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travelling without moving jamiroquai on the musical junk, daft punk & funk
alex clark
JAMIROQUAI FRONTMAN JAY KAY doesn’t like journalists. And frankly I don’t blame him. After shooting to fame with their debut album Emergency on Planet Earth 20 years ago Mr Kay has been hounded by paparazzi prying into his personal life, which has resulted in them receiving a headbutt or two. Everywhere he goes he attracts a lot of attention not just for his music but his outspoken political and environmental campaigning. After making his views well known at the press conference ahead of Jamiroquai’s Sonic Shanghai opening, Jay decided to excuse himself. We caught up with the rest of the band in their dressing room at Shanghai Grand Stage: Sola Akingbola (percussion) Rob Harris (guitar), Matt Johnson (keys) and Paul Turner (bass). You’ve just arrived from Seoul and you frequently play in Japan. How has your experience of Asia been so far? PT: Well there’s a long history of the band going to Japan and we’ve been to Seoul four times in the last five years; so there’s usually a lot of anticipation and fans at the airport when arrive there which can get pretty crazy. This is our first time here in China so it’s pretty different, but we’re excited to be here. You tour a lot, had China not been on your radar before? RH: We’ve been looking to come here for a long
time; it’s nearly happened a few times actually. MJ: For us it’s about going somewhere we’ve never been before and seeing different cultures. SA: We’re lucky that this job takes us to a lot of interesting places. I last saw you in 2010 as support for the legendary Stevie Wonder, which marked the release of your last album, ‘Rock Dust Light Star’. What have you been doing since? RH: We’ve mainly been touring and enjoying playing all over the world. MJ: We played with Stevie again in Rio to 120,000 people. That was really special. Had a great month in South America at the start of the year. RH: But we’re looking to get back in the studio this winter. Jamiroquai has always tried to synchronise music and politics. How effective is music in bringing issues to the masses? PT: I think it’s always been used for that purpose. Maybe not so much now, but since Rock n’ Roll music has been about youth speaking their minds and venting their frustrations. It’s just more engaging. It’s better than hearing about splitting up with an imaginary girlfriend. RH: Or worse; hearing a 20 year-old girl singing a song about an imaginary boyfriend written by a 50 year-old man! SA: I think sometimes tracks just emerge as part of the zeitgeist. You can’t connect with society every time; sometimes you just hit a nerve at the right place and right time. A lot of Jamiroquai albums have been quite lucky in that respect. So when it gets to the masses it gets swept up into the general ideas of the moment – and then it gets dumped, to a certain extent. PT: Until it’s reiterated by someone else. You can’t go on saying the same things. People get bored easily. You’ve been in the music business for over two decades now. What have you seen change the most? RH: Downloading music - there’s just not as much money in the industry as there used to be. It really turned it on its head – almost flattened it. With
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