Jamie xx

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

I never really learnt from anyone. I just spent a lot of time at home, knocking things out. It has been interesting going into proper studios, working with people who know everything. But I find it doesn't hinder me.

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

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.

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 go in the studio, I put myself into a place where I'm feeling something I want to portray, which is often being sad, lonely. But as soon as I'm starting to make something, it's when I'm the happiest. Ever. I think that comes out at the same time, so there's that juxtaposition.

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.