How do you listen to music?
I prefer to listen to music when I’m alone and I can truly be present in the moment. Sometimes, when I’m with friends and a favorite tune is playing in the background and someone starts talking in the exact same moment, I get a little frustrated.

 

Have you ever been musically inspired by a taste, smell, or feeling?
Through taste and smell, I only get inspiration to cook. From a feeling — all the time. We humans are emotional beings, and we are mostly guided by our emotions.

 

Do you think that the technology with which we listen to music encourages us to consume music differently?
Well, I don’t know how we lived without Shazam before. You hear a song that you like on the radio and immediately can find out its name and the artist. It’s a blessing and a curse because it’s very convenient but you don’t have to go around asking all of your friends, humming a hazy memory of a melody, and then there’s no ah-ha! moment when someone names it and you look it up.

 

Do you think music changes the way we remember?
I still associate a particular album or music piece with a specific moment in my life. It also changes the way we think. For example, I feel much more relaxed and in peace with myself when I listen songs in minor key. Isn’t the mind a strange thing… ■