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High Times
Joined: 25 Oct 2004
Posts: 744
Location: music written by JK/Toby Smith
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 Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 13:19 |
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SYNKRONIZED: TOBY SPEAKS ABOUT STU'S WORK IN IT
Hi guys,
some of you already know this interview, but still,
(as far as i remember i took it from
Simon Merrick's coolest site about STU ZENDER
http://www.stuartzender.co.uk/ )
here is what Toby said about what they have made up
and recorded with Stu before he left:
We basically threw away an album's worth of stuff. It was only actually three songs that he had anything to do with writing but he'd played on ten tracks...We just flung it away. We didn't want to deal with complications of him playing on our new LP
i believe 2 unreleased tracks samples of Synkronized with Stu
on bass we all have (available o this page- http://www.geocities.com/good_and_brown/samples.html)
are full tracks. and also i think
the track "Synkronized" do exist but only in jay's collection.
Who knows maybe these tracks with Stu will be released someday?
Jamiroquai Get Synkronized
The lads from Jamiroquai are comparing notes. Drummer Derek McKenzie and keyboardist Toby Smith are about to embark on a tour to promote Synkronized, the band's new album which they co-wrote with flamboyant frontman Jay Kay. So the talk must be of synthesizers, drum breaks, disco beats, right?
Wrong.
The boys are discussing the merits of bottle-feeding vs. breast-feeding. Both musicians just became proud dads eight and nine weeks ago respectively. Singer Jay is dying to have one himself but his girlfriend won't hear of it at the moment so he has to content himself with cooing over his bandmates offspring.
The lads met seven years ago in less domestic surroundings. Toby was introduced to Jay through a mutual friend and several night of pot smoking. At the time Toby was into house music and though he heard Jay's 'When Are You Gonna Learn?' "I thought," admits the keyboardist, "I thought it was... well... cheesy." However several months later he started to musically go into a territory where he needed a singer and he sat down with Jay. The result was Return to Planet Earth.
Drummer Derrick came into the band for the making of the second album Return of the Space Cowboy in 1994. He hadn't even heard of Jamiroquai at the time, despite the fact that Planet Earth had reached the number one position in the UK charts. He had a FOUR-hour audition with the band and was signed up to start writing and recording their sophomore album.
That was five years ago. The massively successful Travelling Without Moving followed and with it the band broke America wide open with the huge hits 'Cosmic Girl' and the MTV Video award winning 'Virtual Insanity.' In 1999, they offer us Synkronized, how is it different from their previous albums?
"It's much happier, a more social album," muses Toby, "plus production wise, it's changed a lot." This time, Derrick, Toby and Jay started the writing process earlier, "mucking around with brews, ideas and all sorts of everything." "Recording this album was very relaxing," says Derrick. "Travelling we had to do in several months, poor ol' Jay had to finish off the album lyrics in two weeks while we were all on holiday but on this album we had the best part of 15 to 16 months." They then put the new music to tape as an arranged piece with keyboards, drums and a vocal idea. And got a new bass player in.
Former bass player Stuart Zender had left half way as they were busy writing the material for Synkronized. They've replaced him with Nick Fyffe. Nick auditioned with fifteen other hopefuls. "Half of them were shit," says Toby ruefully, "we asked them to get three tunes together but within the first four bars, you know they're not the man for the job and you've gotta listen to them play three full tunes," he wails. "We should have been a bit more ruthless cos it took a long time. I mean in the theatre, they just say NEXT!! But we're musicians and we didn't want to do that. Some of them were really F**KIN' AWFUL," he grimaces.
The departure of their former bassist caused a few upsets in the writing process. "Yeah," agreed Toby. "We basically threw away an album's worth of stuff. It was only actually three songs that he had anything to do with writing but he'd played on ten tracks and we just thought f**k it. We just flung it away. We didn't want to deal with complications of him playing on our new LP."
Jay didn't want everyone to get the impression that the lads were all "mincing cosmic boys." So there's a darker element both musically and lyrically to the new album. The band recorded 20 tracks and the best ten got on. "Not personally MY best ten," admits Derrick sheepishly, "but the record company's and Jay's best ten."
Ah Jay. How does the rest of the band feel about Jay getting all the publicity? He's featured alone in the band videos and in all the band's promos. "It doesn't bother me at all," says Toby emphatically. "Not in the slightest. I don't court fame. It doesn't interest me all, there's nothing in my personality that needs to have that. I like to write music, that's all." And Toby feels that the reason Jamiroquai has made it so big globally compared to a similar group like the Brand New Heavies, is Jay. "Because of his personality, because he can dance and sing," he says simply.
"I'd much rather it be him than me," says Derrick almost shuddering. "He needs to keep such an eye on his private life because people invade it all the time." He is of course referring to the tabloid press which dog the singer's every move.
Jay recently bought a big house deep in the English countryside to try to combat some of the paparazzi. And it's there that the band recorded the album and are preparing for their tour. As Synkronized has lots of keyboards, they've added another keyboard player for the live shows. "I only have two hands," laughs Toby, "I considered getting a mini-synth and I could play it with my knob but it didn't work out." Would have made for an interesting show... "Yeah," grins the keyboardist wickedly," Can you imagine my solo? With the stylophones strapped to my left testicle and using my knob..."
So the new keyboardist joins the rest of the band as they take their Synkronized sound around the UK and then the US, South America, Japan and back to the States.
Does the band miss the smaller, more intimate shows? "Yes, definitely, " says Toby, "but that generally means longer tours and I don't miss that. Because now that I have a baby, I want to be at home more often."
- Dee Mc Laughlin
June 8, 1999 |
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Dye
Correspondent & Expert
Joined: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 5146
Location: Planet Home; Buenos Aires, Argentina
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| Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 16:30 |
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Hello there,
Yeah, that was a cool interview. I have the link somewhere... anyway, thanks for sharing! 
D! (dyego) |
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Dye
Correspondent & Expert
Joined: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 5146
Location: Planet Home; Buenos Aires, Argentina
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jay88
Joined: 22 Apr 2005
Posts: 281
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 02:52 |
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man.. it should be a crime to have a whole album's worth of jamiroquai's music unreleased - especially with stu zender playing 
its crap how politics gets in the way of good music...
i hope one day zender can maybe agree to let the music be released, in exchange for a share in the profits or something (if thats what is stopping them) |
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MoonShooter
Joined: 03 Jun 2004
Posts: 443
Location: Scotland, UK
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 08:34 |
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Everyone should go read the Stuart Zender interview on the Stuart Zender site forums. The man himself has just recently answered questions sent to him by fans and it's really interesting (sorry if there's already a post about this).
Did you know that Zender was replaced by another bassist to record the album version of 'Space Cowboy'?  Jay replaced him while he was on holiday trying to save his relationship. It was the beginning of the end...
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jamirokaki
Expert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 3472
Location: basque country
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 13:14 |
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| Quote: |
| Did you know that Zender was replaced by another bassist to record the album version of 'Space Cowboy'? Shocked Jay replaced him while he was on holiday trying to save his relationship. It was the beginning of the end... |
can't believe that!
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***STONED AGAIN*** |
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FunkEducation
Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Posts: 3309
Location: Maracay, Venezuela
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 13:39 |
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| MoonShooter wrote: |
Everyone should go read the Stuart Zender interview on the Stuart Zender site forums. The man himself has just recently answered questions sent to him by fans and it's really interesting (sorry if there's already a post about this).
Did you know that Zender was replaced by another bassist to record the album version of 'Space Cowboy'? Jay replaced him while he was on holiday trying to save his relationship. It was the beginning of the end... |
i posted the interview here and then i saw your message... it's posted at the bandmembers forum... bye guys!
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This is FunkEducation, supporting the 1992-1998 Jamiroquai!!
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muzzander
Joined: 09 Oct 2004
Posts: 132
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 14:22 |
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| jamirokaki wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Did you know that Zender was replaced by another bassist to record the album version of 'Space Cowboy'? Shocked Jay replaced him while he was on holiday trying to save his relationship. It was the beginning of the end... |
can't believe that! |
it's true indeed man...i got brain freezed when i read the interview...that bassline was the reason i picked up bass and adore stu zender...well, everything happened for a reason and i think stu could pulled off something funky like the album version if he was the one playing it...anyway stuart DID played on the video version or the stoned again remix...it's a funky as hell too...ahh i love that man eventho he's not the one funkying the album version
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Selamat Pagi Dunia |
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Jamirobeto
Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 258
Location: Lima, Peru
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| Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 17:28 |
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| Quote: |
| Did you know that Zender was replaced by another bassist to record the album version of 'Space Cowboy'? Jay replaced him while he was on holiday trying to save his relationship. It was the beginning of the end... |
I didn't know and I'm shocked... how could Jay do something like that??? ... If I was Stu I'd have left the band then
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We're going to a funktion yeah yeah yeah |
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Jamirowolf
Joined: 05 Apr 2005
Posts: 362
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 04:48 |
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Aren't those samples from some MTV awards?
J's dancing to them first at his studio and then out on his garden I guess..I always thought chillington studios were brown (walls) and I realised then they were green
he he |
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Lex
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 15:06 |
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hey everyone, it's my first post here.... i am a regular over at the SZ forum... good to see you guys discussing the man himself... he was (and still is) a fantastic bass player... shame that things happened the way they did... not his fault though
i wish stu all the best with his next project, 'Leroi'... it will be great to see him playing bass again!
cheers
Lex |
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