Jamie xx

“My parents' record collection was the music I was hearing as long as I can remember, and I would play Otis Redding over and over again.”

“I don't hate on the whole EDM thing happening in America because, although the music is not of my taste - a little bit brash for me - I think it's also introducing a lot of young people to dance music, and then they're discovering better dance music through it.”

“People always think the xx are, like, moody and all dressed in black. We do all dress in black, but we're actually quite fun people - and we've come out of our shells a lot since the first album.”

“I'm always getting sent new stuff, so I have to incorporate digital equipment into my sets, but I try to play vinyl as much as possible. It's just the best-sounding format still. And I've been using vinyl since I started deejaying, for over 15 years, so it also just feels the most natural for me.”

“I have this romanticized idea of dance music in the '90s because, obviously, I was way too young to be a part of it. So I have this rose-tinted idea of it. I have this idea of it being a very special time. But I still don't know that much - I can never remember any names of seminal artists.”

“I think Young Thug has such a weird style I love, especially the things he does with his voice. It just sounds different.”

“I don't feel like I'm very good at making music.”

“The people that really inspired me are the people I have now managed to become contemporaries with, like Four Tet and Floating Points. I learn so much about music just from hanging around with them.”

“At festivals, you can go a lot bigger than a club and have massive euphoric moments because there are so many people there all feeling the same thing.”

“It's still as exciting to play records I've not heard before as it was when I was young. There's not much that makes me feel like that besides making music. And they definitely feed into each other.”

“I can make something for a long time and just not come up with an ending. It's finishing things that I don't enjoy.”

“When I buy lots of records, I stop making music - it's detrimental to the creative side. When I'm DJing a lot, it's just basically partying every day.”

“I always just experiment with different sounds and styles until I find something that evokes the feeling I'm going for. I'm not trying to think too much about what anyone else is doing.”

“I just like the lineage and the heritage and the fact that British dance music is still progressing. I'm from London; I love London, and I wouldn't know how else to show that love in musical terms. There's something about British stuff that's a bit faster, a bit harder-hitting. Just tough.”

“It doesn't make sense for me to try to be, like, a dance dude who only releases two 12-inches a year and then plays every weekend. Making an album, you get to put out a body of work that shows a lot of different sides of you. And you get to work on it for an intense period of time and promote that album. And then you get to move on.”

“In the U.K. especially, dance music goes in cycles. It's often kids reappropriating sounds they loved when they were younger, but were too young to be a part of.”

“Floating Points plays a lot of music that I don't know, and I like geeking out and trying to find out what the tracks are. His knowledge of house music is pretty deep, and his selection is just amazing. And I think it's a pleasure to listen to his music because it's so perfectly produced.”

“I begged and begged, and my uncle gave me his old turntables. It was one hi-fi and one old Stereo Lab turntable and a rusty mixer. I was really chuffed. I kept that for five years - that's where I learned to mix.”

“I play vinyl and CDs. Playing vinyl is the best sound quality you can get playing music loudly, so that's the main reason I do that.”

“I'm a mess. My house is full of records, and my computer... I can't find the things that I want. But it usually seems to work out.”