"Island Records put out these samplers that cost the price of a single that basically had whatever was cool: King Crimson, Nick Drake, Blodwyn Pig, Quintessence, the original Nirvana. There’s a point sometimes when an independent label will just have everything, and you follow everything they do because they have the best stuff. That’s how I learned about King Crimson. In the period before I was living in London, I saw King Crimson more than any other band, and they had the biggest effect on me. They were so serious. “21st Century Schizoid Man” is just get it out, put it on the table, and deal with that. The combination of heaviness, technical brilliance, and sheer bonkers arrangements was unbelievable. You don’t know whether to be petrified or burst out laughing."

"I get all the Queen records mixed up because there are so many neat songs but there never was, in my opinion, a consistent groove to one of the records where you could clearly identify a distinct period during those first few. But the operatic approach to Queen totally changed how I viewed heavy rock and I still think that Brian May was ahead of his time with his weird picking, guitar tones and harmonies. Of the later Queen material, I was listening to 'Who Wants To Live Forever' the other day and Freddie's voice – every time I hear it, my eyes fill up. It's so incredibly emotional and that's what we, as musicians, want to elicit from the listener. Freddie and Queen were such a huge part of my life."