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Klaxons

James Righton has just got back from shopping with his Mum...

Posted 30th July 2007, 3:50pm in Interviews, by Erin Goss
Klaxons James Righton has just got back from shopping with his Mum. Lately his band Klaxons has been up to just about everything, but during our phone interview Righton reveals the reason behind the band's odd few days off – co-vocalist Jamie Reynolds has broken his tibia in a sadly miscalculated jump off the stage. However, that won't stop the band that has "been busy from day one". Righton explains that Reynolds will be forced to rock out from a seated position, "We are still going to play but Jamie's going to have to do it from a stool". Yet there is no talk of cancelling he assures, "We are going to Japan next Tuesday and I think he's going to be on a stool for a month".

Since forming a little over a year ago Klaxons have been riding a non stop wave of success that has turned them into overnight sensations and accidentally christened the band as the godfathers of some people's favourite new genre – 'New Rave', a description based on the 90s rave scene that caught fire when Reynolds casually used it in reference to their sound. However, the term took on a life of its own and "kind of became bastardised", eventually branding the self-proclaimed pop band as the leaders of a new epidemic. When asked if he even believes that 'New Rave' exists Righton explains "I think that it does kind of exist but it is something that we have very little to do with, we are associated with it but we don't see ourselves as a new rave band… there's no electronics in what we do, there is no backing track, there is no dance element really".

"It's all very natural, it just kind of happened", is they way that Righton explains how the band's fantasy based lyrics came about. While Arctic Monkeys have glorified the lives of Burberry wearing chavs, igniting a trend of everyday based lyrics, Klaxons have lead a fully fledged revolt against reality, brandishing glo-sticks and all. The decision to leave behind stories of drunken nights out and the mundane was easy. "Everything we knew was what we didn't want to do basically, and that was that we didn't want to be like a punk band or Libertines-esque reality band about life and London and jobs. We just got together in a little rehearsal room and we sort of just built this fantasy world. I think in general it didn't have to be about boys and girls and love, it could be about anything."

In accordance with the band's fast paced manner, the first album was written in just two weeks and Righton agrees that it will be interesting next time around "When you know, we'll have more than two weeks to write it". When asked if the direction of Klaxons' sound is likely to change on their second album Righton is quick to reply, "Yes, completely". In previous interviews the band admitted an interest in even making an R and B album but today Righton explains "if we did kind of do something more hip hop based, more R and B kind, it would be like how we did it with New Rave, you can aim for one thing and it will sound completely different. That always happens in music, people try to do a thing and they never get what they try to aim for".

One thing the band is unashamedly aiming for however is popularity. From the start Klaxons have not been afraid to say they want their music to reach as many people as possible and despite having only been together for a relatively short while their efforts are already paying off. Having just come off a very successful second North American tour the band is already well on their way to making the big jump to American audiences and breaking the US market with their spastic pop. Speaking on their latest American conquest Righton states, "It was great, it's just really good cause we can see it's developing naturally like it did in the UK really. At first we were playing to you know a couple hundred and now we are playing to a lot more". Noting a particularly memorable show, Righton recalls "the Pitchfork Festival we played was incredible. It was a really good show that everyone got really in to".

Along with collecting the NME Best New Band Award earlier this year Klaxons were thrilled to learn they had been nominated for the Mercury Prize recently. With so much positive feedback already is it possible that the band has already achieved their desired popularity? Righton can only humbly stumble for words. "Um, I don't know. I think we've done a lot of what we kind of hoped for, I think we are incredibly proud of the NME award and the Mercury because it's something we've watched growing up", he says clearly honoured to be collecting awards that represent the public's opinion.

However Klaxons are not yet comfortable to put down the glo-sticks and rest on their quickly amassing achievements. The band embraces the ability to work well under pressure, it could even be said that Klaxons enjoy deadlines, or at least the results. "All our stuff like 'Magick', the last vocal was done just as the label came in to hear it and it's always been like that. If we have months to write or stuff like that we just end up sitting down talking, doing nothing…"

It's been over a year since Klaxons brought fantasy pop and neon into our lives, but time flies when you're touring the world and racking up awards and the band has yet to come to terms with their own whirlwind of success. "It's so early for us still, It's all happened within and year and we haven't been able to take it all in really" Righton says. Fuelled with the brink of success Klaxons are more than happy to continue working. "We don't like to dwell on things and we like to get our music out there and we enjoy touring, you know, so it's good for us". Days out shopping with Mum are numbered, Klaxons are off to Japan, broken leg or not.

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