Basement Jaxx
KISH KLASH Basement Jaxx Are Up to Their Usual Genre-Blending Tricks
How do you follow up two of the biggest dance albums of the past five years? Some might seek new musical vistas, but Basement Jaxx -- the duo of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe -- redoubled their efforts to perfect their trademark mishmash of house, soul, punk, and what-all-else. That mishmash is Kish Kash, a sonic pileup instigated with the help of a veteran punk rocker (Siouxsie Sioux), a boy-band refugee ('N Sync's J.C. Chasez), an up-'n'-coming garage MC (Dizzee Rascal), and an R&B iconoclast (Meshell Ndegeocello) -- not to mention the 65-year-old gent from around the corner (Mr. Totlyn Jackson). The music runs the gamut as well, layering Prince-era funk atop towers of sirens, guitars, howls, and strings -- and marks the most song-oriented work this team have produced yet. Is that rock opera far behind? Barnes & Noble.com's Mark Schwartz spoke with Felix Buxton to find out where his head's at.
Barnes & Noble.com: Right away, Kish Kash seems different because the vocalists are bigger names. Is this a dream list?
Felix Buxton: No, not really. Well, Meshell Ndegeocello, I'm a fan of hers. But we decided early in the album, yeah, we'll try some other people. Someone like her, she's sort of underground anyway, or from a really specific genre. We still tried stuff with folks from around the corner… J.C. from 'N Sync, he wanted to meet us. He was in London and was interested in us producing something for him. He came to the studio while we were working on the track "Plug It In." We said, "Just try this one and see how it works out," and it sounded good. Then we thought, J.C. from 'N Sync? Is that cool for Basement Jaxx?
B&N.com: Was that meant to be ironic?
FB: Well, it's funny because the song was always about a the kind of masquerade of celebrity, how that whole world governs so many people's lives and they're so fascinated by someone's going to a newsagent's to buy something, it's ridiculous. The lyrics went through a few different stages, and we explained to him what the song was about. He understood, because he's totally in that world. He got what we were talking about.
B&N.com: It fits either way -- it's nothing you'd expect from the Jaxx, but it totally works.
FB: We'd never have expected to do that. The whole record just happened naturally. Meshell was in London working on something and we thought, Yeah, let's get her in to do something. Siouxsie Sioux, we were working on a track and thought, We need a Siouxsie Sioux kinda voice, why don't we just find out if she'd be up for it, and she was. She's a fan of what we do.
B&N.com: Do you feel like you have the resume at this point to get anyone you'd like to do a vocal track?
FB: We contacted Missy Elliott's people…or I think we did. We never got anywhere with that. We'd remixed a track of hers that became a hit in the U.K. and then Australia. We figured that we'd done something for her, she might come back and do something for us. But we never got a call back.
B&N.com: Maybe you don't have the pull you think you do.
FB: Yeah, well, you never know if these people even hear about it. There's so many people involved with these bigger artists. It wasn't like, We must have her. We were still unsure about using someone who's a really big name. Siouxsie Sioux didn't seem so big, or Meshell, or Dizzee Rascal. Dizzee was unknown, and he's done an album since and won the Mercury Prize. He would have been one of the Brixton unknowns on the album, but he's actually become a name.
B&N.com: I'm fascinated by how you keep on top of a very young genre.
FB: All you can do is really hope that you like what's going on. Some things will inspire you and some won't. Like discovering Dizzee Rascal -- I'm into the U.K. garage underground scene. I'd heard his voice on some things and I thought, Let's get him into the studio and give it a go. He has something to say and has an interesting intonation, a spark. And the Neptunes, I've been following them for quite a few years, because I'm interested in what they're doing. They're progressive, they're thinking of new production ideas and ways of looking at music.
B&N.com: The new album doesn't feel like a club record.
FB: Well, creatively, we want to be as open as we can. We don't want to be constrained by a format or a formula and get stale. We always want to go in a new direction. Simon's always been less club-oriented. He's more of a rock fan; I've been more club. I've probably opened a bit more. There's other good music all over the place.
B&N.com: Is that a change in your perspective, going to lounges and bars from the big clubs?
FB: We've always tried to do things that fit in at home as well as in the clubs. We were more concerned with the clubs before because that's where we were heard. We were DJ-ing and making dance tracks. Now we figure people will listen to us, so we can just make music.
B&N.com: Your first records really caught the moment as house music was becoming this expressive medium.
FB: We were lucky. We summed up what a lot of people were trying to achieve, people like Daft Punk and Armand Van Helden. Now I don't know what they're doing, really. That scene frittered away. They're trying new things.
B&N.com: What are you inspired by right now, musically?
FB: Well, in club music there's not too much that's inspiring. The whole house thing is kind of reiterating, getting more and more based around the kick. I suppose there's something of a rock explosion, with the White Stripes and that, but to me it just sounds like stuff I've heard before. For me, the Neptunes are more exciting. The electroclash thing I've really enjoyed, but it seems to be more style over substance.
B&N.com: Given the possibility that, in the future, you're reduced to either DJ-ing or running a record label, which would you rather?
FB: Record label. I've been DJ-ing for 12 years, and I suppose in a way that I've become a world-class DJ even though I don't feel like I can do it properly. I like tracks and songs. Seamless beat matching -- it's like, who cares? Music is about life and getting involved with it. The anal details of the DJ culture bore me.
September 2003
© 2009 All Media Guide, LLC