"Most simply put, emotions are what influence me the most. I start with a feeling, which could be a feeling of the piece I’d like to write, or the feeling I have for a movie or scene I’m scoring, and then I begin to try to translate that feeling into music. Once I can get the music to give me the same feeling I have by listening to it, then I feel like I’m headed in the right direction and I begin to hone it from there."