Rachael

I'd like to meet:

Johnny Depp has remained constantly at the top of my list, because he's one of the most genuine, unusual, charismatic and talented (and funny) people on the planet, (not to mention a great slide guitar player). I'd like him to tell me everything about the time he spent with Hunter S Thompson (the man with the best funeral plan EVER).

I wish I could have met Douglas Adams...I loved his definition of flying: 'Throwing yourself at the ground, and missing,' and my personal favourite quote: "It hung in the air, in exactly the way that bricks don't."

John Denver is someone who instilled in me a respect for the environment, and especially my love of the Rocky Mountains, not to mention the massive influence he still has on my music writing. I'd like to have gone walking in the wilds of Colorado's high places with him, and he could have taught me how to write beautiful songs and make them sound as simple and natural as the wind in the trees.

Spike Milligan would also have been on my list - absolutely genius. I love his poems, especially the one about rain: 'There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in, but they're ever so small, that's why rain is thin.'

I'd also really like to meet Paul Merton - his humour is so off the wall, so dry, so smart and so manic, it's comedic perfection. His often surreal comments, made with sublimely deadpan delivery, on 'Have I Got News for You' have me literally crying with laughter.

Michael Palin is someone I like very much too. His humour is gentle, yet intelligent and incisive. I loved him in Python; in Ripping Yarns; and he's great in all his travel programmes.

Although I've met him before, I'd like to talk to Mark Hollis again. He was the driving force behind one of my favourite bands; Talk Talk, and his startlingly original music is an enduring source of joy for me, and certainly a strong influence upon my own music, particularly in terms of lyrical inspiriation.

Although he, like so many other truly special people, is gone, I would have loved to have met the singer songwriter Matthew Jay. It saddens me that I never got to talk to someone whose work I admired so much. We lived in the same town, knew the same places, had similar dreams, yet our paths never crossed. I hope he knew how much I loved his sweet music and his unique voice.

David Gilmour, Rick Wright (R.I.P.), Nick Mason, Roger Waters.
Pink Floyd are just in a league of their own. 'Wish You Were Here' is my favourite album of all time, and has been pretty much since my childhood. Of all the bands and solo artists I hold in high regard,these four trail-blazing musicians (together with Syd, of course) have had the greatest impact upon me in terms of creative inspiration. Their originality of sound and lyrical depth are, in my opinion, unequalled. I was therefore deeply saddened to hear of Rick's recent passing this year.

Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hackett.(Actually I've already met Steve Hackett twice, but I'd love to chat with him again).
Along with Pink Floyd, Genesis pretty much provided the soundtrack for my teens, and both bands are a pleasure I've never grown out of. Of my top ten favourite albums, three of them are by Genesis. When I was sixteen my dad told me he'd seen 'that chap who's on the front of that black and white album you've got ('Face Value')' in a pub in Monmouth, near Rockfield recording studio. I was furious with him for not bringing Phil home with him for dinner!:-)

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. You'll notice that musicians figure highly in my list of 'Would Like to Meet,' :-D I can't help it. Singer-songwriters have inspired me throughout my life, as well as providing comfort in hard times, and lifting me even higher when I'm happy. These two men gave me my love of vocal harmony, inspiring me to create my own multi-layered songs. All the artists listed in this section were there at different key times for me, and inspired me in different ways. Simon and Garfunkel were the first musicians I really noticed. I was in primary school when 'The Sound of Silence' became my earliest favourite song (it still is in my all-time top ten). I'm sad that I never got to see them play live. I just missed out on tickets when they played Manchester on their last tour. :-(

Yvette Fielding and Karl Beattie. I LOVE Most Haunted and all its spin-off shows. Apart from my lifelong fascination with the paranormal making me want to meet these two and chat with them about all the spooky places they've investigated, I think they'd be genuinely lovely people to get to know.

In general I like people who are creative, loyal, kind and softly-spoken. Ideally I prefer sensitive souls and dreamers. My closest friends are people who share my love of music, nature and laughter, but are equally comfortable with the warm silence that familiarity brings.

People I DON'T want to meet are individuals with closed minds (see my blog on Friends Requests and Life, the Universe and Everything). I also find people with no sense of humour a struggle.