Klaxons interview

DARLINGS OF THE ENGLISH MUSIC PRESS KLAXONS ARE HEADING THIS WAY, INSPIRING ROB TOWNSEND TO PULL ON SOME FLUORO AND FIND OUT WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT

“There is no scene.” With those four words, Klaxons’ vocalist and keyboardist James Righton completely tears down the bastions of the latest NME fad, New Rave. “The New Rave thing was actually started by [vocalist/bassist] Jamie as a joke. Our music isn’t rave at all; it’s more dark pop. We just do our own thing.”

Regardless of whether the New Rave scene is a cynical media construct or not, Klaxons are absolutely massive in England right now. Seriously, the trio from London’s New Cross are on everyone’s lips. The day-glo wearing group’s unique brand of apocalyptic pop/dance/punk has made them overnight cover stars, and there is no denying that there is some kind of dance movement following in their slipstream. “It’s weird, we’ve definitely created something,” the singer confirms. “But we didn’t really know anything about the bands that we have been grouped in with when we started out. We were just on our own in a small, cold rehearsal room.” He pauses for a moment’s thought, before continuing. “I mean, I don’t think we sound anything like Hot Chip or Shit Disco and, rather than a scene, it is more a spirit that we all share. There is a real DIY approach to our gigs, and we all try to make them into events. It’s not about us; it’s about the audience. People turn up with glow sticks and homemade t-shirts.”

Klaxons have only been around for a year, but their meteoric rise hasn’t changed the instantly likeable Londoners at all. “We are getting very arrogant,” jokes Righton chirpily. “Our egos are exploding. We intend to end up in rehab after the first album and all fall out with each other, and then become friends again in time for the second record.” Joking aside though, it is clear that the three friends who make up Klaxons have their feet firmly on the ground. “It hasn’t affected us,” he confirms. “We still hang out with the same group of friends.” In spite of their down-to-earth attitude, they are nonetheless entirely focused on achieving success. “For our first few gigs we were just going insane on stage. There wasn’t much music, and it mostly just ended up with us dancing around like idiots. But we were ambitious from day one. It’s an attitude that a lot of indie bands frown upon, but from the start we always wanted to be a big pop band.”

Myspace has been an important factor in the success of the group, and has helped to ensure that their growth has been organic. “It’s an amazing way of keeping in touch with our fans. We don’t randomly add people, so it’s a good way to gauge whether people like us.” When asked whether they have given the responsibility of running their myspace page to someone else now they are famous, Righton responds defiantly. “We still run it ourselves. The record company wanted our password,” he scoffs. “But we wouldn’t give it to them. That’d be like giving them the password to my hotmail account, and saying: ‘Hey, have the keys to my car as well.’”

The band’s recent 6-track EP release, Xan Valleys, beats its listener round the face with a mind-bending mash-up of pilled-up post-punk psychedelic pop that jumps between being trippy, distorted, melodic, insane and exhilarating. It perfectly sums up the band’s live craziness. “It’s easy to translate our live sound onto record,” Righton quips. “Just make it really fast and really heavy.” While he brushes off the challenge of transforming the Klaxons experience onto CD, he does admit that creating their unique sound is an entirely different process to that of a ‘normal’ band. “We don’t jam. We come in with different parts and mess around with them, and then we work on melodies and lyrics. It can be an arduous process, and we chuck away so much stuff. It’s a democracy, which means that sometimes we hate each other.”

In support of Xan Valleys, and of the release of a full length album early next year, Klaxons are spending the remainder of this year and most of next on the road, which means they’ve had to put their personal lives on hold for the foreseeable future. “We’ve got a hectic schedule,” Righton says with an audible sense of trepidation in his voice. “We’re touring all over the world. It is fun, and the best job in the world, but it’s insane because you just can’t settle. You can’t have a girlfriend or anything, but we are so lucky to be in this position.” The way that he stresses the words “so lucky” suggests that this is a band that is going to make the very most of touring the globe. “We are worried about our mental state though,” he adds as an afterthought. Ah yes, it’s not much of a secret that Klaxons like to party pretty hard, which leads one to wonder whether there are days when the hangovers and the comedowns are so painfully huge that the band simply cannot face another hard night of performing. “Obviously sometimes you just feel too tired, but as soon as you get on stage it all changes. You get such a buzz off the crowd.”

Luckily for us, Klaxons’ bid for world domination sees them heading to Australia next week to play at the Modular Christmas party. It will be their first ever visit to this country. “None of us did the gap year thing, so we are really excited,” the vocalist says enthusiastically.

When quizzed about their knowledge of the music scene over here, Klaxons plead ignorance. “We haven’t got the faintest idea about the scene. All we know is that Wolfmother are quite big.” Upon hearing that there are plenty of fluoro-clad scenesters eagerly awaiting their arrival, James is audibly excited “We can’t wait,” he buzzes. “Expect everything and anything from us. We won’t disappoint.”


Interview by Rob Townsend.