Awarded the accolade of ‘world’s best VJs’ by DJ Mag in 2005, Hexstatic have a long held reputation as one of the most forward thinking audio-visual groups in the electronic music scene worldwide. Have released albums on trailblazing UK independent Ninja Tune, the duo will be touring Australia’s east coast this weekend for a round of mind-bending audio-visual extravaganzas. ITM caught up with Stu while they were in New Zealand.

You’ve both certainly been touring extensively around the world in support of your most recent album ‘Master View’; how has the touring been going so far? Has touring exerted a changing influence on the way in which you present your live set?

We have just completed an amazing tour of NZ and it was nice to play the south island where we played Dunedin and a rare 3D show outdoors in Christchurch. We played a set in Frank Kitts Lagoon, Wellington Harbour, which was very well received we were on a large barge with a 9 metre screen. Then onto Splore playing the main stage only metres from the sea. It was a beautiful setting for a festival and the weather has been great. Last year we went around Europe and also played Electroglide in Japan alongside The Prodigy and Darren Emerson amongst others. The set constantly changes. It’s definitely more uptempo than when we started. More drum and bass, but still with a very strong connection between the sound and the visuals.

I understand that back in England you’ve built a ‘guerilla van’ packed with A/V technology that allows you to hold impromptu outdoor gigs around the city; what sorts of performances have you done with this so far?

Back in March last year we went around in a van with two huge 12k video projectors and sound system and generators. This was supplied by old friend and collaborator Pod Bluman who has championed guerilla projection over the last few years and who now works for PSL, a large video events company in the UK. We hit 3 buildings in London and did a 30 minute AV performance at each. The video projection was huge and being an illegal gig led to quite an exciting night. You can watch the video on our website at http://www.hexstatic.tv.

The idea of a ‘guerilla performance van’ certainly seems to tie in smoothly with the general DIY ethos that Ninja Tune is known for; was this a conscious reaction to things like the increasing inaccessibility of ‘public’ space?

These gigs were very liberating having loud music with large scale visuals in an urban environment. In September we played on the Thames on a large barge with a 40×20 metre water screen next to the London Eye and houses of parliament as part of the Thames festival.

Your longtime audiovisual collaborators Coldcut have also just commenced a new tour behind new album ‘Sound Mirrors’; are there any plans for your respective paths to cross at any point?

We haven’t worked with Coldcut since there last album ‘Let Us Play’. But we will be going to Japan with them and Kentaro soon.

You’ve also become increasingly involved in music video work for artists such as Faithless and Mylo; is video production for other artists outside Ninja Tune an area you see yourselves moving more into in the future?

It seems to be something we are gravitating towards. It’s been great working with Faithless, and the Mylo video was a mashup we had made for our show, for fun, and that ended up being a smash hit in the UK. The Dr Pressure original mix was made by phil&dog they sent it to us as an mp3. We loved it and made a video. We are learning new skills directing which will feed back into original Hexstatic works.

Were you both chuffed to score DJ Mag’s top AV/VJ spot in the 2005 awards? Was it good to see A/V performance being recognised more by the mainstream UK press?

Yes of course its nice to be recognised. We have been pushing this AV thing for a long time, so it makes it worthwhile.

What other sorts of musical activities do you have planned for the rest of 2006? Have you started thinking about starting work on a follow-up to ‘Master View’ yet?

Good question… we are releasing a mix CD on Sanctuary Records called ‘Pic and Mix’, out march 2006, and we are talking about making a solid reel video version of a Solid Steel mix on DVD, so watch this space. We hope to start working on a new album when we return from Australia.

You can catch Hexstatic at the following dates:

Thu Feb 23 – Uber, Brisbane
Fri Feb 24 – Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne w/ Infusion
Sat Feb 25 – Home, Sydney w/ Infusion (BUY TICKETS)
Sat Mar 4 – Persian Gardens, Adelaide Festival w/ Russ Jones (UK)