Duncan Sheik

For my second record I had gotten ProTools (program) and started to familiar myself with hard disc recording.

I privilege the music over the lyrics.

I got a publishing deal with BMG, they were supportive, and some money to record demos.

A real foolproof way to do it is play your stuff by hook or by crook and build up a grass roots following.

If I were to do this over I'd play a lot more shows before I made a record.

I'm a pretty big P.J. Harvey record fan and you can really hear New York in his record.

It's inevitable your environment will influence what you do.

I'm fortunate I have this coterie of musicians around me to help take music to next level. Being surrounded by so much creative energy, so many creative people really feeds that creativity in me.

But really important, perhaps most important is the craft; how you make your record, the creation of these sonic worlds you want your listener to hear.

I actually am always a music first person.

I think in a way I was probably completely naive about what it takes to make something become a hit.

And frankly, when I made that record, hit songs were not what I was trying to achieve.

So, once I've written a song, you know, I'm pretty happy with what the song is on its own terms.

I certainly wouldn't say that my life is a disaster, but there have been moments where I've felt like that.

I started playing music at a pretty young age.

Ultimately, if I'm really moved by something, it's going to go on the record and that's that.

Because of my Buddhist practice, I'm never lacking for inspiration.

My second record was all about big ideas - I was trying to make big statements about the culture, about life. I think in a certain way, I was a 27 year old kid with a guitar.

The difficult thing about a pop record is that you're given guidelines: it has to have 3 choruses, and then it must be between 3 minutes fifteen seconds and three minutes forty-five seconds.

I'd have these weird experiences where I'd just be walking down the street with this chord progression in my head, this happened more than a few times, and I'd walk home and find a fax in my machine and it would match the music in my head.

So I started chanting when I was nineteen, which was about twelve years ago, and it really had a huge impact on my outlook, happiness, and general creativity.

Happy music doesn't tend to move me much.

I make the kind of music I like.

Things come to me pretty regularly. There is never a shortage or a backlog.

I mean, at the end of the day when I'm making a record, what I want to do is what I do.