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"Regina Spektor has stated that living in New York often inspires her music. The singer-songwriter explained that she believes art should only be created through personal inspirations. &amp;quot;Crafting a song [from scratch], to me personally that would be a disgusting experience,&amp;quot; she told BBC Breakfast. &amp;quot;You should only make art if you&amp;#039;re inspired. Living in New York, I find every day you see a million stories, every day you find yourself in a different mood. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s such a close-knit cultural melting pot and I feel inspired by it.&amp;quot; Spektor also spoke about leaving Russia as a nine-year-old, when she could not speak any English and had to leave her instruments behind.  &amp;quot;Going to school as a little Russian girl, I learned how to pick up body language, I mimed a lot. We left in 1989, and in Soviet Russia it was basically government policy to have anti-Semitism. &amp;quot;I know that as soon as the gates were open and Jewish people were allowed to leave, my parents were excited for me not to have that [anymore]. &amp;quot;I had to leave my teacher, my piano. One of the great things about Soviet Russia is that you did have free education and medicine, whereas in the US everything is private. But I met an incredible couple in the Bronx who were musicians, and she taught me for free.&amp;quot; Spektor added that she had several personal reasons to be excited about performing for Barack Obama recently. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve played so many Rock the Vote events and I care about young people voting, and I was truly believing in Barack Obama and hoping he&amp;#039;d get elected. &amp;quot;But also as a giant West Wing fan, I&amp;#039;ve seen every episode, just being in the White House was very exciting!&amp;quot; Regina Spektor releases her latest album What We Saw from the Cheap Seats on Monday, May 28. Watch the video for her new single &amp;#039;All the Rowboats&amp;#039; below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a383118/regina-spektor-living-in-new-york-inspires-my-music/>