We recently connected with Jess Hess and have shared our conversation below.
Jess, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I have been working on my second album for almost three years, and it’s finally being released in May! This album is very vulnerable for me. I really wanted to make an album that exemplifies how grief and mental illness can affect an artist’s work – specifically, my work. My album ‘Mess’ is a bit all over the place. I decidedly did not want to stick to one genre. Because of the volatility of my mental state for the past five years, the music I’ve been creating has been a bit turbulent. I’m lucky to have found Nick Bullock, my producer for this album. He didn’t question me when I said I wanted the album to be genre-fluid. I wanted each song to be whatever they were meant to become, sound-wise. We really honored the differences of each tune and did not base many production decisions on making the album cohesive. The result is a genre-bending album that still works as one big piece – but there’s a blues song, a punk song, a country folk tune, a couple indie girl tracks, some alt-rock tracks, and an R&B song all in one album.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I have been singing and writing for as long as I can remember, and eventually went Westminster Choir College to study Vocal Performance. Schooling proved to be less than helpful for me, and I ended up dropping out after my Junior year, when my father passed away from complications after a lung surgery. In the following years, I lost more people, including my 18-year-old niece Anastasja, who passed suddenly in a car accident. She was like a sister to me. Music has always been my way to cope with a harsh world, and since experiencing such intense grief, my songwriting has become a real lifeline for me. I wrote a lot more after I dropped out of college, and soon moved to Nashville, where I would record my first album with my good friend and roommate, Steve Barnett. I don’t write to say anything specific, and I’m not trying to be an indie star – I write because if I didn’t, I’d die. It’s as simple as that. I have been blessed with many people connecting with my songs about grief and mental health struggles – particularly one song I wrote called “Sober” about my own struggles with sobriety in a world where nobody seems to want to be sober.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Buy CDs. Buy merch from local artists. Go to shows. TIP! Put more of your money toward independent creators and less toward folks who are already famous or toward companies like Amazon. There are awesome creatives making beautiful handmade art, and spending your dough on those people has an enormous impact. It means they can keep making art. This is advice I also need to remember to follow. Every dollar you spend on an independent artist is appreciated ten-fold – and it all goes back into making more art! Be the person who is helping more art be made!
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
The industry is gate-kept. There are resources I wish I knew about, now! I feel like a newborn whenever I try to navigate this industry. I was really born yesterday and I’m teaching myself to walk. One thing I wish I had done sooner, is create a spreadsheet of places I can send my new work out to for press. Do your research months before releasing and send your stuff out to as many magazines and blogs that you can! Be careful with playlisters, though! Make sure there’s a human behind the playlists!
Contact Info:
- Website: JessHess.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/jesshessmusic
- Facebook: Facebook.com/jesshessmusic
- Youtube: Youtube.com/jesshessmusic
- Other: JessHessMusic on TikTok!
Image Credits
I took and edited these photos myself