to become an actress. I love dark. I don’t mind sobbing in a theater; I love that stuff. You can grieve parts of yourself and parts of your life through characters in movies. That’s the magic of moviemaking and cinema, seeing yourself in the characters. I loved making Other People too because I felt like people all have different experiences about life and grief, grief and death and family, all these beautiful themes."

"I heard The Afghan Whigs real early on and I was like, ‘Alright, this is like soul music but it’s played by white guys from Cincinnati, and I don’t even know if they can play that well.’ They eventually could play really well, and they turned me on to this whole other way of thinking that showed me you could mix all these things together without ever crossing over into pop music, which I felt when I was younger was just not something that I related to. Crime Scene Part One was a huge song for me because it was like a movie. It was brooding and there was something spooky about it, and then when you find out what it’s about it’s really scary. From there I went straight into Tom Waits.”"

"I love this album. We used to play these tunes in The Idle Race; about two or three songs off that album. For about a year we did them and they were so good to play. That big, rough r'n'b sound. I’ve actually recorded ‘Mercy, Mercy’ on my new album, Longwave. It’s a version like we used to do it – just two guitars, drums and bass and background shouting. It sounds like the old record, really. I think that sound was important back then. There was a lot of r'n'b going on. Obviously, you had The Spencer Davis Group with Steve Winwood, who I love – he’s a brilliant guy. He’s one guy I’d like to work with one day. I haven’t seen him for a few years but we used to hang out a bit."

"The Iron Giant is the movie that makes me cry the hardest. It’s just the best movie. It’s so good. It was sort of my test movie with girls — which is gross — but I would show it to them, and if they didn’t love it, I was like, “Alright, there’s something wrong with you.” The ending is great, when he says “Superman” is great, “I am not a gun.” I mean, so many moving moments. It’s just perfect."