On his inspiration for his "American Beauty" score: "Sam [Mendes] wanted things that hammered and thwacked a bit. He was interested in percussion and mallet instruments, so I started working on various ideas that involved xylophones and marimbas." "I hate the notion that electronics are a cheesy way of doing things and that orchestra is the only 'true' approach to scoring. But you can understand those critics, because electronics allow you to make easy choices. Anyone can do it. But while synthesizers are things you hide behind sounds, they can also be put in places you'd never expect. I've always wanted these boundaries to be amorphous." "The great thing about doing movie music is that you find out what you're capable of. You may think you're incapable of producing a certain rhythm, but it's your job to solve that problem. If you open your mind, an idea will lead you to the next one." "I think I like smaller [scores] better, because I find more interesting places that the music can go. When you're working with a 90-piece symphony, your interaction with the players is much different. You're standing on a podium and talking to a large number of musicians. So the notion of nuance becomes a group effort and that's a difficult thing to get. I keep thinking of ways to communicate better, to scale down the orchestra's size so it will fit into my ambient palette instead of lying on top of it." "I feel like I know how to write in a similar style to my dad, but I prefer a score like 'Unstrung Heroes' just because it gives me more of a unique voice. If I were to do a movie about space, I bet just by virtue of musical and dramatic expectations, I would have less of a chance to be original. Music can only follow the movie that it's in. Robert Altman's 'The Player' allowed me a high sense of irony. Other movies aren't so smart and want to go towards the teary middle ground. And if you're being honest to the task you kind of have to follow it there, even though it may not be your taste. You have to make it more of what it is." "I remember a teacher once asked me, what makes music sad? What a brilliant question. His answer was, it takes on the physical qualities of something sad. Meaning if it's sad, a melody will move in step-wise manner. It will tend to be slower as you are when you're sad; it takes on the physical characteristics of an emotional state. Something in the music rings and carries you back to a memory you have that elicits a feeling. I guess what's wonderful about music is that it's utterly abstract and yet has a great kind of sinuous, subjective emotional reaction. I like the idea that music can be dimensional, that it's not necessarily playing what's there." Response to inquiry about working appropriately so that the composer will produce a score in keeping what the idea in the film director's mind: "I'm more prone to pain avoids... I'd rather be rejected in the workroom than on the podium. There's a moment where the director squares off with the music." Regarding hearing a remix of his score to "American Beauty" (1999): "I was flattered and horrified. We don't own our own music, it's typically owned by the companies that hire you." "Bernard Herrmann is my big favorite [score composer]. He created such a strong presence. And having been down that road, I admire his courage. I admire the fact that he had something to say and he took the bull by the horns and said it no matter what. And I like a lot of Jerry Goldsmith's stuff. I thought the score to Chinatown was an exquisite piece of Hollywood writing. And John Williams."