"We've been around them quite a few times in the last three or four years. They have a way of doing this hypnotic, simple, grinding-away thing. The guitarist, Ira Kaplan - he's crazy with all these delay effects, the way he's layering them up. We would end up listening to them almost by accident. There have been a couple of times where we would do these long drives and we'd put on a record like Boris or Yo La Tengo, and they'll have songs that go on for ten minutes, and you're getting into these big soundscapes that just dig into oblivion. We've really embraced that in the past couple of years: to find this perfect goal, a sound you can play over and over, and not necessarily get to a crescendo and back, but to get to the edge and stay there. And they do that great. There's a lot of good qualities about their group. They're fucking weirdos, they're just not a typical rock group. A lot of times, I feel like The Flaming Lips are a typical rock group. I mean, we're influenced by The Beatles. It's a bunch of dudes with long hair that do drugs. We're pretty typical. I try to remind ourselves that we like weirdos, although I don't always believe that we're weirdos ourselves. But we love the weirdos, and we love when they get the keys to the house and they can have their party that night."

"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!’"

"I’m a huge fan of those Richard Linklater films, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, which are kind of like one movie, I think — I’ll call those one movie, ’cause it’s of a piece, right? I don’t know, just something about watching Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy walk around European towns and fall in love. That movie taught me how active dialogue can be if underneath it is something dramatic. And I love Richard Linklater for that, because he loves dialogue and he lets his characters talk and I certainly want to let my characters talk. It’s not all quivering lips and, you know, weird angles. He really just puts the camera on people and lets it be dramatic."

"I’m a huge fan of those Richard Linklater films, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, which are kind of like one movie, I think — I’ll call those one movie, ’cause it’s of a piece, right? I don’t know, just something about watching Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy walk around European towns and fall in love. That movie taught me how active dialogue can be if underneath it is something dramatic. And I love Richard Linklater for that, because he loves dialogue and he lets his characters talk and I certainly want to let my characters talk. It’s not all quivering lips and, you know, weird angles. He really just puts the camera on people and lets it be dramatic."

"I love Stanley Kubrick so much that the mere mention of his name is enough to make me smile involuntarily. This is not my favorite Kubrick film, but it’s terrific. Peter Sellers. The war room. The Coke machine. The way each plot element triggers the next like falling dominoes. It’s a perfect machine. There are so many funny and absurd lines: “Now look, Col. Bat Guano, if that really is your name” and “Of course it’s a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn’t friendly, you probably wouldn’t have even got it.” As always, I love Kubrick’s bureaucratic, non-psychological language. His persistent return to flat, transactional dialogue provides the perfect banal foil to his wilder, more imaginative moments."

"I also love 2046 by Wong Kar Wai, a film which I thought was so beautifully shot, with an incredible story. I love that he uses the location as a character. He has a very romantic way, a very sexy way of presenting everything, and the cinematography in that is absolutely stunning. He obviously has a very strong vision for what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. All of his movies, I think they’re very intimate: They don’t always require huge stages, but he always seems to capture something in a very small area. I like the way he presents things. He creates an atmosphere and you get swept into it right away."