JAMIE XX

I'm used to making songs; that's how I learned to make music. My structures will always be more like pop songs than dance tracks.

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'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.

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 can't imagine doing a DJ set and playing all my own stuff; it'd just be awkward.

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.

All music is escapism for me, but I like the way that, on a good night, that sense of escapism can be shared.

I work with talented people. I'm just their tool.

A lot of new genres were being born at the time I started going out to clubs in South London, and I was part of an exciting movement that has now blown up around the world.

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.

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.

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.

I don't want my music to be of its time; I want it to be timeless.

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 like the contrast in making something that sounds sunny but also has an element of melancholy to it.

I'm not going to play gigs as Jamie xx. I'm just going to DJ. I'm not comfortable performing my songs on a stage. It's not something I think I'm particularly good at.

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

Before the first xx record, I pretty much exclusively listened to electronica. Now, I listen to anything. I think the most inspiring thing is just learning more about more and more different kinds of music and becoming a fan of so many different types and so many different genres.

I started using vinyl because I stole all my parents' records when I was 10. I didn't think about sound quality then, but I always loved how they sounded.

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.

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.

For some producers who are technical-minded, making the song sound good is easy, and getting the emotion into the song is harder.

I get to go to so many different countries and hear so much music and collect totally different records. It's all very inspiring, and I'm trying to embrace that experience because not that many producers get to have that.

I find it quite useful to be alone when I'm making music, but also in general, in life.

It's not like I force myself to think of sad things, but... it's more that I make music because it makes me happy.