When I make up this kind of romantic music on the spot, I’m using the language of music to explore, evoke or enter a transformed state, an altered state of consciousness, if you like. Sharing it is more of a conversational thing than a performance – as I often say, I feel more like a stand up musician. I use whatever feelings happen to be present as a starting point, however mundane or everyday they might be – today, I was feeling a little sad and uncertain about the world (well, who doesn’t?) – and from this starting point, the music seems to go deeper into the feelings, deeper into the shadows, to generate a kind of alchemy, where those feelings become beautiful. They may not be happy, certain feelings, but they are feelings of great compassion and love, acceptance and wonder.
