And for some reason, when I'm sad, I do listen to Leonard Cohen, I do listen to Joni Mitchell. I do find myself going to the music that's actually reflecting my mood, as opposed to sticking on Motown, which might actually bring my mood up.
I don't generally like things that are too pedestrian. But at the same time, and if I'm in the right mood, hey - I ain't gonna lie - I listen to Joni Mitchell. I listen to 'Blue,' I listen to Miles Davis.
When you listen to early Leonard Cohen records or Joni Mitchell records, you feel like a window is being opened into someone's life.
For someone like me, who has grown up with Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, it's hard not to invest a lot of myself in what I do.
I've always played acoustically - it's how I learned. I grew up listening to Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Dylan and what have you.
Music inspires me and puts me in the right mood, but to actually listen to it when I write - I find it gets in the way.
I listen to music to try and focus or concentrate on emotional characters, which is quite common among actors. It might seem cheesy, but I particularly listen to Coldplay because I'm moved by their lyrics. But any music can help depending on the character and their mood.
As a kid, I was listening to Aretha Franklin, Etta James and hip-hop as well as music my parents were listening to, like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.
I got different moods. Like, if I'm in a good mood, I listen to 'Up' by Thug. If I'm not in a good mood, I'll listen to 'King TROUP' - that's a real emotional one.
I do own CDs by Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, and Joni Mitchell, but I don't think of them as being major influences on my writing.
Music is very powerful and can make you feel whatever it is. If you listen to gospel, you're going to feel thankful, and you're going to want to call up people that you hate and tell them that you love them. When you listen to sexual music, it gets you in the mood.
I don't listen to a lot of music when I have my free time. But I'll go to a jazz club and have a drink and listen to a good jazz musician. Or sometimes in the morning, if I want to put myself in a good mood, I'll put on some Latin music.
With Frat House, at times I needed to make music that would reflect what these fraternity brothers might actually listen to, but still keep it within the realm of a score; it still had to lead the viewer through the scene, or just help create the mood.
I didn't grow up listening to him - my parents listened more to Neil Young and Joni Mitchell - but I lived in a flatshare for two years, and my flatmate loved Leonard Cohen. He would always play him when he got home from the studio or something.
Sometimes you listen to a piece of music that inspires a collection. You listen to the music, which creates the mood, which creates the clothes.
I listen to a lot of old music, like Joni Mitchell and David Bowie.
My friends and I took songwriting very, very seriously. My hero was and still is Bob Dylan, but also people like Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell and that whole generation.