Basement Jaxx

Scars is your first studio album in three years. We we're starting to think you'd given up!
The whole year has been a bit topsy-turvy really. We were supposed to release this album in spring, just after we were in Australia in January, but we were delayed and didn't get it finished. It took us a while to get into it. After [2006 studio album] Crazy Itch Radio we did a lot of shows and supported other big artists around Europe. We were just too busy gigging.

Why was it such a difficult album to produce?
For me, relationships and stuff were all a bit turbulent, and kind of unsettled. I got mugged, the guy in the studio next door died, and there was a whole string of things that we had to deal with that were all real and not particularly nice. So that kind of affected us. And then going to the studio where half the people had left the building because their business had shut down, it felt like we should do some music. It felt like there wasn't much positively coming from anywhere.

Why else have you favoured a more downbeat sound this time?
We realised that were in a different area to where we were. It felt like we weren't in the dance field any more. We thought we'd go to three places, three different places, and that will have an effect on the music we make and what we do just so that we're not stuck in the studio. So we went to Berlin for ten days, to New York for two weeks, and to the English countryside for a couple of weeks. We just tried to fill the time in the studio to do some stuff, to get the album going. We were trying all sorts of stuff, real mellow stuff, really banging stuff, and all sorts of styles.

You had some awesome collaborations along the way too.
Yes we did. Yoko Ono was the first thing. Santigold was just around the corner, we had come across some of her stuff and she sounded interesting, though since then she has blown up and she's everywhere. Yo Majesty were also really exciting. We just tried to fill the time in the studio as much as possible to get the album going.

What do you admire most in these artists?.
Individuality, creativity, a shared view of the world, openness, colour, and vibrancy. Just people with their own character who aren't trying to be anyone else. Everyone has their own thing, which is a whole mix of different styles. Everyone we worked with was great, and really kooky as well. I think, looking at the album, everyone is into this mixed-up approach to things.

Yoko Ono is certainly an unexpected choice. What attracted you to her?
Well, initially I didn't really want to talk to her, but I saw parallels between what she was doing and what we were doing, even years ago. Her artworks are just really strong and powerful. I wanted to talk to her more as an artist, not so much as a musician. I interviewed her before we started recording, but she gave very short and sharp answers, like "life is life" and "we are what we are". I was hoping she would give me a bit more insight into her life, but in a way she was saying that life is simple, and that's the key to life for her.

What's your next move?
We've actually done more of a double album, and the other half should be released soon. It's mostly instrumental. There's only two tracks with vocals, I think I'm on one and there are and couple of snippets of Yoko Ono in there. That'll be coming out soon I hope.

Basement Jaxx plays Congress Theater Friday November 6th with MSTRKRFT and Modeselektor. Click here to read more about Modeselektor.

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