Basement Jaxx’ Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe tell Tim Hughes why they can’t wait to bring their cosmic vibes to the Oxfordshire countryside

Dance music act Basement Jaxx know what it takes to get a field full of people on their feet and dancing.

“Explosive cosmic chemistry,” says Felix Buxton, who along with bandmate Simon Ratcliffe has created one of the most successful electronic dance acts of all time.

“And energy and good vibrations,” he smiles.

He should know. Since starting life in South London in 1994, they have had a string of hit albums in the shape of Remedy, Rooty, Kish Kash, Crazy Itch Radio, Scars, and last year’s Junto – two of them hitting the top five in the UK, and four in the US. Their string of Top 10 singles includes Redez-Vu, Red Alert, Romeo, Oh My Gosh, and Where’s Your Head At.

On Saturday the pair bring their banks of electronics to a mixed dairy and arable farm, just outside Steventon, for what promises to be one of the liveliest weekends this summer – Truck Festival.

They will be joined, tomorrow and Saturday, by an eclectic line-up of more than 150 bands and artists, including The Charlatans, Clean Bandit, Temples, Augustines, Public Service Broadcasting, Darwin Deez, New Order’s Peter Hook, Ghostpoet, Lucy Rose, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Fat White Family, Bo Ningen and Slaves. Also playing will be festival-founders Robin and Joe Bennett’s band The Dreaming Spires. The pair remain closely linked to the festival and programme its Veterans and Virgins stage featuring new and largely local talent including Maiians, Polly & The Billets Doux, Balloon Ascents, Little Brother Eli, Rainbow Reservoir, Will Joseph Cook, Orange Vision and Death of Hi Fi, and Truck favourites Piney Gir, The Epstein, The Loose Salute, Co-Pilgrim, Alphabet Backwards, and Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou.

“We are really excited to be at Truck this year,” says Felix. “It seems like a good vibe.”

They will be joined by the army of dancers and guest singers who make their live shows eye-popping spectaculars.

“Truck sounds like our kind of festival,” says Simon. “It’s always nice to play something that is not corporate. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“We are at our best outdoors, on a stage with lots of people. Felix and I DJ, but the live show we started in ’99 with the first album, has grown into an animal all its own. It’s colourful, flamboyant and there’s lots of energy.

“We are a dance act, but our live shows go beyond that. They are great fun and feed off the energy of the crowd.”

Having outgrown their original South London home, they are now based in a studio in London’s Kings Cross.

“We started out in a glorified bedroom-study in Brixton,” says Simon. “But the roof started leaking and the whole place began disintegrating around us. But even though we now have a nice studio in Kings Cross, we are still associated with Brixton.”

Their Truck appearance follows dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Japan and Ibiza. And, says Simon, they can’t wait to get into rural Oxfordshire for their Hill Farm headline set.

“It’s always good to get out of the city,” he says. “I have a friend who runs a farm, and Felix is a country boy who grew up in Leicestershire, where his dad is a vicar, so he comes from that world.

“People are generally nicer to each other in the country and are not hung up on the minutiae of things. In the city everything is on hand, but people lose contact; I love going to the countryside.”

He said he was even thinking of bringing his eight year-old daughter Willow, and asked what there was for kids to do at the festival.

“It will be good to be on the farm – even if just for a day. Then again, I might stay over,” he added as an afterthought.

He should be easy to spot among the legions of T-shirt and hoodie-wearing Truckers.

“I have become more of a welly and Tweed man, and am a fan of sensible outdoor wear,” he deadpans.

Oxford Mail:

  • Hand it to the boys: Basement Jaxx bring a colourful cast of dancers 

“I’m becoming more English in my sartorial tastes.”

So does he consider himself a festival fan? “Yes, I went to Glastonbury when I was 18, and had the time of my life,” he says. “We are going to have a good time at Truck too – and I’ve already got my hip flask full of scotch.

“I used to drink scrumpy but an experience when I was 17 put me off for life,” he laughs. “But that could change!”

So how does it feel for this one-time festival fan to now be headlining some of the world’s biggest events?

“It’s amazing,” he says. “We did Glastonbury three times. I saw footage of the first one recently and it was incredible to see how paired down and simple it was. It was just Felix and me behind a mixing desk with a singer coming out every now and then.

“The atmosphere was so tense and we couldn’t believe we were doing it. The second time we were headlining the Sunday night – and we couldn’t believe that either. But by that point the stage show was a well-oiled machine.

“We also played the Big Feastival (in Kingham) where the food for the punters was amazing – but the catering for us consisted of really ordinary packets of crisps, so we had to go out front and get some food. So this time I’m going to pack a little hamper with meticulously prepared sandwiches.”

And what can we expect this Saturday, in terms of musical fayre?

“We’ll be playing songs from the past, songs from the future, songs from now, songs people know, mash-ups of other people’s music, and stuff from our new album – which has been going down as well as the old tunes. It’s going to be a great weekend,” he says. “We’ve been doing it for a long time, and have got chemistry between us.

“We balance the electronic side with the live side really well – and there’s definitely nothing else like us. We’ve got our own character and are best in front of lots of people. It’s corny, but it’s fun for all the family,” he grins.

“There are reflective bits and banging bits for people to dance too. Everyone can get into it – you can either join the rave – or just let your imagination run riot.”

Festival organiser Ralph Broadbent said he couldn’t wait to see the pair: “In Basement Jaxx we have one of the biggest acts of the past 20 years selling out arenas and festivals across the world, with one of the most brilliant live shows around.

“This will be the biggest and best Truck ever!”

Basement Jaxx play Truck Festival, Hill Farm, Steventon, on Saturday.
The event starts tomorrow.
Tickets from truckfestival.com