One of the most popular electronic groups to emerge from the 90s, Faithless have legions of dedicated fans the world over. Readying themselves for their eagerly anticipated, and long overdue, return down under this October, in a conversation with the group’s enigmatic frontman Maxi Jazz ITM learns why this may be your last chance to see Faithless. The new album is absolutely beautiful, you must be very proud. Can you tell me how it compares to the others? I don’t think it does compare for one really good reason, and that is because of our guest vocalist LSK – he is brilliant and his world view is pretty much the same as mine. So on this album the guest vocalist is like a compliment to me rather than a contrast, normally the guest vocalist will be either female or the light to my dark if you like, very much a contrast, whereas Lee is a compliment and is so brilliant with words. His melodic sense is amazing – the voice of an angel, so yeah I think that’s the main difference. The opening single ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’ has a really strong message, how personal are those lyrics to you? Extremely personal, everything I write is personal pretty much. I wouldn’t have bothered writing a song about the state of the world if it didn’t mean a lot to me, and I mean it really, really does and I’m really happy that that song is successful. Are you surprised at how successful it’s been and the impact that it’s had? Absolutely yeah, everything that we have put out that’s been successful thus far has been a house song so I was pleased that mass destruction was successful. Also because lyrically it says exactly what I want it to say and the fact that it’s been successful in America has shocked me beyond belief. That’s was my next question actually, it’s been received really well in America and I know the American public in general is a bit conservative and seemingly don’t like to question themselves… Yeah, I can’t believe it they burnt Dixie Chicks records you know, because they spoke out against George Bush, they threw Linda Ronstadt out, she dedicated her final song to Michael Moore when she was on tour! She was in Vegas and when she got back to her dressing room she found it locked, all her stuff was in the street and her tour had been cancelled simply because she dedicated her final song to Michael Moore. She didn’t even stand up and say George Bush is a wanker, you know, so I figured they are far too conservative. The radio stations and MTV in particular will not touch the video because they don’t want any sanctions coming down on their heads, but I was about as wrong as any one person could be because they are going nuts for it. It’s one of the top ten most requested videos on MTV America. BMG, our record company, have never ever had a UK artist on MTV America… Do you feel that as someone with such a far reaching audience you have a responsibility to get some kind of message across with music? Yeah, I do. It’s not just a responsibility it’s what makes it all worth it. I would have stopped by now otherwise, but as an artist the only thing that you do is express yourself. You know when people talk about expressing themselves you express what’s in your heart, you express your humanity, you know whether that’s the sexual side of you or the thoughtful side. For example I would never go on tour singing someone else’s words, I would rather stay home. What the fuck am I going to work for when I can’t even say what’s in my heart when I’m on stage in front of a whole bunch of people? I’ve got to be able to say what’s in my heart, not some old rubbish designed to make me look good or get girls. Life is too hard for that I think Do you feel there should be more of that type of thing within the dance music community? I think sometimes people are sometimes surprised to hear electronic artists come out with something with such a strong message. Well that’s not for me to say really, I mean everyone’s got to do what they’ve got to do haven’t they? A lot of people in the music industry look at it as just a job they’ve got to keep working, to keep earning money, because it can be a very fickle and short term business. A lot of people figure they’ve got to keep making those hits, regardless of whatever’s going on in the world, I’m going to keep making those hits because that’s my job and that’s what my wife and kids depend upon. That’s fine, I ain’t got a wife, I ain’t got no kids and I couldn’t give a fuck about being a pop star, so I personally would always veer towards expressing myself as explicitly as possible rather than holding back in case I offend somebody. How long has the album been in the making? Christ, a long time, Blissy started as we stopped touring in Sept 2002 and pretty much went straight into the studio and started creating the music. Rollo started to help out around February or March 2003 when he’d finished his sister’s [Dido] album, then I got involved around August 2003 once they’d finished all the music. Me and LSK were called down to write lyrics and we had it finished by December 2003. We compiled it and then left it for a few weeks over Christmas, came back and changed it around a bit. It was Blissy’s idea and it worked beautifully, so then the theme of the album became apparent. So has anything else been happening for the members of Faithless the past few months? I haven’t had the time to have anything else happen, you know Faithless is like a monster that eats your life! A nice monster I bet. Yeah, well sometimes it can be a pain in the arse monster too. Sometimes I have to tell you… Now you were actually due to come out and play the big day out a couple of years ago and had a nasty car accident, are you all recovered? Yeah, yeah, that’s actually one of the best things that’s ever happened to me that car accident. Really? It’s strange how life works, but I used to do a lot of motor racing before Faithless got busy again, and I’d had a crash on the track 4 months earlier where I really damaged myself. I twisted my neck, my shoulders, my rib cage, my spine and my pelvis. All were significantly twisted round to the left, all my muscles were damaged and I had no idea because I was in the middle of a tour jumping around. I thought I was fit as a fiddle and then suddenly I have this crash at 5.30 one morning. I span out on the ice, hit a tree, and my car smashed to bits. I went into hospital and missed 5 shows. I knew there was something wrong, and it wasn’t until about 2 months later when I went to a chiropractor and he started touching my back that he told me my whole torso was twisted round to the left. He said if I hadn’t had this fixed up then, in between two and five years I could have been fucked, everything I enjoy doing, from running, to shagging, to dancing, to driving, I either wouldn’t have been able to do it or wouldn’t have been able to do it without pain. So if I hadn’t of had that car accident it would be happening right now. What do you have to say about the continual rumors that Faithless are about to call it a day? I think we are. You know, it’s been 9 years of really, really hard work. There a lot of bands that put out an album every year, but they don’t do gigs. They just let the album go out and they’ll do a bunch of interviews, and that’s it. Then they go back to the studio and make another album. It’s a fun way to live your life, but if you’re on the road for 18 months every time you put an album out you get tired pretty quick. So what’s after Faithless? Faithless will probably still exist in one form or another, it’s just that we won’t. You know the touring is so devastating to your life, you’ve got nothing else to do except be on a bus, be in a hotel room, be in an airport, or be onstage. And out of those four, there’s only one that’s really fun! Tickets for Faithless’ upcoming tour are selling fast, with their first Sydney show already sold out. They’re supported by Way Out West at all shows except for Perth: Fri Oct 8 – Sydney, Hordern Pavilion [SOLD OUT]
Sat Oct 9 – Sydney, Hordern Pavilion
Sun Oct 10 – Canberra, Royal Theatre [BUY TICKETS]
Tue Oct 12 – Perth, Metro City [BUY TICKETS]
Fri Oct 15 – Adelaide, Thebarton Theatre [BUY TICKETS]
Sat Oct 16 – Melbourne, Vodafone Arena [BUY TICKETS]
Sun Oct 17 – Brisbane, Convention Centre [BUY TICKETS]
