Jessi London
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Interview With Jessi London By Chris 5/2/07
Jessi London was recommend to me by
another singer songwriter Jessica Paige.
She was right, Jessi London writes and plays such fantastic music.
So I wanted to help promote this great local Melbourne talent.
So read on and check out her music.
1.How did you get into music?
This I don’t actually remember, because I was about 5 when I started singing, dancing and piano. My family are all musicians (mostly amateur!) so it’s fairly safe to assume that’s how I got into music, when I was a kid.
2.Who were your idols growing up?
I went to the Johnny Young Time school when I was a kid, so I suppose when I was really young, it was all about pop divas like Kylie and Madonna. When I was old enough to start playing the pop songs on the piano, it was more about Billy Joel and the Beatles.
3.Who were your influences?
How long have you got?! It goes from Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Bill Joel, right through to John Mayer (my bordering obsession!), India Arie and Sarah McLaughlin.
4.Are you happy with the responses from the EP?
The response has been amazing. I get so many emails from fans all over the world telling me how they know every word to every song, or how they feel like a certain song was written about their life! I think people appreciate a song even more when they are going through what it’s about.
5.What have responses been like to your music on the web?
Actually, I’ve been really surprised at how it’s spread around the world! Just because of the wonderful world wide web, I’ve got fans in Sweden, Germany, Africa, China and Russia, to name a few. It’s so completely random. I don’t even know how it gets there!
6.Has the internet helped with your music?
Yes, there is no way I would have been able to reach people internationally and even interstate without it.
7.Do you think tools like MySpace are useful?
I think myspace is wonderful for the industry and for fans; industry because you can network with other bands and I love being able to check out their music with a click of a bottom, and fans because they can interact with you and easily pass you onto their other friends.
8.Who you would most like to tour with?
Obviously any of my influences or idols as listed above would be a dream come true, but some others might include Crowded House, James Morrison, Gavin DeGraw, Van Morrison, Maroon 5 or Snow Patrol. I could go on forever though.
9.What your favourite venue to play in Melbourne?
Manchester Lane. It’s classy, intimate, has great food a wonderful grand piano on stage.
10.Is it hard to get radio to play your music?
Impossible more like it! Major record companies pay a lot of money for people known as “pluggers” who push the new singles to the big guys like Fox and Nova. Most independent people can’t really afford this type of promotion.
11.Have you had much response from radio?>
Definitely a lot from community radio, yes. In fact, the local stations will really go out of their way to help you. I’ve done stacks of live shows over the years and had some great responses.
12.So what’s it like playing the Melbourne Scene, people respond well to your music?
Sometimes I feel like the Melbourne music scene is all about Electro DJ’s in clubs and heavy rock bands, which I am neither. I do find that getting the right venue to support you can be tricky. It’s all about getting enough people through the door.
13.Who do you enjoy playing with the most?
My guitarist, Tim Di Stefano. He makes my songs come alive. He turns the ideas inside of my head into a song.
14.Have you had much response from record labels?
I have done so in the US – I spent a lot of time there around 2004 which was awesome, but I had trouble getting a US visa and consequently had to drop (temporarily!) some opportunities. I’ve been really careful about targeting labels here in Australia. You really only get once chance and you don’t want to get stuck into something that doesn’t work for you.
15.What is on your stereo at the moment?
The Fray. Love ‘em!
16.What are some of your favourite musical artists/bands?
My favourite artists are pretty synonymous with my list of idols and influences. I don’t really separate them. I am digging Panic and the Disco at the moment though!
17.What has been the highlight so far?
Supporting Chris De Burgh at the Arts Centre. I had a huge stage with a HUGE grand piano and thousands of people listening to every song (unlike your typical pub gig). I felt like I owned them!
18.Who have you has helped you out the most?
My family, especially my Dad and my Aunt Robin. They’ve been there for every gig and helped me get overseas.
19.What inspires you when writing music?
Wow, so many things. The sound of the strings of my piano, the reaction I’ll get from my Dad, the reaction I’ll get from a crowd full of people, the way it will sound with my band (who are extremely awesome by the way!), how it will make people feel.
20.How did the recording process go for the EP?
It was fairly drawn out actually. I got sick part way through it and had to have an operation which held us up for a few months. I worked with a wonderful producer names James Kempster who had worked with lots of big names in Australia and he helped bring my songs into a commercial space which is really what it comes down to. I love being in the studio. It’s so much fun watching a song go from nothing into a masterpiece!
