Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I’m from New York City, I was born and raised here and I live here now. I wanted to start a career in music because when I wake up in the morning or when life feels particularly heavy (as life is wont to do), making/playing music is what I feel compelled towards.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I have a bachelor’s degree in “Professional Music” from Berklee College of Music. Isn’t that hilariously vague? I also had a music-themed bat mitzvah when I was thirteen. I’m like a walking treble-clef tattoo.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: I really fell in love with Joni Mitchell as a kid because my mom always loved her. I still think she’s one of the greatest songwriters of all time, I think a lot of other songwriters besides myself have been inspired by her.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Heaven’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Heaven is a confessional about tendencies to feel detached from intimacy and question whether such tendencies are voluntary or not. There’s not really a specific instance in my life that inspired it, moreso patterns I’ve noticed about myself and that others have pointed out. The story is a tale-as-old-as-time involving girls-meeting-girls and girls-fleeing-from-emotional-vulnerability.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: You can and should. You have my permission. I encourage it even
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I love a lot of different music including music where lyrics are in the foreground and where words act both as vehicles for meaning as well as rhythmic events. I also love music where the words, if present at all, are secondary to the overall sonic experience. I love music that is grating to listen to in a way that scratches some otherwise-unscratchable itch and I love music that soothes and comforts the listener in a way that rebels against any claim that art exists to disturb the viewer. I like a lot of different eclectic music and I try to make stuff that ties all of it together. I think there’s something in there for everyone, but I find that it particularly resonates with fans of dream pop or art pop. I take a lot of pride in correcting people I meet who assume based on first impressions that I must make some esoteric sort of sound art that belongs to some genre you’ve never heard of–nope, I make pop music. It’s good pop music–not too commercial, but also nothing that’ll scare or confuse your mom.*
*Depends on what ur mom is into
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: No lmao I hate it here
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I have a million notes in the notes app in my phone that just say things like: “mastery’s a muscle and I stretch it every day” or “black licorice/apocalypse” and “waxing poetic about something prophetic” and “all my other hoes think you’re pretty” and every now and then I go through and determine that some ought to be tweets and the others I save for when I have a melodic idea but no lyric ready. Sometimes the phrases themselves have an implied cadence or rhythm in my head that informs the melodies they get assigned to. Completing them is the hard part lmk if you have any tips
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Having a body
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: I have a lot of trouble taking any pride in all of this. I have horrible imposter syndrome and even as I write this I think to myself “you don’t have ‘imposter syndrome’, you’re just a self-aware hack” lol. Every day I try to gather evidence that 2009 Jill would be proud of our progress and it never seems to be enough to convince myself so I try to just gently cast those thoughts onto the river and get through my to-do list anyway.
