Jess Penner
Every now and then, I get lucky; an email comes in from an independent artist asking me to put them on the site and I have the opportunity to find great talent. Jess Penner is one of those artists. Her unique voice caught me from the first few notes I heard and I was excited to pick her brain for the site. Check out our interview below!
Arin: What got you into music initially?
Jess: Singing with my dad under the stars. Seriously, that man always had a guitar on his knee, and he also listened to a lot of classic music like The Beatles, Billy Joel, U2, The Police, etc. I don’t ever remember there being a starting point for me in regard to music; I’ve always just known it was what I was meant to do.
A: I find so much music through song placement on TV and in commercials; what is it like to have your songs featured on so many different shows?
J: It’s awesome. I feel so incredibly lucky that I’ve had so many opportunities for people to be able to discover my music.
A: Has there been a moment where you were watching a show and forgot you had a song on it and then you hear it randomly?
J: I’ve never really forgotten about a placement, but I don’t always know about them before they air. There have been a few times when I’ve been watching something and I’m like, “this sounds familiar…” and it ends up being one of my songs. I’m actually shocked how long it takes me to recognize it sometimes! My band, Astoria Kings, had 2 or 3 songs on the finale of America’s Next Top Model that I didn’t know a thing about until I was watching it on Hulu like a week later. I texted my band mates and was like, “GUYS!!! Check it out!!” haha.
A: What are your biggest goals with music?
J: I want to make music that makes people feel something (myself included). I know this might seem like a total given, but it can actually be a challenge. I want to say the same things everyone feels, but deliver it in a new or unexpected way… That’s my goal: to feel deeply and to express deeply. I know a lot of my songs seem fluffy, but I make sure they come from a place of truth. The goal can’t be about numbers or charts, but those things can be a way to confirm that you’re doing your job as an artist and expressing yourself in a way people can connect with.
A: What are you currently working on and what can people expect to see from you through the rest of the year?
J: I am working on a new record. It’ll be my third Jess Penner album and I’m hoping to finish writing it by the end of the summer which means it’ll hopefully be recorded and done by the end of the year. Because this is the goal, I probably won’t be doing more than a few local shows… Unless something freaky happens and I end up on Jimmy Fallon or some junk (fingers crossed! lol).
A: Who are some of your biggest influences?
J: Right now I am totally into The Black Keys, Lykki Li, Dragonette, Capital Cities, The Rescues, Metric, Mute Math… I like a lot of different music actually. When it comes to the classics, it would be The Beatles, The Police, Bob Marley, The Beach Boys, The Supremes… All the typical stuff, I guess. They are classics for a reason!
A: If you could tour with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
J: Wow. I would want my band, We Cry Diamonds, to tour with Led Zeppelin. I heard those guys knew how to party.
A: What is the most personal song you have written?
J: Right now, I would say “I Loved You More” off of Love, Love, Love. There are a couple of lines in the verse that are almost too personal for me on some levels [like], “trace me with your fingertips, I’ll kiss you with my frozen lips, baby don’t tire ’cause I’ll never stop running away from this” And then the chorus: “But I love you more, I love you more, more than anyone’s loved anyone else before, more than the waves in the sea love the shore, didn’t you know?”.
For me, the song expresses the tendency of not being able to let my guard down; even though inside, I might be completely overwhelmed and dying to be in the moment. I’m great at expressing emotion in retrospect via a song, but I can actually be a bit of a cyborg in real life and to say this in a song felt so honest. I’m like, “don’t ever stop chasing me!! I know I might not seem that into you, but it’s only because I’m scared to get too close!”
A: What is the best way for someone to get your attention through social networking?
J: Message, email, or tweet to me! I love responding to people and do my best to be available.
