Genre mashing, party starting, chameleonic dance music royalty, Basement Jaxx need no introduction. Ahead of their DJ set at Electric Gardens this weekend, ALFRED GORMAN caught up with the one half of the Jaxx, Felix Buxton, to talk about why they’ve decided to pull the plug on their legendary live show and find out where his head’s at.
“We drew a line under the live shows at the end of 2015 – the last show we did was Peace One Day – for International Peace Day. We had 120 people onstage, so in a way it felt like the live show couldn’t get any bigger and better… I think it’s always important in life to draw a line at a certain point,” the 46-year old says.
Ever since rising out of the South London underground house scene in the late 90s, with their infamous, hedonistic Rooty club nights, and their classic debut Remedy, Basement Jaxx have been consistently releasing adventurous albums of a high standard, and touring with a live band. So it’s fair enough they want to take a step back from that for a while. Their last album from 2014, Junto, was released on their own label Atlantic Jaxx. “XL were great and let us do whatever we wanted creatively, but that contract finished, so we were like, we don’t really need a record label these days – so we just put it out ourselves,” Buxton says.
“But y’know, maybe in a few years, we’ll come back to that. Perhaps 2019, do another album, but now isn’t the right time for it. Both of us are concentrating on other little projects. I’ve got an imprint called Celestial Being, which is a new thing, with stuff I recorded in Africa five years ago that I’ve only just managed to finish – it’s vinyl only. Simon’s working with a blues guitarist. We’ve also produced some music for the TV show The Get Down. As well as DJing around a bit.”
Buxton is calling from London, where it’s been snowing, so he’s very much looking forward to heading down our way for the summer festival tour, which sees him and his partner in crime, Simon Ratcliffe, playing a DJ set, supporting headliner Eric Prydz.
Talking about recent DJ sets, Buxton gets on to discussing a new trend that has arisen in London in the last few years. Morning raves. “We were DJing at Morning Gloryville just recently – you’ve got a thousand ravers there drinking green juices and cacao, dressed as unicorns, before work in the morning. No drugs, no alcohol, it’s a different mindset. It’s about positivity, building new communities. The one I did just recently was on top of The Shard, right in the middle of the business district. I think it’s amazing, it felt like a real moment. That to me is kind of poetic and exciting. You can change people’s outlook.”
Speaking of mindsets changing and new concepts, you get the vibe that Buxton is a positive person, who believes in the ability of anyone to create change, and the conversation turns to current global affairs.
“I think there’s always been a lot going on globally – it’s just whether it’s been on our radar. Obviously we’re more connected now. I mean, definitely with Trump, if he has got a big red button near his hands, that’s cause for concern. But we’re all aware of it. People are gonna be watching his every move, so I think we should not panic so much and just focus on creating things we care about. We’re all very capable human beings, but if we focus on belittling someone or worrying about what they’re doing, that’s just a waste of our time and our energy.”
His outlook is refreshingly positive and upbeat. “It’s like with the Brexit thing – it’s still fine – people are coming back and forth from Europe all the time, it’s not like they’ve put up a big iron gate, that’s not gonna happen. All people were really saying was, ‘We want a voice and a change, and this Brexit thing will do.’ It causes a bit of a ruckus, but that’s how things change. It’s good to challenge things. Lively debate is very healthy. Suddenly people are having opinions and caring again. It’s like, at last!”
The Peace One Day gig was also part of that movement to bring about change (The entire show can be found online). It was a massive way to go out with a bang, featuring an incredible range of vocalists and musicians, performing songs from their entire career, culminating in a totally bonkers performance of Where’s Your Head At which saw about 20 people run out on stage in gorilla costumes and start dancing.
“I heard that Coldplay have started using gorillas on their stage now,” says Buxton. “Someone told me about that, and I was like ‘Really? We’ve been doing that for 20 years!’ You see, I think what we created in the Basement Jaxx world, everyone else is doing that now. So maybe we don’t need to do it. Maybe it’s time to do something else.”
He’s got a point. When they emerged on the scene at the end of the millennium, they were unique and fresh, trendsetters, smashing musical boundaries with their fusion of styles. And that whole sound has come back around in a big way.
“I mean, basically, clubs sound like they did in ’92 at the moment! A lot of the old records, are all coming back out,” he says. “The youngsters are like, ‘Yeah EDM was alright, but we want something more true and authentic,’ so they’re all going back to the earlier stuff. Things always go in cycles. It doesn’t seem there’s much musically that’s radically new.”
One thing you can guarantee though – a Basement Jaxx DJ set will be a party. Wild, sexy, big beat, electro-funk. An eccentric mix of exotic flavours. “I’ve got some music from Finland that I really like, and Native American Navajo music that I actually found while I was in Finland,” Buxton says. “That’s what I’m loving at the moment. I’m pretty bored of most pop at the moment. It’s just all so contrived, it’s very left side of the brain, rather than the right. I prefer the right-hand side. I feel alive there.”
