"I recently realised that I was leaving the Thompson Twins out of my list of influences because I subconsciously felt they were embarrassing. But I listened to a lot of Thompson Twins. Into the Gap was my favourite when I was 12 or 13. When I go back and revisit those records, some of it sounds a little dated, but actually they hold up really well. I feel like the songwriting of the Thompson Twins is one of the overlooked treasures of the 80s. It's really, really good. There are songs that tend towards the cheesy side, like 'Doctor Doctor', but if you listen to the deep songs on those records, the songwriting is fantastic. The lyrics are really, really good. That's what was on repeat when I was just starting to write songs. The ages 12 through 17 were when I felt I was completely defined by music, completely engulfed by it. You rarely saw me without a set of headphones on because I was trying to block out the rest of the world. Which is funny now – the only time nowadays I put a set of headphones on is to listen to mixes. I don't ever, ever wear an iPod. I barely even listen to music, which is no joke. But back then I was soaking up music like a sponge."

"When I discovered them, we went to Australia shortly after and I said 'can we get these guys to open for us?' I was quickly told, 'no, they're way bigger than you in Australia. Don't be silly'. We haven't played together. I got to see them once at the Cake Shop in New York. I don't know what it is but this record kind of reminds me of the sort of rawest parts of AC/DC or the most loose parts of Pink Flag. The singer is pretty unhinged. When I saw them play, it was a thing where you could see the singer looking at Mikey, the main guy and guitar player who I think writes all the music. The singer was watching him to find out when he was meant to sing because he didn't really have that straight. It was kind of a thing where Mikey would nod and the singer would start singing. Sort of a go and stop kind of thing. I don't think anyone particular obsessed over the form and lyrics of these songs. Maybe they did but it doesn't sound like they did and there's something great about that. I think they recorded this record in a day. And it's got that vibe. It's loose and it's powerful and punk rock and totally real. "

"My dad used to work in London for British Telecom. He used to walk an incredible distance from the nearest train station. It added an hour on to his day in each direction. I think he needed the solitude. At a certain age, my sister and I were allowed to walk and meet him part of the way; we would wait by the bridge that went over the A12. One day my dad arrived holding a 12” record in a brown paper bag. “I bought it for you two.” This was not a regular occurrence. “You've bought a record for us? For both of us? Do we have to share it?” The Kids From Fame managed to unite my entire family. My sister liked Coco and the dancers. I loved Bruno and his synths, but I fancied Danny. I still fancy Danny. I saw him on a reunion programme. He's still gorgeous. I can name all the characters and the actors from the first two series, including guests Janet Jackson and Donny Osmond. It brought all ages and races together. It was the United Nations of pop music. Like the Thompson Twins, it made me question how music was made and put together. How did they all know what to do? Why can I hear drums but not see them? They didn’t show the last four series in the UK. Arseholes."

"I was thirteen when I saw this on opening weekend, and I remember leaving the theater walking on air. This had everything I’d wanted in a film. I was expecting just another fun action movie, and it was so much more. I was blown away by Verhoeven’s skillful hand with bleak absurdist satire, action, and genuine pathos. Somehow the film’s ludicrous extremes were able to make a perfect in-the-moment statement about the Regan-era eighties without the benefit of hindsight. Amazing script, amazing cast, and Peter Weller should’ve gotten an Oscar. So many memorable lines. Rob Bottin’s iconic designs of Robocop and the nuclear waste victim. Phil Tippet’s brilliant stop-motion wonder ED-209, so hilariously anthropomorphized through its beastly sound design and hurky movement—and I’ve yet to see something like that executed as perfectly with CGI. Some truly great, subversive physical comedy. When this was first released on Criterion I was so excited it was getting the reverence it deserved among the other classics. I believe it’s on the commentary track where Verhoeven talks about the sequel he pitched that was inevitably turned down. Instead of simply repeating himself, he proposed a love story with RoboCop falling for a cyborg that was little more than a floating brain in a jar. I would love to see that."

"Coming to America. Duh. We [can] leave it at that. I’ll start with the “duh” connotation. It’s an awesome movie. I can’t exactly remember the first time I saw it. I think I was really, really young, when it came on television — I think when it came on HBO or something. I don’t know that I was old enough to see it in the theaters. I doubt it. When I did see it at home, it was when cable first came out. There was only so many movies that would get played over and over again. Thank God Coming to America was one of them. I can quote it from the beginning to the end to this day. It was Eddie Murphy in his prime. Arsenio at his most confident. It was just an awesome concept. Super duper rich African dudes coming to Queens, trying to live regular. While you got Mr. McDowell thinking that he’s the king of the hill and stuff like that. It was a really funny movie. So much character work. I really appreciated those dudes –especially in the end credits, seeing how many characters they really played. I already kinda knew. But it was an awesome surprise to find out that Eddie was the little old man in the barbershop and stuff like that."

"Let’s go with Jaws. I saw Jaws when I was about… I must have been nine years old. Of course, at the time it was the most terrifying film I’d ever seen. It kept me awake for days. It kept me afraid of the ocean for a while. It had me afraid of lakes in Nebraska, in case there were sharks there. I was nine years old. But there are so many amazing things about that, on a historical level. That was the very first film that opened nationwide on the same day. As far as I know, prior to that, they would roll out films big cities to smaller ones, coast to coast. But this opened worldwide, which ushered in the era of the blockbuster. So it was groundbreaking in that regard, and of course, that is something that defines the entire movie industry today. The interesting thing is that, 43 years later, the film holds up exceptionally well. The characters feel as fresh and original as they did so long ago. So well directed. The history of the making of the film and how challenging it was for Spielberg, and the broken shark and all of this, and all of the changes he had to make — none of those challenges are reflected in the quality of the film. So to me, that’s a fabulous, fabulous film."