Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx is the English duo of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, who trace their origins to a club night of the same name they ran in Brixton, South London, starting in 1994, playing venues including the George IV, the Crypt and the Junction. Buxton and Ratcliffe used the night to book emerging DJs alongside their own sets, with acts including DJ Sneak and Daft Punk appearing across various dates, before transforming the party into Rooty, which became the namesake of their second album and ran until it was closed in May 2001 after outgrowing its venue. Their early white-label productions caught the attention of New York DJ Tony Humphries, who played their first EP on American radio, helping build international interest before the duo issued a run of singles and albums built around carnival-inflected house and salsa-tinged club rhythms. Basement Jaxx went on to open for Daft Punk's Daftendirektour and headlined the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2005. Their career reflects a DJ-and-club-night origin that predates their studio success, with the pair's early residencies shaping the party-focused sound that later defined their recorded output.