Jon Hopkins

I'm a massive catastrophist by nature.

I like to have an album arc that comes from an experience rather than a story.

When you've got hardly any equipment, very little money and no access to any information, your sound is very much dictated by you, your setup and what you're listening to. Nothing more.

What do I call my music? Beats with melodies.

I've learnt over the years to always be thinking of titles and ideas that I try to put across with just a couple of words. It's the difficult part when you're writing things that are basically abstract.

I was always fascinated particularly with synths: how they looked and stuff that when you're a kid you're like this is the most incredible thing in the world just to play.

I remember having a 7-inch Depeche Mode single when I was ten and really loving that.

No, I'm a quite big believer in not being in the studio if I don't feel like being in there.

I don't believe in getting a lot of new gear all the time, so I get very deeply into one instrument and use it for many years.

To try and create a transcendent state through music has always been the intention.

I've tried to do every album in a different style, which is why I tend to leave a fair bit of time between each one.

I'm not someone who can just be paid to play keyboards on songs. I tried to do it - I needed the money, but it made me really unhappy and ill to be doing it.

I think I took eight or nine months to make 'Immunity.' I just focused on mainly that, and it felt amazing.

I'm never really conscious of what I'm being influenced by when I'm writing.

I have the inability to stop thinking and switch off from work at night, which causes a lot of sleeplessness.

I got this pretend grass stuff called LazyLawn on my roof. Now I can go out on my terrace in bare feet, and it looks exactly like a lawn. This is what science should be for.

I always liked the idea of shaving the back of my head and getting a tattoo of my own face there so that, whichever way I was looking, I could freak people out.

I'm a bit snobbish about breakfast: eggs benedict, or eggs royale, or something like that. Or just some really amazing, proper brown toast with smoked salmon, lemon, and black pepper. That's a great start to the day.

There's never been a time when there hasn't been ritualistic dancing, and I think clubbing is our modern incarnation of that.

I really don't use that much stuff. I think it's good to know a few pieces of equipment very well, rather than learn new ones every time. I think it distracts from the writing process.