"Brazilian music is the biggest influence I have. Brazilians were listening to techno two or three hundred years before anyone else. If you compare the samba groove to the techno groove it has a really, really similar idea behind it. I think South American music is important because of the rhythm, but also the melody. It relates to the living, the reality that people have in South America. You have many things to be sad about, but the general outlook is one of happiness. It’s a very special mixture and mentality. The people are making these melodies that exist exactly between sadness and happiness, and also the rhythm thing creates happiness. People use music to forget their problems. I was listening to this music with my parents at home the whole time, and the influence is very, very pronounced. Brazilian music; Salsa; Cuban music; the music of the Andes – Chile, Peru, Bolivia – all these things; Tango for sure; Argentinean Astor Piazzolla; all of it. These melodies are full of passion, happy and sad at the same time, it leaves something very strong in your mind.”