Tori Amos: Flying's a high

Tori Amos compares the way her mind feels when looking out a plane window to using "good ecstasy".

The 51-year-old musician rose to fame in the early 90s and has since become one of the world's most iconic female singer-songwriters.

Before becoming a mother to daughter Natashya, who she has with her husband Mark Hawley, Tori would dabble in various substances to help inspire her lyrics. She gets the same rush from being on an aircraft these days.

"When I was on a plane not long ago looking out the window. There's something about seeing the land from thousands of feet away, you get a detachment and it frees your mind from specific issues you might be obsessing about," she explained to Q magazine. "It's a similar altered state to my experiences in the 90s with good ecstasy and mushrooms - back when you trusted psychedelics and knew you wouldn't die when you took them!"

She noted that she didn't do drugs every weekend, only when she wanted to "expand her mind".

Tori stood out from other alternative musicians during her early career thanks to using a piano as a primary instrument instead of a guitar. It's what helped her become such a success, so it's no surprise the flame-haired star is wary about her hands.

"Last night when I suggested to my husband I'd help him make dinner," she grinned when asked when she last flirted with danger. "Everyone gets nervous when I handle knives because, as a piano player, I'm not sure if knives are covered in my hands insurance. So when I'm chopping tricky things like slippery potatoes my daughter will say, 'What are you doing? You're not supposed to be in the kitchen!'"