“I never really imagined myself being a DJ at all. I was literally just obsessed with the object of the turntables and how they looked. There was never the goal to be a DJ – especially on stage in front of lots of people.”
Now over a decade and a half later, Smith hasn’t just become a globe-trotting DJ, but earlier this year he released his debut album, In Colour. Just as The xx pioneered a unique brand of pop (a band that features Smith, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim), the same can be said for his garage and house infused solo work.
“I’m always trying to make something different and that sounds like something I’ve not heard,” he says. “Something that just makes me feel a certain way while still being interesting. But I’m also trying not to follow trends in dance music – things can sound stale in a matter of months.”
As indicated by his boyhood fascination with turntables, Smith has long had a love for old records. He spun his parents’ vinyl on his first decks, and now he plays his record store discoveries at home, at clubs, and in the tracks he releases. His deftly chosen samples are part of what makes him unique in the contemporary dance music scene, adding additional intrigue to several tracks on In Colour.
Indirectly, he’s contributing to a revitalised love of indulging in the past through vinyl. More directly, Smith has passed on his love of vinyl to those close to him – particularly his fellow band members in The xx.
“I’ve definitely got them into disco,” he laughs. “And just in general house music. In the UK, house music has become really popular and now it’s everywhere. But when we were 18 that was my main thing and I just loved house music in general.”
Smith loved it so much that he would often head out to the clubs, not to get shit-faced or pick up, but to appreciate the music. “I used to go when I was 17 and I didn’t go there to get really messed up, I went there to listen,” he says.
Smith soon jumped over to the other side, and while he admits that certain aspects of DJing made him nervous, his many years of observing helped shape his approach to performance. “My favourite DJs dance and it makes you really want to dance too when you’re in the crowd watching somebody else dance. It wasn’t exactly the most natural thing for me at the start, but when you’re listening to music that you love, you want to dance too and you just have to forget that there are a bunch of other people watching.”
It raises the questions, does Smith ever wish he could be an observer at his own gig? “No, I think that would be horrible. I can’t watch or listen to myself on radio, TV or whatever – it just makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Insecurities aside, Smith has no scruples about sharing his music with the world. “When I’m doing something new and playing something I’ve never played before that’s probably the best feeling ever. And then seeing people react to it, there’s no experience that seems to top that. I’m never sure whether it’s going to work, and then when it does work it’s great.”
BY AMANDA SHERRING
