Justice have reflected on the “very embarrassing” moment that they serenaded Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis with one of his own songs.
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The French duo – comprised of Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé – looked back at the moment during a new interview with NME for the In Conversation series, in celebration of their new album ‘Hyperdrama’.
During the discussion, the pair were asked about their tour documentary Across the Universe, which they shared back in 2008. The electronic group then went on to reveal that they haven’t considered watching the film recently – particularly because of one “embarrassing” moment that caught fans’ attention.
“I haven’t seen it since it was released, actually,” de Rosnay said, with his bandmate going on to confirm that he had “seen a bit here and there” since its release 15 years ago.
Going on to recall which aspect of the project he keeps seeing, de Rosnay explained: “The bit [that keeps] resurfacing is where I sing ‘Under The Bridge’ to Anthony Kiedis’s face, which was very embarrassing even to do, you know what I mean?
He continued, explaining how the awkward moment arose: “Because this documentary was shot in a very short amount of time, we had to have the maximum amount of footage and just, like, make things happen otherwise there would be nothing happening. And so I was with him and I started singing to his face.”
The clip has been widely circulated online since it took place over a decade ago, and a snippet of the moment has gone on to gather upwards of 750,000 views on YouTube. In the footage, the three of them are seen sitting together outside, wearing remarkably similar outfits, with de Rosnay singing a somewhat muddled version of the 1991 track to the RHCP frontman.
His bandmate sits quietly in the video looking away, while Kiedis sits there with his mouth open, and looking confused directly into the camera. Check it out above.
In the interview with NME, the duo were asked if they’d ever consider making another documentary.
“It could only be made once. We did it,” said Augé. His bandmate then chimed in, agreeing: “And we knew it. That was the statement of this documentary. It was like, ‘Let’s make it because it’s now or never. In two years, we’re already gonna be too old.’”
“Also, we made it so that we are never tempted to make a documentary about ourselves… that’s meant to make good publicity [for] the band. Like, we don’t imagine ever making a documentary where you interview people and [they] say, ‘Hey, Justice is actually so great, man. They were like pioneers!’ It’s the worst,” he added.
“So we were like, ‘Let’s make one documentary where we’re gonna make fun of ourselves.’ We loved the idea of embracing the rock ‘n’ roll clichés that we fantasised [about] being kids in the ’90s born and raised in France. For us, it’s almost exotic. And yeah, that was a once in a lifetime thing and it’s done now, so we’ll never do a documentary again.”
The band’s latest album ‘Hyperdrama’ is out now, and marks their first in more than eight years.
Featuring collaborations with Tame Impala‘s Kevin Parker, alt-R&B star Miguel and psychedelic genre-blender Thundercat, the album was given a five-star review by NME and hailed as “a blockbuster return from dominant dance duo”.
“‘Hyperdrama’ is the type of release that the dance space – if you could even slot Justice in there – seldom sees,” wrote Thomas Smith. “The duo show a passionate reverence for the album format, from the artwork that took over 18 months to create to the songs that boast both style and substance. It’s one of 2024’s most engrossing listening experiences.”
In the NME interview, the band explained that the album was digested slowly over time. “It’s full of moments that are meant to be a bit unsettling,” de Rosnay said. “So the ideal plan is on first listen, you like some parts of it and some parts you’re like: ‘Is this for me?’ But then you come back to it and it becomes the most important record of your life.”
The post Justice speak out on “very embarrassing” meme of them singing Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Under The Bridge’ to Anthony Kiedis appeared first on NME.
