inthemix | Features | Klaxons: Absolutely no fluoro

Simon Taylor-Davis of the Klaxons is obviously sidetracked pre-interview. Just as I’m about to connect with him, I’m told ‘he’ll call back in five minutes’. “I just cut my face in half shaving!” he shrieks when he gets on the phone. “I’m about to go to a rehearsal for Glastonbury,” he continues. “We’re doing a special theatrical stage show. I can’t give away any details, but I’m very excited.”

The excitement for Glastonbury is mounting even in the grey early morning of London. “It’s going to be incredible. Summer’s been so hectic – things just seem to arrive. It’s really different when you play. When we used to go, we’d drive down, get stuck in a traffic jam, and buy alcohol from an off-license.” What kind of crowd was he hoping for? “I haven’t got a clue,” he says. “Anyone from zero to a lot of people. I really haven’t got a clue.” Maybe being aloof about hopes for a large crowd brought the band luck. After the show, Jamie Reynolds from the band told NME.com it was the happiest day of his life and that he ‘never expected that many people to turn up.’

Glastonbury has been and gone, but the long string of festivals that the Klaxons are playing in the next few months is unraveling at a rapid rate. Taylor-Davis reels off the ones he’s most looking forward to; I Love Techno. “Even though we have nothing to do with techno,” Benicassim in Spain; “I’ve been four or five times,” Roskilde in Denmark; “I’ve heard nothing but good things,” and Hove in Norway, which is “situated in the woods.” But that’s only the beginning of a long list for the three guys from the Midlands. They’re doing a whirlwind European festival circuit, then heading to our shores for Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay, as well as sideshows in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Sandwiched between and after this, there’s shows in the US, Mexico, Japan and the UK.

Taylor-Davis and friends Jamie Reynolds, James Righton and Steffan Halperin form the Klaxons, the band who have shot up out of nowhere and are already playing massive international festivals like Coachella, supporting Daft Punk, and receiving regular airplay on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. Doing things other groups only ever dream of is something that Taylor-Davis is conscious of. “It’s kind of hard to ignore. We’re all quite impatient people. It’s hard to think of it like ‘what happened’. We haven’t sat around a fire and got nostalgic about it,” he jokes. “No two days are ever the same,” Taylor-Davis says. “It’s very easy to switch off your brain and drift off into dreamland.”

Taylor-Davis spent his young adulthood studying Fine Art in Nottingham, which helped shape his music appreciation. “It’s an amazing city. It’s where I went to see bands in these tiny venues.” He says it’s where he realised that bands and clubs could co-exist. Places like the Liars Club and The Social were regular hang out spots, and a place where he found a “real community.” He quickly grasped, however, that it’s “easier to be in a band than be an artist,” but his artistic talents can still be admired on the band’s album covers and promotional posters.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Simon and his mates are playing at Paris Bercy supporting the one and only Daft Punk. “It was incredible. It was an 18,000 capacity venue. It was really bizarre. I could only see the whites of people’s eyes. It was an incredible experience, but daunting – it was hard to feel human. I can only imagine how it would feel as the headline act.” And did the international superstars have time to speak to the lads? “Yeah they’re lovely people. And they are actually people behind the suits!”

Will they be wearing some special suits of their own for the Australian shows? What can fans expect? “It’s going to be full on. A ruthless snowball of catastrophe,” reveals Taylor-Davis. “I loved Melbourne. I can’t remember where I played but I remember it having an amazing ceiling.” Punters can, of course, expect to hear songs from the band’s albums including their much-loved cover, and most recent single, of Grace/Planet Perfecto’s (Paul Oakenfold) ‘It’s Not Over’. “It’s just a really nice pop song. When we started out we couldn’t really play anything,” he reveals, before offering up details on a recent musical fixation; Justin Timberlake’s ‘My Love’. “It’s an amazingly, elegantly crafted pop song.”

Finally, the question on everyone’s lips; what about that fluoro thing? “I don’t own a single item of fluoro,” he says sharply. “I don’t have anything to do with that!” Tongue in cheek, or indifferent, they’ve started something that cannot be ignored.

The Klaxons’ debut album ‘Myths Of The Near Future’ is out now through Modular/Universal. The band tour Australia in August:

Aug 2 – The Forum, Sydney
Aug 5 – Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay
Aug 7 – Billboard, Melbourne
Aug 8 – Freemantle Metro, Perth