John is joined by Jamie xx, to talk about how he wrote, recorded and produced the album ‘In Waves’.

Jamie xx is an English musician, record producer, and DJ. He began his career as part of The xx, whose 2009 debut album ‘xx’ was instrumental in shaping the indie music scene of the 2010s. Jamie’s critically acclaimed solo debut, ‘In Colour’, arrived in 2015, earning both Mercury and Grammy nominations. In 2024, he released ‘In Waves’, a record that captures the emotional highs and hazy afterglow of a night out, blending bliss, heartbreak, and introspection through immersive dance music.

In this episode, Jamie reflects on the years-long journey of creating ‘In Waves’. As well as discussing where his initial moments of inspiration came from, he talks through his approach to sampling, how he balances analog synths with a Logic-based workflow, and the plugins that have become essential to crafting his distinctive sound.

Tracks discussed: Breather, Dafodil, Life

TAPE IT

Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast.

Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 20% off.

LANDR 

Get 20% off LANDR Distribution and Studio at landr.com/tapenotes

TRINITY LABAN 

Find out more about Trinity Laban's Songwriting MA here.

MUSIVERSAL

Skip the waitlist and get your discount HERE

LISTEN to ‘In Waves’ here

‘Young’

LISTEN to ‘Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go’ here.

‘RCA Records, Sony’

LISTEN to ‘Cerrone - The House of the Rising Sun Revelacion Suite’ here.

‘Because’

LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES  

linktr.ee/tapenotes 

Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective.

GEAR MENTIONS

Soundtoys Crystallizer

Zynaptiq Morph

Output Thermal

Roland TR-808

XLN Audio XO

Serum

Sonar Works Sound ID Reference

Roland Space Echo

Oberheim 8 Voice

Korg Delta

Isla Drum Machine

Akai MPC 1000

Tascam 8 Track

Logic ES 2

Logic Phaser

Logic Drum Sampler

Logic Pro X

Garageband

OUR GEAR

https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear

HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW

If you'd like to help support the show you can join us on Patreon, where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns.

KEEP UP TO DATE

For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on: 

Instagram: @tapenotes 

Twitter: @tapenotes 

Facebook: @tapenotespodcast  

YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast

Discord: Tape Notes

Patreon: Tape Notes

To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear! 

Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk

TAPE NOTES TEAM

John Kennedy

Will Brown 

Tim Adam-Smith 

Will Lyons 

Nico Varanese 

Guy Nicholls 

Jessica Clucas

Ali Lewis

Evan Lawday

Francis Hartgrove