Bass Player Magazine: May/June 1995.
Stuart Zender:
World Fusion with Britain's
Jamiroquai
Douglas J. Noble
"I hate to stick music into little boxes," sighs Jamiroquai's bassist Stuart Zender, "but if I were to forced to describe our music, I'd say it was jazz/funk/fusion/Latin. When you hear someone like Stevie Wonder, though, you don't put him in a box-you just think 'songs'. That's how I want people to hear our music."
Though he's only 20 years old, the precocious Zender has already racked up some serious touring miles. Leaving school at age 16 after being told by the headmaster he would "end up in jail," Stuart drifted into a job as lightman for the apocalyptic punk-circus outfit Archaos. "That taught me about working as part of a production team," the bassist explains. He then met Jamiroquai singer Jason Kaye through Archaos's ex-drummer. "I went for an audition, and they liked my stuff. That was in the beginning of '93."
Stuart's solid, confident playing with Jamiroquai belies the relatively short time he's been playing bass. "I started about four years ago," he grins. "I've got a long way to go yet-I'm still learning new things every day. It's not that I feel restricted on the bass at the moment, 'cause I'm there to keep it simple and to keep the groove going-but I know there's a lot more I could do. I just haven't had time to explore the possibilities. Our new drummer, Derrick McKenzie, is very into his rudiments; he practices every day, and he likes to help other people get their point across. He's helped me tremendously."
It also helps that Zender was tuned into bass long before he began playing. "When I was little," he remembers, "I would always pick up the bass lines in tunes. I was really into the bass and drums on James Brown records, before I even knew what a funk record was! Later, I really dug the theme song to Starsky & Hutch. All my friends thought I was a complete weirdo, 'cause bands like Wham! were popular back then.
Stuart lists Jaco, Stanley Clarke, Mark King, and Mingus as influences, and he cite Weather Report's Black Market as a prime inspiration. But he doesn't limit his listening to bass players. "I like classical music; I'm really into Ravel and Chopin. Also, I listen to a lot of Latin and jazz-Miles Davis, the Brecker Brothers-and the old '70's stuff like Donald Byrd, Roy Ayers, Johnny Hammond and Earth, Wind & Fire. I really like Joni Mitchell and Carole King now, but when I was younger I was into punk-the Dead Kennedys and the Sex Pistols."
Jamiroquai's four person nucleus consists of vocalist Kaye, Zender, keyboardist Toby Smith, and drummer Derrick McKenzie, with Wallis Buchanan chiming in on digeridoo. Each player had his work cut out for him on the band's latest offering, The Return of the Space Cowboy. "The new album was more fragmented recording-wise than the first one." Zender comments. "We used about five different studios, trying to get the right sounds, and all the lyrics were written after the music. It took us about seven months, with lots of editing and rearranging. It's easy to get stuck in that second-album syndrome, where you feel the pressure to prove you can keep going-but you have to ignore the pressure and just get back to writing music in its pure form, without worrying about people's expectations."
Although the bass playing on The Return of the Space Cowboy is more dynamic than on the bands debut, Emergency on Planet Earth, Stuart has a confession to make. "I'm really slack," he laughs. "I don't practice; I'm not someone who can meticulously work on something every day. I'll do it only if I feel inspired or if I need to play. I have actually improved since we made the last album, but that's just a natural progression after playing with so many good musicians. You learn just from being around people."
Stuart's main bass is a Warwick Streamer Stage I, which he bought when he joined Jamiroquai. "I've also got a lovely custom Warwick 8-string; it sounds beautiful, like a guitar following the bass line. I didn't use it on the album, but I do use it live. Doug Wimbish showed me his Warwick 12-string, but my hands are so small I couldn't really get a grip on the neck-so I called Warwick, and they made me an 8-string with a regular size neck." He also has two fretless Warwick Stage II basses, one with lights on the fingerboard so he can see the fret positions when the stage lights are down. His amp rig is all Warwick: a 350-watt Wamp 400 head, a 410-80 4x10 cabinet. "I've also got a Boss ME-6B multi-effects unit, which I use live on 'The Kids' from Space Cowboy, he explains. "I tried using a plectrum when I first started playing, but I never really liked it-plus, all my favorite players didn't use one. So, I use my fingers." His basses are strung with light-gauge Elite roundwounds (.035-.090).
While Zender's own work with the band keeps him busy, he's not about to give up his other pursuits. "My loyalty is to Jamiroquai," he says, "but I've got a publishing contract with EMI, so I write for that when I have spare time. I also play guitar and drums and sing. I want to put together an all-girl band and do my own Johnny Hammond-influenced tunes-nice chords and grooves."
So where did the name "Jamiroquai" come from? It's a combination of an American Indian word for music and "Iroquois," the name of a North American tribe with whom Jason Kaye feels a spiritual unity. It may be difficult to pronounce, but it looks as though we'll hear more from this band-so you'd better get used to it!
