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Most people told Kaz James that deciding to fly solo was the same as flying over the cuckoo’s nest. It was mad, crazy, insane. One half of the duo The Bodyrockers, Kaz left behind the musical empire that produced the mega-hit ‘I Like the Way You Move’ to follow his individual creative vision on his solo album ‘If They Knew’. Kaz sat down with OUTinPerth’s Megan Smith to talk about…
…deciding to go solo – I’m one of those people, and I think I will always be, that follows their gut instinct. Everyone told me I was mental. They were like, “Do you know how long it takes to establish a brand like that and a name across the world?!†Everyone just thought I was crazy, but for me, creatively, I just wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to be able to sit in a room and make whatever the hell I wanted. Bodyrockers was so known for that one sound that I wanted to be out of that whole world. That was then, we were the first people to really take that sound and make it pop and push it around the world. Now I want to do my own thing.
…the vision for the album – I’ve always been about creating new sounds and doing and mixing genres and pushing limits. I think music today is just the same crap recycled. I wanted to do something that takes a soul singer like Macy Gray and puts her on a pop electronic record or the lead singer from Limp Bizkit, die-hard ‘House of Pain’, and put him on an electronic, disco-ey record.
…collaborating with Macy and Lethal – Lethal is probably the most successful DJ in the world when you think about it, from House of Pain to La Coka Nostra to Limp Bizkit, the guy has sold nearly 50 million records. Getting in there with Lethal and watching the way with him it is all about the drums, just sitting there and watching and learning. And getting somebody like Macy, a soul singer, and just watching her sing and the timing she sings and the way she writes – for me it is not just about getting big name artists, it is about getting artists from different genres and learning so I can take those elements and bringing them to what I do.
…the music industry today – I get really frustrated when I hear some music. I don’t want to drop any names, but sometimes I’m just like what the hell. Sometimes it feels so processed, they are like karaoke singers. They don’t write anything, they don’t produce anything, they just go up there and sing. For me, you look at all the greats, the Beatles sitting there mucking around with recording on tape and trying to do quirky stuff. Bands, like Led Zeppelin, these people were all innovators, they were creating new stuff, and it was all about creating that new sound, whereas now people are scared. It’s not like the music isn’t there, there are people doing it, but it has gotten to the point that a lot of record label dudes get paid so much money that they are scared to sign this odd band because they might lose their $200,000 a year. Whereas back in the day, thirty years ago, it wasn’t about working at a record label for the money, it was about working at a record label for the passion, for being that guy that signed the Rolling Stones. That was your glory.
…the pop star image and the screaming fans – I’m not there trying to dress in fluoro with tattoos on my forehead or whatever is the flavour of the month. I’m one of those guys, I’m super chilled, I do what I do and the other stuff is just whatever. I’ll get to the point one day where I’ll have enough and I’ll just want to sit in the studio and write records and just score music for movies. I guess it’s cool when you are 21 when you have a big single and tour all over the world, trying to survive on straight vodka, but now it is about trying to make stuff that is timeless. I want people to look back in ten years, from the artwork to the music and go this is pretty fresh. I think if this came out twenty years later is it still going to be a hit. That’s what I’m trying to do.
‘If They Knew’ is available in stores from October 11, and Kaz James will be flying down under as part of the Stereosonic Festival in November.
Megan Smith
