Nick Muir is a musician, composer and electronic music producer. He is best known as one half of the production team Bedrock, which consists of himself and DJ John Digweed, although he has enjoyed considerable success as an artist in his own right.
His career can be roughly divided into two parts. During the 80's he was a session musician, playing piano/keyboards with various artists including Take That, Fire Next Time, The Men They Couldn't Hang and the since discredited glam rock singer Gary Glitter. He also worked in France with rock and roll singer Johnny Hallyday and crooner Herbert Leonard. During his time with punk-folk outfit The Men They Couldn't Hang he met producer Pat Collier (Wonderstuff, Primal Scream) who offered him a space to work in at his own Greenhouse studio. He set up a programming room there and became involved in the nascent rave scene that was burgeoning in the UK in the late 80's and early 90's. He released several solo singles/EPs under various names before coming to the attention of John Digweed who at the time was a young upcoming DJ just beginning to break through.
Jamie Smith (known by the stage name Jamie xx) is an English music producer and remix artist, who gained fame both as solo act and as a member of the London-based band The xx.
Smith's musical career began in 2007 when he joined The xx accompanying old school friends Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi of the Elliott School in London, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet. He first used the stage name Jamie xx in July 2009 in a promotional mix for the band's début album xx released on the FACT mix series of the FACT Magazine. The mixtape was compiled by Jamie Smith and featured amongst others four tracks credited to Jamie xx - one own production and three remixes. The xx album went on to become platinum in the UK. Afterward, Jamie Smith went on to do more remix work for artists like Florence + The Machine, Adele, Jack Peñate and Glasser.
In late 2010, a Jamie xx remix of the song "NY Is Killing Me" from Gil Scott-Heron's last album I'm New Here aired on radio stations across the UK and Europe. The remix of "I'll Take Care Of U" followed in January 2011. Both singles drew the attention of the general public and the critics. They set the way for a 13-track remix album entitled We're New Here, produced entirely by Jamie xx and credited to "Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx". The album was released on February 21, 2011 on the XL Records label, but a full album preview could be streamed on the website of The Guardian as early as February 14.We're New Here received positive critical acclaim and was named "masterpiece in its own right" by BBC's Ele Beattie.