The man who signed Adele, The Prodigy and White Stripes: Hopefully our records can bend the edges of the culture a bit

XL Recordings is one of the most successful independent record labels in the world - home to the Prodigy, Adele, Dizzee Rascal, Radiohead, White Stripes, etc. - and its founder Richard Russell, now 49, has written an autobiography, 'Liberation Through Hearing', that details how it happened. Alexis Petridis talked to Russell, who shared interesting insights and stories. About Prodigy's frontman Keith Flint: "Keith was untethered, so if you saw him onstage at a rave, you were seeing yourself, but a completely free version of it, no self-consciousness". He signed Dizzee Rascal after hearing his single 'I Luv U', then told him to hurry up making his debut album because he wanted to win the Mercury Prize. He signed the White Stripes, M.I.A. and Radiohead, decided to track down Gil Scott-Herron, undeterred by the fact that the singer-songwriter was in prison. Adele in a different story - Russell insists her success is down to the label leaving her alone to do what she wanted: “Does anyone achieve that kind of thing because of anybody else?".