Basement Jaxx is returning to New Zealand to perform in the country’s biggest one-day music festival, the Mānuka Phuel SYNTHONY Festival. Reporter Jaime Lyth spoke to one-half of the English electronic music duo, Simon Ratcliffe, about 30 years of making music.
Basement Jaxx may have debuted in 1994 and alreadyhad a fair share of success worldwide, but Simon Ratcliffe says he’s still looking for new and exciting ways to make sounds and energise an audience.
“For me at the moment, I’ve been playing a lot of guitars, in a way going back to something basic, putting my fingers on steel strings, because for me that feels more energising than synthesisers, because I feel like [with] technology, it’s very hard to get stuff that sounds different,” he said.
The pair rose to popularity in the underground house scene of the mid-1990s, now three decades later, they’re headlining the Synthony music festival in Auckland on March 29.
Synthony is billed as “a celebration of the last 30 years of electronic dance music” bringing a large-scale full orchestra and world-class DJs together.
It’s not their first trip to Aotearoa, Ratcliffe has fond memories of playing some of New Zealand’s biggest gigs.
“We first went to New Zealand in 97, I think. We played with Daft Punk and DJ Sneak [in a] DJ Dance Tour.”
A lot has changed since he started; he’s no longer mixing vinyl together and doesn’t have to worry about getting out of key, but the “chemistry” between the crowd and the performer remains.
“A lot of DJs are very creative, so in a way, that means going to see a DJ becomes like a one-off experience, a one-off event, which is great,” Ratcliffe explains. “It’s like, anything could happen tonight, and that’s really exciting.”
The music duo are known for pulling inspiration from unexpected places. One of their most popular songs, Where’s Your Head At, released in 2001, is based on samples from Gary Numan’s songs M.E. and This Wreckage from 1979 and 1980.
Red Alert, the first single from their debut album Remedy, pulled inspiration from American Funk sounds, and was ranked by Pitchfork at number 69 in their list of the “Top 200 Songs of the 1990s”.
“The music we did in the 90s and the 00s, it’s still kind of in the sort of Zeitgeist,” he says. “[When] we did sampling, I guess it was quite a new thing, I suppose our contemporaries and people that we wanted to emulate did it, it had a fresh sound.”
In Auckland for the 2002 Big Day Out - Simon and Felix catch a little sun in Albert Park. Photo / Peter Meecham
Having already toured with Metropole Orkest, a Dutch jazz and pop orchestra, it’s unsurprising that the duo jumped at the chance to play at Synthony in the Domain 2025.
Ratcliffe has returned to New Zealand several times over the years and says he thinks Kiwis “speak the same musical language” as Basement Jaxx.
“NZ crowds are really good, really up for it, really friendly. No, pretense whatsoever.
“The people have always been very welcoming, and I think you guys, you know your music, you know you’ve got a lot of history and a lot of knowledge and it always feels very good to play there.”
Synthony Festival in itself is an example of a true New Zealand music creation, founded in 2017 by DJ and producer Amoore and fellow Kiwi David Elmsly. The 2024 event drew thousands of people to Pukekawa Auckland Domain in February to hear the Auckland Philharmonia, Tiki Taane, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Rudimental.
The festival has become a fixture in Tāmaki Makaurau, attracting all ages and tastes, blending classical and EDM genres.
Ratcliffe says he thinks the gap between generational music tastes is closing, compared to the “tribal and separated” music movements he remembers from his childhood.
“I think there’s more of a closeness between the generations. I’ve got an 18-year-old daughter, and I’ve got a lot more in common with her, and she introduces me to music.”
Synthony - all you need to know
Where: Pukekawa, Auckland Domain - Saturday, March 29
Gates open at 3pm. Event ends at 11pm.
Tickets: Limited GA tickets remain at synthony.com
VVIP, VIP and Premium GA tickets are sold out. Children under the age of 2 years old do not require a ticket.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.
