Flying Lotus

“I go through phases when I'm super into my anime stuff.”

“I was first inspired to make music by my cousin Oran. He was making music on an old Mac II by himself in his little lab, and I just started taking up after him. He was the first person to put a machine in front of me to work on. He was like my big brother, someone who I looked up to.”

“I took to the synthesizer. My cousin had some synthesizers, and I'd always make stuff on those things.”

“I was a real big fan of Lil Wayne when he first came out.”

“I'm a geek, man.”

“I do think your environment really plays into how you create. I lived in San Francisco for a bit, and I felt like I lived in the Matrix - so my music had that paranoid-of-the-outside sound to it.”

“I need to help people to create the best work that they can. It's just something a producer should do anyway.”

“People don't really care to be around you when you're going through tough times.”

“I don't like to brag about it, but there are people I've worked with at the start of their career, and they've all become very, very successful.”

“The Internet makes it possible for everyone to collaborate.”

“When I got into music, that was another way to be by myself.”

“I actually really liked the music to the 'Friday the 13th' Nintendo game. I still listen to it all the time. I sampled it in a couple records, too. It's hypnotic and dark but also really pretty.”

“Thundercat, specifically, is insane. I'm always surprised at the things he comes up with when we're jamming out together. I gotta try to keep up with him and his ideas, be able to respond without speaking, and come through with some more music. He challenges me to keep it musical and not so computer.”

“I like boring. Boring is cool.”

“I'm not much of a coffee person, but when I wake up and the sun is shining through the window, I'll get a lil' bit of green tea and get to work.”

“Takashi Miike is definitely one of my top five, you know?”

“I never leave L.A. for too long. I'm not one of those that go on a tour of the whole world. I probably should be, but I'm not.”

“It's tough when you're an artist because you get to go around the world and make a lot of friends, but guess what? One day, all these people that you love are going to die, from DJ Mehdi to DJ Dusk to J Dilla to Austin Peralta to DJ Rashad.”

“My collaborations tend to be pretty organic. It starts off with me being a fan first.”

“All of the Flying Lotus records are exploring similar themes: These questions in my mind about what's next and what's beyond.”