There's Something in the Basement

So, Basement Jaxx –  they’re headbanging club-crazies probably fired up on drugs and bad behaviour, right? “We’re in the studio recording a poem,” says Simon Ratcliffe softly, in the background I can hear the muted sound of music and hands tapping and fiddling at a mixing desk.

Hmm. It would appear that Basement Jaxx have mellowed over the years into multi-media bachelors, enjoying the production of film soundtracks and collaborative art projects. They worked with artist Karel Appel on a piece called Hip Hip Hooray! for the Tate Gallery, and the poem is for a poetry series on Rob da Bank’s BBC 1 show.
“I suppose, we’ve always had a side that wasn’t so dance focused, that was a bit more experimental,” Simon reflects. “We’ve always done stuff that’s atmospheric and we like soundtracks. In fact, though the album proper is coming out in September, a month or so afterwards we’re going to be releasing a record of more experimental music.”
Wasn’t Scars initially intended to be a double album?
“All of our albums start out meaning to be double albums, but then we’re persuaded by the record company that it’s not a good idea,” he sighs. “They say the world’s not ready for a Basement Jaxx double album. They say it would be off-putting, particularly now that albums aren’t a big thing anymore. So we’re putting out Scars as a more concise and accessible album and then we’ll be releasing another one for the ‘heads’.”
He can’t believe they’ve completed their five album deal with XL.
“When we started this record we were working in a little studio which kept getting flooded because the ceiling was leaking. Then we just went ‘what are we doing?’ I mean other bands are on their fifth album and they’re recording in the Bahamas and here we were in this pokey little place. So we did New York for two weeks, Berlin for ten days, a place outside of Bath for a fortnight... those were the only excesses. It’s our fifth album so we should be able to push the boat out a bit!”
They certainly push the boat out with the celebrity collaborators. Scars will feature contributions from Santigold, Yo! Majesty, Lightspeed Champion, Kelis and Yoko Ono.
“The ideal thing is to find someone who’s unknown and brilliant,” says Ratcliffe, “but that’s harder and harder because anyone with an ounce of talent is doing stuff themselves and everybody knows about them. Working with Yoko was wicked. She was great. Really open-minded. Felix [Buxton] scribbled some ideas and she was really into it and gave us an hour of her time. She’s 76 and very inspiring, very musical and it was an honour to work with her.”
That said, Ratcliffe’s almost as happy to close the studio door and get on with the music-making untroubled by celebrity guests.
“Felix is more of a human being person. He involves other people and gets words on there. In a way, I’d be just as happy doing instrumentals. For me music is about mood and words can get in the way, but Felix is a very wordy person. That’s his strong point – focusing on the message.”
Speaking of which, Scars doesn’t sound like a Basement Jaxx album title.
“The record company told us it sounded like an emo title!” he laughs. “This album has been a bit of a slog and there’s been a sense of us being slightly more advanced in years and feeling slightly lost. Felix wrote two or three songs about his personal life which was a bit tumultuous at the time... going out with the wrong girls and having slightly psychopathic girlfriends. I suppose the record is about how scars make you who you are. You get beaten, but you stand up and start walking. You should be proud of your scars, because they’re what make you who you are.”