James Murphy

I'm not a big songwriter guy. People who are really good singer-songwriters usually left me kind of cold.

To do a band properly does kind of mean you don't really get to do anything else.

I have a very toxic combination of being completely determined, inflexible, controlling and being totally shy, guilty at hurting anyone's feelings, hypersensitive to other people's needs - and it's just paralysing.

I was someone who grew up obsessed with bands, how they were and how they treated one another, and how they treated fans.

I got a phone message from Janet Jackson saying, 'Hi, I love 'Losing My Edge', can you do me something funky and dirty like that?' I can't really do off-the-peg stuff, so I never called back.

I miss producing. I hate it when I do it, but I love it.

I actually really love people.

I've always been a good imitator. I love music. But I'm just not that original.

I love rock. I love the music that was born out of the latter part of the 20th century. It means a lot to me.

As things mature - whether they be real estate, rock n' roll, politics, festivals, radio - there's an efficiency that develops, and with it, very often, comes some soul-crushing truths.

With a computer, you have access to so many drum sounds and samples that your snare drum will be unrelated harmonically to your kick drum.

I've watched too many artists in my life forget how good the things they used to do were.