I've been aware of Jessica's music for a good few years
now certainly no earlier than my student days - perhaps
1999 / 2000 territory, when I picked up her wonderful
single on Bad Jazz Records called "Warren" which
was truely beauitful and quite haunting,
in a noisy feedback way.
Like with the George interview, I orginally interviewed
Jessica back at the end of 2000 / start of 2001, but
sadly like with the George interview, it never got
published.
Shortly after Setting Sun got set up, I discovered
by chance I discovered a website which features
some live tracks of Jessica's which I thought
were really, really good but heading more
into an acoustic direction but just as good
From that, it made me want to contact her again
and try and interview her again
Jessica has released three albums to date, and a number
of singles, all of which are worth checking out in their
own way
Setting Sun: How are things and what's going on at the moment?
Jessica:
...Things are ok; it's been very warm here in Ohio,
and summer's not my favorite time of the year, so when
it's extreme summer, I'm miserable! Enough
complaints. I just returned from a trip to England,
where Dave Pearce and I have begun another album
together; our first one will be released in November
by Kranky, called "Clear Horizon."
Setting Sun: Now I've been aware of you and your music,
for some time now, but clearly there are quite a few
people who don't know you or of your music - so can you
introduce yourself if you like or tell us the general history
or bio, who fired the starting pistol, got you going and so
on?
Jessica:
...Long story short, I'm a Jane of all instruments,
master of none. I've been playing various things
since I was very young, first instrument being a piano
(at my Gran's). I was in my first band at age 16, and
after various attempts at working with groups of
people, I decided to go it alone in 1997. I'd started
writing my own songs in '94, and began recording them
in early '95 on a borrowed 4-track cassette recorder.
A friend of mine who was and is in a fairly well-known
band suggested that he & I do a tape-trade recording
project via mail, so that went on in '96-'97 (I think
-?). After hearing a few of my solo recordings,
outside of our project, he suggested that I send a
demo so this label that his band had just finished a
recording for. So in the autumn of 1997, I was
offered a contract with Kranky, and the rest is
history, as they say.
Setting Sun:Have you got any more releases / tours on the
way? I know you've just released your third album but
have you got anything else planned? How did the recording
for the third album compare to the previous two albums
Jessica:
...As mentioned, there's this new project with Dave
Pearce. We're wrapping things up for our first
release (finalising the artwork). Who knows when the
second one will be ready, as our pace is a bit slow -
what with the Atlantic Ocean between us & all.
There's also a handful of compilation releases that
will probably happen next year (I'm in the midst of
recording the songs for those now).
Touring - honestly, I very much love to tour,
especially overseas, but I'm not very good at it.
This is mostly because I don't do it very often; so
when I have to prepare for a tour, it's like starting
over. I have to get my skill level up again, and if
there's to be a band with me, then there's teaching
people my songs, which sometimes works well, sometimes
doesn't. But touring is very expensive, and I don't
forsee doing it again anytime soon - I simply can't
afford it. It's the biggest catch-22: one's audience
isn't going to grow much without a lot of touring
(more people at shows means more money or more
negotiating power). However, if you don't have the
money to begin with to get out there, then you lose.
I went on a short West Coast tour in March that cost
me hundreds of dollars. I was not paid for any of
these shows, as what little money was made went for
gas & tour van rental - as it should. But there was
hardly anyone at these shows, and when club
owners/managers/booking agents are only willing to
give you a percentage of the door, and there's 2-3
other bands getting paid, too, it doesn't leave much.
L.A. was an exception - the place was packed, but the
band that was from L.A. left with $500, while the 3
other bands on tour together, from out-of-state AND
overseas, split something like $125. The European
tour last November went so much better; we even had a
small amount of money after expenses. Most places
were willing to give us guarantees, which was
definitely the key to our success; we knew what we
were going to make, roughly, ahead of time.
Sorry for the diatribe - can you tell you've struck a
nerve? ;) Anyway, suffice it to say that I will not
be going on any tours in the near future, to the best
of my knowledge :)
Now, onto recording the third album: it was a
completely new experience, as I did it at home via
computer. It took about 6 months, as I had to go to
work, too, so I couldn't spend all my time on it. But
I think that was a good thing, because I was forced to
get out of the house & think about things a bit. I
definitely would record like that again, because
there's so many things I'd learned from that
experience - it would still be a challenge for me.
I've had many ideas on how to do things differently
since. But I no longer have a studio at home; I'm
back to using the old 4-track cassette, which makes
most people I know cringe ("doesn't all that noise and
tape hiss bother you?!"). But I find that I like a
bit of noise in a recording. Although it is a bit
limiting, at the same time, I do find a lot of comfort
in recording this way sometimes.
Setting Sun: I notice on from your first CD, it was generally
just you, how do you transfer this live?
Jessica:
...I've performed differently with every excursion,
really. Early on, it was me with my Jag & a couple of
pedals & amp, and 2-3 other people filling in the
space, as best they could. It's worked really well in
the past with 2 other people (usually Jesse Edwards
and Gary Murray), and the 3 of us playing various
combinations of bass, guitar, synth, electric guitars,
and drums. Post album 3, I've been taking out my
accoustic guitar, and it's been very difficult trying
to work out how other things would fall into place -
mostly because it's been very difficult for me to find
people to play with. Everyone has a job, or their own
music to concentrate on. And I really would rather
that my friends do their own thing than waste time
playing my songs, if their spare time is little.
Setting Sun: What stuff are you listening to at the moment and
what have proved your influences?
Jessica:
...Most of my influences are apparent in my music, I
think; though it's funny, sometimes people say in
reviews that "she obviously listens to 'so-and-so',"
and in reality, I've never heard a note of so-and-so's
music. But recently, I have been listening to a lot
of older music - sixties and seventies folk & psych,
mostly British, some America, German, etc. Oddly,
though, there have been at least 10 new albums in the
past year or two that I've really enjoyed. I feel
funny mentioning them, because most of them are by
friends. I know I'm being very vague with my answer
here, sorry...
Setting Sun: Carrying on from I've heard some snips on the
internet, and they were really different at least to me from
your first album (which I can't find at the moment!) and
your singles as well? o you find your influences have
changed over the recording of your past album or 2?
Jessica:
...I think that I definitely have been exposed to a
lot more music since the 2nd album, and I've
definitely gravitated toward certain styles or bands.
That has definitely become apparent with the 3rd
album, I'd say.
Setting Sun: What stuff are you listening to at the moment and
what have proved your influences? Do you find
your influences have changed over the recording
of your past album or 2?
Jessica:
...see above :)
Setting Sun:I wouldn't include this next one if you like
so leave it blank or let me know, but I couldn't resist
asking but I've heard a story about you have done
some recording with Dave Pearce of Flying Saucer
Attack fame. Is this true? Etc..
Jessica:
...see above :)
Setting Sun:What's the live scene like up in your area?
Have you been to any good gigs recently?
Jessica:
...Honestly, I really don't go out much, so I can't
properly comment on the live scene here. The last gig
I saw was Saturday Looks Good To Me, and Fred (a
friend of mine who's in that band) swears that they
played horribly & that I should see them another time.
But I thought they sounded great; it was the first
time I'd heard them live. They're from Ann Arbor, but
came down to Toledo (where I live) to play.
Setting Sun:If you were not a rock and a roll musician,
what would be your dream job?
Jessica:
...That is still my dream job, as it's technically not
my job right now :)
Setting Sun: What has been your best / worst experiences of
been a solo songwriter / been in band?
Been in a band myself I've had some fun tales to
tell certainly so I could guess you are the same?
Jessica:
...Best experiences have involved meeting and working
with some of the most wonderful people. I've had some
very good recording and touring opportunities that
have left life-long memories with me, very good ones.
The worst part about solo and/or band stuff is having
to rely on others to get things done. It's very
difficult to find people to work with that I can
tolerate, or can tolerate me. But again, I have been
very lucky. I really can't complain much.
Setting Sun: Lastly, something slightly less serious to
finish off with perhaps ... (Nicked from a pal's Zine in a way
"Imagine you were ship wrecked on a desert Island
and could have (clearly second sight here - lol) the choice of
having 5 records or cds with you with a stereo of course. What would
be your desert island discs?"
Jessica:
...This is always tough, because when you're finished,
you think: oh! there's this one, and I should have
included it rather than that one, etc. It's very much
a "High Fidelity" sort of thing, isn't it? Anyway,
I'll try, first specifying that there's no particular
importance in this ordering:
1. Nick Drake/"Bryter Layter"
2. Joni Mitchell/"Song To A Seagull"
3. Flying Saucer Attack/"Chorus"
4. Bridget St. John/"Ask Me No Questions"
5. Red Morning Chorus/"Soanywayever"
Setting Sun:Thanks for everything, Jessica. Any plans to
play England at the moment?
Jessica:
...call them dreams rather than plans :)
Thanks, Andy. I hope this all isn't too wordy for
you. If there's any follow-up questions or anything
else, just let me know.
