"That's what I'd listen to on Bikini Kill tours. I'd put on my Walkman with my Fear Of A Black Planet cassette and I would go running and listen to it. I felt like they were making this really accessible music full of political ideas that were often very personal and sometimes very broad and I was like, "I want to make music like this, that you want to listen to because it sounds so great, but when you dig into the lyrics they're also smart and sometimes funny and very tongue in cheek." That's what I wanted to make so I'd just listen to it all the time. When I was running it was such good music to listen to because the beats are so awesome. It was a massive influence to Le Tigre. Not that we did hip-hop but I wanted to do songs that sounded good. Public Enemy made me okay with having higher production values. You can still be extremely political and radical and say what you want but do it in a way that just sounds great. First you notice how great it sounds and then, as you keep listening to it, you go, "Wait, what's this about? They mention this book, they mention Marcus Garvey, I want to go find out about that!"

"I’ve seen Koyaanisqatsi more than any other movie. For years, I would just put play the disc on repeat the way some people might play their favorite record. But more importantly, Koyaanisqatsi has had a profound effect on me as a filmmaker and editor. It’s not so much the obvious stuff (i.e. the time lapse cinematography, editing to music, etc.) but rather this age-old notion that an audience can experience a story just through imagery. Audiences are smart—give them some guideposts, throw out some complex ideas, and they will do the rest. Koyaanisqatsi serves as a constant reminder that film is a visual medium where explanation (and even plot) can sometimes be intrusive, and the most powerful statement a film can make is the one that the audience arrives at. The Koyaanisqatsi supplements are also really instructive. There are a couple candid doc pieces with the director, Godfrey Reggio. At one point, he says he explored having Allen Ginsberg recite poetry throughout the film. At another point, he talks about filming surreal Terry Gilliam–like scenes (at an enormous budget) that he ultimately decided to cut out. It reinforces the idea that with filmmaking, just like in life, sometimes you have to go through a lot of bad mistakes to discover what really works."