I grew up surrounded by two farms and their fields. My earliest memories are of our mongrel dog running around and cows looking in the window while we ate our tea.

That's the insecurity with our job, because you never know where the next role is coming from. No matter how successful you are, there's always a fear of someone not wanting me to play something else.

I've done shows where I was the lead, but maybe it wasn't quite right - I took them because I wanted to move my career on.

There are some people who are naturally talented, who just have it coming out of their ears; they just sparkle with talent. Some people - and I put myself in this category - don't fit a mould. I always looked a lot older. I was as tall as a giraffe, even at ten, but I found my place, and I really worked at it.

Generally, as a composer, it's perceived as an employer-employee relationship.

Near the end of my career, I saw things that didn't make too much sense to me when I was a kid.

I can't apply $3 billion in capital to the tech industry. It wouldn't work. But in infrastructure, education, I can make a real difference. I can change someone's life, for the better, permanently. If I can improve a kid's education, I can increase their salary later on and for decades.

I was really lucky to have been raised in this really powerful matriarchy where my dad was around, but I was with my mom and my grandma most of the time. They were heavy influences on me. My mother has a career in technology; my grandma sold real estate.