Putting some organic funk back into dubstep and techno as if he were the child of Luke Vibert and Flying Lotus, London's Sam Shepherd is better known as Floating Points. Shepherd launched the project in 2008 by releasing some white-labels plus a bootleg remix of avant jazz legend Sun Ra's "I'll Wait for You." Gilles Peterson picked up on both and featured the tracks on his Worldwide radio program. Sam spent his days finishing his PhD in neuroscience, but still found time in 2009 to partner with Rinse FM's DJ Alexander Nut to form the Eglo label. Floating Points' "For You" single came out on the label that same year, as did the Vacuum EP.

A guest mix on Mary Anne Hobbs' radio program also aired in 2009 and Floating Points would make an appearance on the BBC DJ's Wild Angels compilation. Shepherd kicked off 2010 by playing London's Fabric alongside Four Tet and James Holden.