This is your third visit to Dubai. What do you remember most about the city?
Last time we got trapped here by a volcanic dust storm and ended up having a mini-holiday at the water park. It was very good. I have a friend here with a young son, so I suppose I got to see a bit more of Dubai.
Don’t you get sick of working on New Year’s Eve?
I’ve definitely realised it’s better to work on New Year’s Eve than go out. A couple of years ago I decided to have the night off and I ended up out among the emotional break-ups and in the cold. It’s one of those times where the emotional uncertainty comes to the fore; you start looking back and a lot of people have a little wobble.
What was your worst NYE?
When I was a student, I went to a friend’s party and one of my friends said, ‘I always get really emotional on New Year’s Eve’. We all laughed. It was just around midnight when we heard shrill screaming – she was trying to pull herself out of the window on the fourth floor. I bumped into her recently and she’s now doing counselling – it’s probably a good job for her.
You’re on the bill with Brit trance group Above & Beyond. What do you make of them?
Who? I don’t know who they are. Number five, according to DJ Magazine? Well, that’s just people who read DJ Mag. They don’t feature in the UK.
Dance has been mainstream for decades now. Where do you see electronic music going?
I was hoping in the future we’d all be wearing all-in-one body suits and dancing in holograms with scented air that would make you feel different emotions. Now kids in London are listening to ’30s music or ’50s rockabilly – anything before pop music. Electronic music can suffer sometimes – it feels as though it’s been made by architects and corporate entertainers.
What about the future of Basement Jaxx?
Hopefully we’ll always be going in different directions, forwards and backwards and swirling in a straight line. We’re going into the studio when we get home and Dubai is the last point of this guise. This might be the last Basement Jaxx album, then maybe a Hawaiian adventure and a virtual film in another dimension. I don’t know if they’re serious suggestions – any idea is worth looking at, to do something fresh and different. The time of pop music is coming to a close.
You sound happy with that.
Absolutely. I believe in 2012 there will be big changes, I believe we’re going into a higher consciousness. It’s exciting, I think we need change. Do we all want to be in plastic jobs in plastic offices going to the new trendy bar? We’ve been looking for the wrong things. As human beings we need something a bit more beautiful to look for, and I believe that it’s coming.
