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Daily Mirror: October 27, 1994, pp. 18-19.

Back Down to Earth:
Jamiroquai Have Their Feet on the Ground
Louise Johncox

Toby Smith enjoys listening to music on a Saturday night - as long as it's not Whigfield's hit single of the same name.

"I don't like Whigfield and all that rubbish because it's such a gimmick," says Jamiroquai's 23-year-old keyboard player.

"Unfortunately there is always a market for those kind of tracks but it's the total opposite of what we do.

Raw. The London-based group, who topped the album chart with their debut, Emergency on Planet Earth, pride themselves on their home-grown funky sound and reject the accusation that they have exploited black culture.

"It's ridiculous to say we are a white band ripping off black music," says Toby. "Our music is a combination of styles - a mix of Latin, classical and black music." For the second album, The Return of the Space Cowboy, which entered the charts at No. 2 this week, the band were keen to adopt a raw sound.

We wanted to capture the live sound of four guys playing in a studio," says Toby.

So we went to a down-market studio in Camden as we didn't need a load of mod cons to prodice that effect. One piece of percussion we used was a wooden box with grooves in it." As Jamiroquai embark on a new tour, Toby is content to take a back seat, leaving the spotlight firmly on Jay Kaye [sic], the band's controversial singer.

"It suits me to be at the back of the stage with my keyboards," admits Toby, who co-writes the band's music with Jay.

"It takes the pressure off me. I don't particularly want to be in the limelight acting like a chimp on stage. I'd rather leave that to Jay."

When Jamiroquai are not performing Toby admits he has a tempestuous relationship with Jay: "There's a lot of friction between us but it's a productive thing," says Toby.

"Jay can be big-mouthed but if I ignore him he just goes away."