"""When I was in high school, I was a little rebellious,"" Levine said. ""I wanted to play music. I didn't want to do the things they were teaching me. I picked up a guitar and that was it. The second I picked up a guitar, I never really put it down again. I fell so madly in love with it, it's all I did. It consumed my every thought, and I'd have friends over that didn't even play instruments and I would just put instruments in their hands."" "I remember hearing Green Day for the first time and being kind of blown away,"" Levine continued. ""When I heard 'Longview' on the radio, I was just kind of enamored by it. I was like, 'Wow, what's this?' It was very accessible, melodic rock and roll music, but it was a little pissed-off and obnoxious."

"Another one of my five favorite films would be Gimme Shelter, by the Maysles brothers. I spent many years making documentary films between my first film and my second film, Blue Valentine, and I learned to really embrace, and be humbled by life, and by telling a story where you’re telling someone else’s story. And there’s something about the Maysles brothers, and especially that movie, where they were able to witness these moments. Especially with Gimme Shelter, you know, these moments of American history — this concert at Altamont that turned into kind of the bad trip of Woodstock. And I love how they frame it with the band, the Stones, watching the footage, watching their memories; this document, this witness to this incredible time in American life — and this crime, this real crime in America. Also, for nothing else than the moment where Mick Jagger has to watch Tina Turner. Again, like watching the Scorsese movie — and the Pasolini movie — their use of music, you know, is to watch a real rock and roll movie in the theater, with that sound. It’s great."

"I first heard The Human League at a party, 'Being Boiled'. It was miles apart from punk music, punk is rehashed rock & roll really, but Travelogue wasn't repeating anything, it was just out there on its own. The first two Human League albums were so different from anything I'd ever heard in my life. That's when I really realised how interesting and powerful synthesisers could be. I really liked Phil Oakey's voice and I think on tracks like 'Dreams Of Leaving' it's really an emotional song, and the way that they used the keyboards to bring that emotion out is amazing. I really like the lyrics on that song, and the out-of-this-world sounds. I got the opportunity to work with Martin Ware years ago, and most of the time that we were recording was me asking questions, "How did you get that sound?""