How many of us have suffered the impossible embarrassment of blowing hard amongst the shrieking cacophony of the school band. Forcing spit through a busted clarinet or maybe you were one of the lucky ones, handed a five stringed acoustic and told to bring the rock, well as rock as Van Morrison can be.

For Kaz James, the horrible sufferings of the school band served as a petrii dish, nourishing his dreams of world domination and musical mastery. From those humble beginnings James would go on to found Bodyrockers, the electronica duo responsible for that rump shaking anthem I Like the Way (You Move).

RedHotPie sat down with the man behind the decks to get the inside line on his journey and the ground pounding brilliance of his new solo record “If They Knew”

RedHotPie – Cheers for your time Kaz, so where did this rollercoaster start, musically speaking?

Kaz James – I guess I started when I was about 7, I played a bit of keys, then I was in a choir for a few years, that was mainly to pick up chicks (laughs), and then I played trumpet for a few years but when I was really growing up I think the turntables were the new guitar and so I got into that

So from humble beginnings you went on to the worldwide success of Bodyrockers, did you ever think things would blow-up like that?

Nah, I don’t think anyone expected it to be as big as it was, it was pretty amazing actually man, now I look back, It was great but funny too you know? There were a few surreal moments you know, just ending up in random countries, performing to people who know the song, it’s so hard to explain how surreal it was, stuff like the Commonwealth games and such…

Of course you guys performed at the games in Melbourne, pretty massive event, what was that like?

It was pretty mad man, I remember being back stage and there’s Andrew gaze and all these dudes, they’re all drinking and about to go on, the usual antics, I just remember being on that pitch feeling like an ant, I don’t know man, it’s just one of those moments where you’re like “what the hell just happened”?

So after international success you’ve ended the Bodyrockers to concentrate on your solo work, was it just the right time for the change?

I think he Bodyrockers thing got to a point where creative wise it wasn’t really expanding, we got so established in one sound it was kinda hard to more from there, so I wanted to start again and make a record that was really eclectic and covered a lot of genres, and just showed people that not just as an artist but also as a producer I can make hip-hop and rock and also by bring other artists like Macy Gray, Limp Biscuit and last goodnight, they’re all from different musical worlds but I wanna bring them together into my world and create something original.

Well originality is worth its weight in gold, where are you drawing you inspiration and or influence from?

This is going to sound weird but I always get lines from Sex and the City.

Sex and the City? For real?

Yeah man (laughs), I mean I watched the movie on the plane over here and there’s this line something like… the guy was really smart and then he fell in love, I was thinking that’s such a cool line.

Whatever works for sure, and what about the collaborations with other artists on If They Knew, you’ve got some crazy big names here, what was the thinking behind that?

I want to work with those artists cause I can learn from them, in the studio, in the way they’re singing, Macy (Gray), I mean the timing of her vocals, the way she sings and her song writing is just brilliant man, she’s just really switched on, just amazing. An (DJ) Lethal from Limp Biscuit, like the guy’s done House of Pain, he’s done everything, and just sitting there writing with him, the whole process, just learning different approaches to writing is cool.

So you’re working with legit stars, you’re travelling the world tell me about the parties man, are you just losing your mind every other night?

I’d like to say yes man but I don’t know, sometimes I do. I one of those guys that parties hard but I work super hard to you know, so a lot of the time I wanna go out but Ill be thinking hang on, I’ve got to go to the studio tomorrow, I’m more excited about that than going out and hangin’ with fifty pissed dudes in a room…

Yeah it makes sense, so your more a quality party than quantity party kinda guy. You must have found yourself in some crazy rooms around the place.

Yeah man, where do I really start, I mean the other week I was in New York, it was the vibe party and I mean T.I was there and Estelle, all those sort of cats, Jay-Z…it’s just normal now man, they’re the same as anyone else, they’re just hangin out doing there job, so you just go there, have a few drinks, meet a few people and hopefully you learn some stuff, hook-up a few collaborations with people and meet some nice people and become mates… you don’t really rock in and go oh my god it’s Jay-Z you know.

No, no you don’t. Well cheers for the time Kaz and to finish off – you, a desert island, and three records, what are they brother?

Well you’d have to have Prince’s Greatest Hits, The Beatles Greatest Hits, get all the classics and some of my own stuff, every likes to listen to their own music a bit right.

Kaz James’ new record If They Knew is out through Sony October 11 – get on it!