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.
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.
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.
All music is escapism for me, but I like the way that, on a good night, that sense of escapism can be shared.
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.
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 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.
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 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 like the contrast in making something that sounds sunny but also has an element of melancholy to it.
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.
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 find it quite useful to be alone when I'm making music, but also in general, in life.
I don't want my music to be of its time; I want it to be timeless.
I think Young Thug has such a weird style I love, especially the things he does with his voice. It just sounds different.
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'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.
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 work with talented people. I'm just their tool.
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.
