You may be forgiven if you think 'Deja' has a sort of familiar ring. The name may be new, but the duo boast a partnership spanning more than ten years. And though the name alludes to something we've seen before, Curt Jones and Starleanna Young are looking forward to the future, not back to the past. Dropping the name Aurra is a positive move to exorcise ghosts from the past, and start afresh with a whole new sound.




You may be forgiven if you think 'Deja' has a sort of familiar ring. The name may be new, but the duo boast a partnership spanning more than ten years. And though the name alludes to something we've seen before, Curt Jones and Starleanna Young are looking forward to the future, not back to the past. Dropping the name Aurra is a positive move to exorcise ghosts from the past, and start afresh with a whole new sound.

"I didn't want a name that sounds too much like a group name. Starleanna was looking through a dictionary, and she stumbled upon the term 'deja -vu' then came up with tile name 'Deja'. It means we've all come through this road before, so it's appropriate" says Curt at their West London record company office.

Star and Curt's decision to drop the name Aurra came when former Slave cohort Steve Washington laid claim to the name. And though it didn't reach the stage of legal writs flying left, right and centre, Curt and Starleanna decided to step down gracefully.

"We felt we all owned the name just as much as each other, so we decided to change it so we wouldn't get into any legal hassle. It was leading to that, and it could have held up our progress. We've just recorded an album that everyone's tremendously happy with, and we felt no need for delays."

It was also the perfect time to effect the change since they'd been keeping a rather low profile Stateside.

"We hadn't had a release of an album there for about two and a half, to three years that they were familiar with, so it seemed this would be as good as time as any to change the name."

Curt and Starleanna were over in the UK to promote their fine new single, 'Serious' produced with the considerable help of Flyte Tymer Monte Moir. The pair had originally approached Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but were discouraged by the duo's eight month waiting list. But as things turned out, it couldn't have worked out better. Monte was originally brought in to produce three tracks with Deja, but they got on so well, they ended up completing a whole LP.

"It's a well rounded LP", said Starleanna, "we've got some funk, and mid-tempo, and some really nice ballads that everyone seems to like. I think we have a good three to four singles coming from it."

The LP also has contributions from the likes of Ricky Peterson, better known as David Sanborn's keyboard player But for the moment the title track, 'Serious' remains their piece de resistance.

"We're talking about a situation we've been dealing with", says Starleanna in explanation, "and we're serious about it".

"It's the first to be released", continues Curt, "but it's the last song we completed on the album. It almost came as a reward for all the hard work on the other tracks because it came together so easily. Before it was half finished, we knew it was a single."

If you flip over the B side you'll definitely experience a bit of deja-vu because they've slapped on their, You And Me Tonight' which earned them a Top Twenty last year. The song failed to scale the same heights in their native land, and they're about to release it as a single over there.

"It was just a radio hit in New York and Los Angeles. It was kind of frustrating because it came over as an important,
but it didn't come over in numbers where you could easily get it," explains Starleanna: "Now radio's pretty familiar with it, but they were screaming out because they could never get it. So now it's gonna be available, and it seems to make sense to release that first so they can have what they always wanted".
Curt continues: 'Tat almost glad it wasn't released nationally test year because if it was a smash hit, there was nothing to follow it up with. Mow we've got a full album to follow it up.

Nearly eleven years together, and they're still going strong, though the going has not always been easy. Before their UK hit with 'You And Me Tonight', the band almost went their separate ways. Starleanna had been doing a lot of advertising jingle work through boyfriend James Taylor of Kool and The Gang fame, and Curt was working on songs for a solo LP. Obviously grateful for the break Starleanna says: "It was the support of the our British fans that kept us together."

"The appreciation for good music here is incredible" says Curt in endorsement, "people aren't so concerned whether its black of white, pop or funk; it's good music or it's bad music, and that's the way I look at it when I write music."

Curt still keeps in touch with his old Slave sparring partners. And despite the run-in with Washington still has a tremendous respect for him: "He's a talented and intelligent person, and everyone who knows of him in the business speaks highly of him.

"I spoke to Steve (Arrington) recently after we'd finished an album. He was in New York starting his new LP."

Curt feels Steve is misunderstood, and defends his appearance at the Hammersmith Odean last year When the concert turned into a Bit of a Bible meeting.

"I heard he started preaching on stage, but I guess that's what he felt. People misunderstand him a lot. He's always been that way, but it just started to come out in his music, which is quite natural. If you're an artist, you can't be a real artist if you don't live some of the things you sing about. At the time he was really heavily into what he felt."    (SB B&S)