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taken from: Mixmag: September 1996.

"How to Be a Popstar Without Really Trying"
by Andy Pemberton

'Do U Know Where You're Coming From?', the recent drum n' bass tune he did with M Beat which earlier this year reached Number 12 in the charts, was another example of what Jay describes as someone taking "libs".

The track didn't signal a violent change of direction for Jay, who, while he respects drum n' bass, reckons he's the wrong age to get into it big style. He recorded it on demo as a favour for a mate, but was then shocked to hear it played on Kiss FM off the demo tape. In fact, when he heard it, he freaked.

"What's that?" he acts out his astonishment. "It shit me up! It's a demo vocal! Now I was angry. Someone had put it out and forced me into a position where I didn't want to do it. Somebody had taken liberties!"

But people liked it so he recorded a proper version and it was released with some trepidation.

I thought, 'What are people going to think?' People who'd been into you for ages would think, 'What the fuck is this?' I didn't want people to think I'd jumped onto some jungle bandwagon. I don't think it came across that way. That's the last thing I'd want."

There's a sense of relief. Maybe he thought, "First the remixes and now this! Thankfully it turned out for the best." But you can't help thinking that with a voice like that, it could always turn out for the best for Jay.




Another article:

Taken from: Vibe: March 1997, pp. 100-102.

"Son of Soul"
by Michael Odell


Jamiroquai hark back to an age of "all-natural" R&B, when soul music was at its finest. And yet, despite their retro music mind-set, Jamiroquai still have the power to move the underground. Last summer, British jungle artist M Beat asked jay to record on the track "Do U Know Where You're Coming From", and he obliged. The demo tape was duly bootlegged and found its way onto the airwaves of London's KISS-FM.

"It was like someone had taped me singing in the bath and stuck it out on the airwaves. I was seriously pissed off and embarrassed," says Jay. A lesser soul might have opted for litigation. Instead he went into the studio to rerecord it. The track rocked Jeeps throughout the summer, and became a surprise national hit; it's now included on Travelling Without Moving.