BASEMENT JAXX - TOUR
ABOUT
I was commissioned by the legendary house act Basement Jaxx to creatively direct their first live show in over 10 years. Collaborating with Simon and Felix on an approach that both respected their dance roots and also incorporated their history of maximalist live shows while setting them firmly in the present (and future ). I was given loose reins to create this new spectacle and started from the point of an intergalactic celebratory ceremony landing on Planet Earth where each performer is celebrated as their own species and character! The set design represented a ramp entry from the SpaceShip Jaxx where all the performers could arrive – while Simon and Felix were central to conduct the ceremony in their control station. The show debuted at Coachella 2025 and is currently touring the UK for the rest of the year.
SET DESIGN
Basement Jaxx are famous for their live playful full-throttle shows. Full of a multitude of performers, costumes and chaos. My aim with the set design was to create a simple graphic form to give the overall performance structure. The concept came from the ramp of a spaceship while giving a nod to an ancient (lopped off) pyramid form. It was essential to me that Simon and Felix were central to everything that went on, so I created a control centre where they could conduct their visitation.
VISUALS
Each of Basement Jaxx's tunes has such a distinct style, with influences from all walks of musical life. I wanted to carry this narrative through the visuals while keeping a coherent thread that connected to the stage design. I started by telling a story of each song we wanted to animate. From there we worked on how to link these acts together. My reference for movement was a B movie approach with dropped frames to reduce the smoothness from the visual. I was very conscious I didn't want it to look like dance music graphics of today and instead have a texture that reached to past filmmaking while using modern animation techniques. I was lucky enough to collaborate with Northhouse on the visuals, and they took the references, narrative and storyboards I drew and created some outstanding work. This included animating one of my sculptures from my Future Forms project for Jus 1 Kiss.
COSTUME DESIGN
We started with the idea of ceremonial costumes and firmly mashed this with a harder Mad Max-style tough DIY retro-futurist aesthetic. There was a nod to the aquatic alien in the fabric choices. Collaborating with a series of young talented designers, I commissioned a series of costumes that enhanced each performer’s character while holding a visual synergy. From this starting point we considered each performer (and song individually ). Lisa singing Good Luck – Became the tyrant empress. Tuggy and Oli (drums and percussion) were intergalactic Centurions holding the fort on each side of the ramp. Simon became the general with a nod to the original Nostromo uniform, while Felix is the wizard in his silver pleated draping.
