“You don't know the full story of Scissor Sisters unless you've experienced the live show,” says Jake Shears. To bottle the exhilarating energy of their 20-year reunion tour, Shears, Babydaddy and Del Marquis are releasing a live album that captures Scissor Sisters at their most gloriously excessive: camp maximalism, theatrical chaos and a sensibility Shears sums up as “feral and punk, and loud and sweaty”.

“We're not the same people and possibly not even the same band,” says Del Marquis. Arriving more than a decade after their most recent album Magic Hour, Scissor Sisters approached the reunion not as an exercise in nostalgia, but as a chance to rethink the band itself. For Babydaddy, it became an opportunity to “reimagine what a Scissor Sisters show can be”.

Featuring guest turns from former Gay Times cover star Self-Esteem and Ian McKellen, IT'S 10 PM… DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SISTERS ARE? LIVE FROM THE O2, LONDON lands on 22 May ahead of a headline slot at Mighty Hoopla – the UK’s premier queer pop weekender – more tour dates and new music. Well, sort of. For now, Scissor Sisters are calling it “chicken scratches”. Read Gay Times’ full interview with the band below – let’s have a kiki and all that.

GT: Scissor Sisters, your live album marks your first major release in 14 years?! How does it feel to be releasing new music again?

Jake: It's fun to have a live record. You don't know the full story of Scissor Sisters unless you've experienced the live show. It's really exciting and fun to have a record that can represent what that experience is like because I do think it's a different experience than just listening to the album. It's something we've never done. We've never made a straight up live recording. 

Babydaddy: Aside from our DVDs, right?

Jake: Yeah. We had concerts and stuff on DVD, but never done it as a record before. So we're really proud of the show, so it was exciting for us to do.