My goal is to get my music out to as many people as possible. That a song of mine is being played on the radio so far away from home really, really pushes me. It's everything I've dreamed of.
The Quakers don't believe in music or art; they think it's a vanity.
I was studying primary school education. I was going to be a teacher. I was going to get my teaching qualification and have that as my safety net and then tackle the music industry.
I actually think that bass is probably the instrument that has evolved in a quantum leap compared to other instruments. It's the instrument that's evolved the most, especially with how it's perceived. And even how it's played, and how it's viewed from a point of view of commerce, like with the music industry.
Every small town has its dramatic group, its barber-shop quartet, every home has music in one form or another.
I approach everything as chamber music. Even with Beethoven symphonies, I lead from the violin and basically encourage the orchestra to think of it as a giant string quartet.
Whether it's performing a concert with my quartet or sitting in with my peers, enjoying musical conversations at home with my brothers or hanging and playing choro with my friends - sharing moments in that bright space of music are the happiest times.
I like ones that pertain to the music they make. Talking Heads does that somehow. More often than not band names are just a quirky joke that doesn't really stay funny for very long. It's like Homer Simpson's barbershop quartet, the Be Sharps. At first you're like, 'That's funny!' Then you're like, 'It's not that funny.'
What passions cannot music raise or quell?
I keep making the music I do because I feel very purposeful about making things that would be helpful or quell some loneliness in people. I really needed that when I listened to music growing up and even now, so I don't mind that sense of duty.
There is a real patriotism underneath the best of my music but it is a critical, questioning and often angry patriotism.
Hair and makeup has become part of my pre-competition routine. It's a quiet time, when I can reflect, I can put on some music - and I can mentally get in the zone of performance.
I've always loved to paint - I was studying to do an art degree when I was approached to become a model - and I've being doing some design work as well. I also love just having a quiet time, sitting in my little library at home in Brooklyn and reading or watching documentaries or listening to music.
Perhaps when music has been shouting for so long, a quieter voice seems attractive.
Alien Chutney is just what the name suggests it is. Its music that is so funny and quirky and weird that it feels entirely alien to the listener; yet, the content and the subject matter is so Indian and relatable, it's still chutney.
I had to quit everything. I had to give it all for music.
I wanted a name I could shape the music towards. I was going to Miami quite a lot at the time, speaking a lot of Spanish with my friends from Cuba - 'Lana Del Rey' reminded us of the glamour of the seaside. It sounded gorgeous coming off the tip of the tongue.
Our music will continue to have an impact in people's lives long after we finally call it quits.
'Watchmen' is like the music you feel is written just for you. 'That's my song, no one else gets that but me.' That's why the fan base is so rabid, because they feel personal about it.
One part puzzle mixed with one part racer with just a dash of art and music just to blend everything together, 'Dyad' takes you on a fast-paced trip down a tunnel filled with lights and a shifting list of rules to keep your neurons nimble.
