Eleven years after British group The Prodigy's album, The Fat of the Land, became the best-selling album in electronic music history, the trio has rejoined to produce a new record. New Zealanders can get a taste of the new material when the trio performs once again at Auckland's Big Day Out. Hot from the studio MC and vocalist Maxim talked to Jule Scherer of NZPA.

The Prodigy's energetic mix of dance, breakbeats and industrial with biting lyrics and rock arrangements opened up the electronic genre to a wide audience.

The unique sound enthralled millions, united rock and electro fans and made the band one of the most sought after acts for festivals around the world.

Their 1997 album, The Fat of the Land, skyrocketed up the charts in more than 20 countries and sold 16 million copies.

The following years song-writer and producer Liam Hewlett, MC Maxim and vocalist Keith Flint toured constantly, headlining festivals in Europe as well as in the United States and playing places as varied as Beirut, Serbia and Red Square in Moscow.

In 2002 the long anticipated follow-up album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, was released.

It featured sleazy electro trash and an eclectic mix of guest artists like Oasis's Liam and Noel Gallagher. But vocals by band members Maxim and Flint were absent.

"It was a tough time," Maxim remembers.

"We weren't in the same headspace at the time. We toured heavily for so many years and needed a break to find ourselves, kick back and do our own little things.

"Although the 2002 album wasn't 100 percent The Prodigy, it still was a stepping stone for the band.

"Every band with a long durability has `that album' - a down period that shows them what they want.

"We realised what we missed. All those things had to happen to shape us into the band we are now. We feel tighter and more grounded than we have for years.

Maxim said the band had now found "a new style, a new niche".

The new album, Invaders Must Die, which is set to be released in March 2009, took inspiration from the first two albums.

"Liam worked with analogue sounds and a lot of instruments he used on the first two albums," Maxim says.

The MC doesn't think technological developments since The Prodigy started out to rock the clubs in Essex in the early 1990s changed electronic music much.

"You can have a studio with a million of the latest keyboards but that doesn't mean you're going to write good music," he explains.

"Liam wrote the first album on one keyboard but he knew that one inside out, every little trick and used it 100 percent.

"Now you can buy all kinds of fancy instruments and probably not even use 10 percent of the equipment.

"Technology has no interference on music. Either you can write songs or you can't."

Maxim says that With Invaders Must Die the band is going back to its first two albums.

"The songs are raw and really `in your face'.

"We worked for about a year and a half on the new stuff. But when we finally got the first song right, the rest just fell in place."

For the album The Prodigy got support from Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl who plays on the track 'Run with the Wolves' and James Rushent from British electro outfit Does this offend you yeah? but otherwise focuses on the trinity of the band members.

"Now that the album is done we're really excited to get on the road again," Maxim says.

After starting touring with some of the new material in Europe's festival season The Prodigy are out for the kill.

"We're really looking forward to play The Big Day Out for the fourth time. We have last time in 2002 still in good memory," Maxim says.

"New Zealand is always the first show of Big Day Out and it always goes off. I love the vibe and the crowds are fantastic."

And he's sure that even after almost two decades the band still got it's manic energy.

"Obviously we're still turned on and infused by the same thing," Maxim says.

"It's all about the energy. It's in your face and it turns us on, that's all we need to drive us. We still love performing.

"We will know when it's time to hang up our boots, when we can't produce what we produce.

"We're quite honest people, if there's somebody out there who takes our place and can do what we do better.

"But there isn't anybody out there. The Big Day Out crowd can expect a mad show."

To give fans a taste of the new album the band offers in about two weeks time their first track from Invaders Must Die as a free download from their homepage www.theprodigy.com

Invaders Must Die is set to be released on March 2 next year. Big Day Out is on January 16 at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland.

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