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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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 Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:48 |
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Q&A with Nude Continuum
Hello Jamily,
I am proud to announce another little surprise for you. In the last days I have been in contact with James Higgins and Princess Freesia from Nude Continuum and as fellow Jamiroquai fans they are happy to interact with us here in the forum and answer a few questions about their band, their work with Derrick McKenzie and more.
This will be an interactive interview thread - I did the start and prepared a few answers. Enjoy the read and feel free to add questions. I am sure James and Freesia will be ready to reply to your questions as well! 
For more infos and updates check the other topic here at jamirotalk.net and their official websites:
Nude Continuum thread at jamirotalk.net
Nude Continuum - Official website
Nude Continuum - My Space
Here we go!
Last edited by CosmicMouse on Tue Aug 04, 2009 08:15; edited 1 time in total |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:50 |
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Welcome to the Jamirotalk, James and Princess Freesia!
I am happy to have you guys here for this interactive Question & Answer topic which will give you the opportunity to spread infos about your project Nude Continuum and will enable the jamily to gain an insight into the teamwork with Derrick McKenzie who is playing the drums on your new album "Nightclub Of The Nudist" and also did a few remixes with you.
Let's start with the first question!
How did it happen that you two, James and Freesia, decided to make music together? And how did you come up with your band name "Nude Continuum"? |
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James Higgins
Soul Continuum
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 88
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 13:41 |
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Thanks for having us Meike! 
To answer your first question, Freesia and I have been collaborating musically for nearly 8 years now. I was in my first year of High School, and she was 3 years my senior. It may sound exaggerated, but this is the absolute truth: Jamiroquai is what brought us together.
We used to both participate in the musicals at school, and hang out in the music room, and although we became good friends straight away, we didn't make our musical connection until one day at Musical rehearsals (I think it was our production of "The Adventures of Mr. Toad"), I put on a funny hat and started dancing around on the stage. I said "Hey look - I'm doin' a Jay Kay". No one else in the room knew what I was talking about, but Freesia screamed! She thought she was the only person around who knew Jamiroquai (we're from a small country town), let alone the fact that Jamiroquai was a BAND rather than a GUY, and the lead singers name was Jay Kay.
That was pretty much where we established our shared love of funk and acid-jazz, and we started to write our first songs together soon after that.
To answer the question of our name, let me first say that this is the third name under which we have performed. The first two bands we were in were formative, and we never really released anything or put ourselves on the internet, as we were learning still and wanted to be ready. After 8 years of practise and study, we finally felt ready to launch ourselves into the industry, so we came up with a new clear idea of our sound and our image.
Nude Continuum... hmmm... I guess we should break it down.
We like the word "Nude", because basically it stands for a number of things - sexual freedom, connectedness with nature, the human experience... these are things that we believe in. But more than anything, Nude kinda represents honesty to us - no masks or disguises - the naked truth!
"Continuum" comes from a few different points of inspiration. For starters, we're both into Star Trek. Not Trekkies or Trekkers mind you - no costumes or conventions really. But we love the ideas behind the show and the stories. So, as other Trek fans probably noticed, "Nude Continuum" kinda sounds like "Q Continuum"... partly an inspiration. The word Continuum though kinda represents the headspace we're in - the Continuum is our own universe - the ethereal place where our music comes from, our inspiration, our sense of the divine if you will... its a spiritual concept.
So, putting those two concepts together, you get "Nude Continuum", which we thought sounded pretty cool!
Sorry the answer was so long! The question just kinda got me thinking...  |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 13:55 |
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Which music styles and which artists have inspired you besides Jamiroquai? |
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Princess Freesia
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 32
Location: The Continuum
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 01:24 |
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Greetings from the Freesian Fields Meike and other jami funksters!!! Good to be groovin' here 
And now to answer your second question here - WOWOWOWOW, sooo many influences, TOO many influences!!! Well, you can never hear enough goodness, but I digress.....
I'm gonna hafta give you a rather lengthy list so as to show the sexy spectrum of styles.....here goes babay!
Of course I am a widely listened freesianette and enjoy an eargasm in whatever genre or style is cooing to me, but for true kicks, I be a certified Rare Groover n Funk Moooover! Other than Jami-fonk, gimmie Roy Ayers, RAMP, Incognito, Earth Wind & Fire, Al Jarreau (crazy vox stylin' wonderman), Toto, Wet Wet Wet, The Sunburst Band, Deni Hines, Chaka Khan, Soulpersona, Clare Evers, Punk Pappa, Harvey Mason, Moloko/Roisin Murphy, Disco Montego (AWESOME Aussie duo), Sylvia, Minnie Riperton, James Mason, DC La Rue, Caesar Frazier, Donald Byrd, Finis Henderson, Flora Purim, The Pointer Sisters, Love Unlimited Orchestra, Barry White (ooh baby), Issac Hayes, Marvin Gaye, Leroy Hutson, Les Hooper, Linda Lewis, Richard Evans, Lewis Taylor, Sylvia Striplin, Teena Marie, Brenda Russell (her self-titled album is gorgeous), The Emotions (checkout the track "Sunbeam"!), The Naked Music Collection, Alan Silvestri's soundtrack to "Romancing The Stone", Azymuth, Boz Scaggs, Hall & Oates, George Benson, Mr Lonnie Liston Smith, Joey Negro, Norman Connors, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, The Jones Girls, THE THEME FROM MONKEY MAGIC!, Michael Jackson (Off The Wall/Thriller), The Rockmelons, Remy Shand (oh-so-soulful), Simon Grey (what a crazy genius), Phyllis Hyman, Sade, Seawind, The Brothers Johnson, Linda Lewis (I'm repeating myself now...  ), The Real Thing, Towa Tei, Simply Red, Family Ties Theme (bring back dem bones), Crazy Penis, Sesame Street ("12", "Somebody Come and Play", ehee!), Bond Theme Songs, Chic, Jeff Lorber, Tata Vega, Atjazz, Telepopmusik, Leon Ware, Meshell Ndegeocello, and many, many, MANY more.....but essentially what REALLY does it for me is anything that has a pornosexual cosmic groove |
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James Higgins
Soul Continuum
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 88
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 01:49 |
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I totally agree with all of Freesia's listings there, but I want to add a few (and double up on some) that have been special to me. There are literally thousands of artists who inspire and influence me personally, and I discover more everyday, but I can't list them all, so here are the ones that have been most profoundly influential in different phases of my life:
EARLY CHILDHOOD: The Doors, Johnny Logan, Evie Tornquist, 80s TV Themes (like Tugs and Fireman Sam), Basia, The Style Council, Simply Red, Lisa Stansfield, Hall & Oates, Boz Scaggs...
FORMATIVE YEARS: Jamiroquai, Incognito, Crazy Penis, Roy Ayers, Roisin Murphy, The Sunburst band, Stevie Wonder, The Jacksons, Al Jarreau, George Benson, E.L.O., Toto, Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, The Bee Gees, Kool & the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire...
RECENT/CURRENT: Harvey Mason, Carl Carlton, Amel Eiland and Elevation (Netherlands), Methodology (Canada), Harry Coade, Soulpersona, Derrick Mckenzie (particularly his DOPE track with Sophie Delila "Don't Stop Loving Me Now"), Simon Grey, Opolopo, Love Unlimited, The Brothers Johnson, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor Quartet, and countless other MySpace artists!!!!  |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 05:30 |
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Can you tell us about your work with Derrick? How did he take notice of you and how was the process of team work? You guys are in Australia, Derrick in UK. On your website we can watch a Skype video conference with Derrick & Winston Rollins - ex-Jamiroquai trombonist - presenting some recordings they did in Winston’s studio. Have you ever met in real life or was the whole collaboration based on "virtual" contacts? |
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James Higgins
Soul Continuum
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 88
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 13:47 |
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We have never met Derrick face to face (at least, not in the same room - physically!). The closest we have been in a physical sense was Freesia and I squished up the front of the Brisbane Riverstage at the Jamiroquai concert on my 16th birthday in 2002.
We came into contact with Derrick through a complicated web of mutual friends on MySpace. We have been collaborating (via the net) with Soulpersona, an incredibly talented producer and writer from London, who is involved with Jocelyn Brown, RAMP, Oliver Cheatham and runs the Digisoul production family with his brother Tukka. Through a mutual friend that they shared, Derrick happened across Soulpersona's myspace page and heard the track "Candy Wrapper" which was Princess Freesia's first collaboration with Soul-P. He liked it enough to contact Soul-P and suggest a collaboration, and he also asked about Freesia. Soon after that, he emailed Freesia, also suggesting a collaboration, and pretty soon after that they wrote "Je T'adore" together (which can be heard on Derrick's myspace page).
I got pulled into the mix of course because I produce all of Freesia's vocal recordings, and I also played some guitar parts on Je T'adore, which were later added to by Rob Harris (needless to say, we're honoured to be involved with both these cats!).
This collaboration basically occured via email - at this stage we had never chatted with video or anything. He would just email us the instrumental track, and we would lay our parts on top, and send the files back via yousendit.com. Derrick expressed an interest in remixing our Nude Continuum songs as well, so we would email him the vocal track, and he would do his thing and email it back.
Fairly early on we asked him if he would do us the honour of drumming on our album, and he said yes, but of course this is a lot more logistically difficult than remixing, as he needs to find some studio time, lug his kit in and learn the songs and record them. After some months, Winston had a free day in the studio between recording his own material with REAL and playing with Jools Holland, so Derrick popped in and did it! We connected via Skype (this was the second time we ever chatted with him with video) and I'm sure most of you have seen the result on youtube.
He played on two of our songs - "Mistake" and "Don't Stop the Beat". I've personally recorded a lot of different drummers over the years, and I can say with absolute certainty that Derrick's drum parts were the tightest I had ever had the pleasure of mixing into our songs.
The most recent collaboration with Derrick was on a remix for a Melbourne singer/songwriter called Karen Morales, whom I strongly suggest you all check out: www.myspace.com/karenmoralesmusica
Derrick produced a lovely latin remix of her song "Summertime" and asked me and Freesia to add some parts. Freesia did backing vocals, and I called in my mate Rob McMullan (who played some bass on our album) to play the spanish guitar and bass. Since then, I have been in close contact with Karen, and she will be flying up to the Gold Coast in early March and I will be producing her debut EP for her. Derrick will be playing some drums on that too in all likelihood.
Future collabs with Derrick that are planned include a song that we are writing together to pitch to an American artist he is friends with. It is a neo-soul sort of groove that Derrick has programmed. Freesia with write the melodies, she and will most likely write the lyrics together, and I will be contributing the chords for the middle-8 section. No title as yet.
Also, Derrick will be recording drums of a chunk of Princess Freesia's debut solo album. His kit is set up permanently at Jay Kay's studio (because they are writing Jamiroquai's next album full-time as of March I believe), so sometime in February he'll be tracking drums there at Chillington for both Princess Freesia's solo album and Karen Morales' EP, and I believe he mentioned that he'll be recording some beats for Miguel Migs.
Derrick is an amazing guy as you all know. He's incredibly down to earth and such a mate these days. I spend a lot of time chatting with him online, mostly about all kinds of nonsense. It's been an absolute dream come true for us to be working with someone whose work we have admired for so long, and who has had such a direct influence on our own musical journey (the very first JMQ song I ever heard was "Cosmic Girl", which Derrick co-wrote!). We're really looking forward to meeting him in person when we visit the UK, and FINALLY having a jam with him in the flesh, and hopefully playing some gigs together |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 14:35 |
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You have just finished recording your debut album, which can be pre-ordered on your website. Are you planning to do a tour in the near future? Could you also imagine to tour together with Jamiroquai as a support act? |
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James Higgins
Soul Continuum
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 88
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 00:10 |
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We have few local gigs booked in for now, just to promote to our own people, but in all honesty Europe is our absolute priority and focus. We have had the strongest response from Europe, so we are hoping to do a "mini" Western Europe tour in July of this year. Nothing is booked yet, but the hopes are to play in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and hopefully Germany.
If anyone from those countries reading this knows of any good funky nightclubs or events that might be appropirate for us to play, post it on here - would love to have some help!
We can DEFINITELY imagine supporting Jamiroquai one day. That has been our dream since the start, and its been in the back of our minds since we started working with Derrick. It hasn't really come up in conversation at all, and I suppose Derrick isn't really the man to ask. We'll be giving Jay a copy of our album when its done to thank him for inspiring us, so hopefully once he hears the music he'll keep us in mind for such an opportunity.
If it happens, that will be amazing, if it doesn't, we're not too worried, because a lot of bands get to support big acts like Jamiroquai, but not many get to actually work with its members, so our dream has already come true |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 06:03 |
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You have worked with musicians from the whole world for your album – when you are playing live gigs, do you have session musicians or a fixed band? James, what is your role on stage? |
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James Higgins
Soul Continuum
Joined: 03 Feb 2008
Posts: 88
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 07:51 |
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We have a handful of guys over here that we work with, but they are generally coming in as session musicians, as we write and arrange all the material, and they are not always available for every gig.
When we come over to Europe in July, we will be bringing our sax player Stevie Keyse (who also raps and plays keys!), and we'll have Harry Coade, and amazing English producer and keyboardist, step in for the bulk of the tour.
Hopefully we'll be able to book in one or two big shows and have a full band, with Punk Pappa on bass, a full horn section, and hopefully Derrick on drums if he is available. Will keep you posted of course.
My role on stage is kinda broad. For starters, I'm the musical director - I communicate the ideas and make sure everyone knows their parts, and kind of run the show like that in rehearsals. Then of course I play guitar on the stage. I'm more of a rhythm guitarist than anything, so when we can afford a larger line up, I'd like to have a lead guitarist join in to take that strain off me, and even allow me to put the guitar down once in a while so I can focus on my singing and showmanship - which is the other thing I do - backing vocals, and lead vocals in a few songs. My voice only features prominently in one track on the album: "Together", but for album two I'll be stepping up to the mic a little more, and in the live show I stand in for Chad Trent (our guest male vocalist on "Mistake" and "Get Naked") when he's not there. |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 07:54 |
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Princess Freesia, what do you think of Derrick from working with him on your first collaboration: Je T’Adore? |
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Princess Freesia
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 32
Location: The Continuum
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| Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 02:43 |
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I cannot emphasise enough how much I have (and do) cherish him!!! Except when he endlessly and ruthlessly attacks my poor Facebook vampire - lay off, will ya??!?!?!
I remember feeling utterly thrilled beyond compare upon receiving the news from my good pal SoulP that Derrick was interested in a collaboration, and after Derrick and I had exchanged several emails back and forth, I realised just how lucky I was. Not only is he an AMAZINGLY TALENTED musician, he has IMPECCABLE musical taste (introduced me to some freaky fever songs!), is an absolute pleasure to work with and so incredibly enthusiastic, and he digs my voice! WOOT!!! Actually, after sending him the vocal stems for Je T'Adore, he wrote me such a beautiful and heartfelt email expressing how grateful he was to be working with me/us that had me crying my eyes out! And here I was thinking, "YOU'RE grateful to be working with US?!?! What kind of whack universe am I living in?!?!!?!?!!". Hehehehe.
I feel the deepest respect for Derrick and it is truly a great honour to know him. Being gifted with this opportunity is one of the most sincere compliments I've ever received. |
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CosmicMouse
Jamirotalk mum
Joined: 10 Feb 2002
Posts: 4821
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 05:51 |
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Being fellow Jamiroquai fans yourselves – are you as excited as we are about the new Jamiroquai album which is just in the making? |
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