We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessye DeSilva a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessye, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’ve been making music since I was a young kid, growing up in the church. My Dad was a minister and when I was young, our household was pretty conservative and I was only allowed to listen to religious music. I found myself really drawn to Amy Grant – I really sensed the intimacy and vulnerability of her songs from an early age and I knew I wanted to provide that sort of space myself through singing and playing piano. When I got older and my musical influences expanded beyond religious music, I had a great choir teacher in high school named Mr. Traub. He was so great at nurturing our creativity, and every year he would have a “Pops Concert” at school, which was a sort of variety show that we had to audition for. It was wonderful to have this outlet to perform solo cover songs and with bands I formed with my friends. The first time I played one of my original songs in public was at one of these concerts. I don’t know that there was ONE time I knew I needed my life to be a musical one, but I’ve had MANY of these experiences over the years, and I still have these reminders and confirmations all the time.

Jessye, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a queer nonbinary singer songwriter (my pronouns are they/them/theirs) who writes songs about mental health, religious trauma, queer joy and sorrow, and gender identity. My music sort of lives in the country-adjacent worlds of Americana and folk rock, and some of my biggest influences are folks like Stevie Nicks, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, and Elton John. I think the core of my work is community and empathy. The artists I listed above and so many others wrote and recorded music that found me just when I needed it. Their music helped me to nurture empathy in my own life, and to feel less alone. Even though these artists have all had different experiences from my own, their music helped me to know myself better, and all of these things are what I hope to do for others with my own music.
I think music isn’t made in a vacuum. It’s a collaborative and a community process – not just with other musicians, but also with listeners, and that is really at the heart of what I do and why.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, I’ve connected with such a vibrant community of BIPOC and LGBTQ artists in Country and Americana music who are all working so tirelessly to change the landscape of whose stories get told in these genres. Country music is about storytelling, and Black artists, artists of Color, Trans and Queer artists, disabled artists all have valuable stories to tell and innovative ways of making music that need to be platformed. I’ve been so inspired and empowered by these communities and I don’t think I’d be making the music I make today, to any sort of “audience” were it not for them.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I mentioned connecting with other artists and music folks (music journalists, bloggers, etc) earlier and this has really been key. I truly think that music is about community, and if you’re just sort of making your music on your own (which is totally cool and viable), but then just sort of putting it out into the ether, hoping someone will pick up on it, I think you’ll inevitably be disappointed. There is sometimes a sense that we are in competition with one another, and that there are limited opportunities and one person’s success detracts from another’s. I think this deficit-oriented approach ultimately hurts us all. Find your people – find other folks making music who share your values and CONNECT. I know “the bird site” is going through some tough times, and many folks have left due to the CEO’s values and behavior. Hopefully some other platform will take its place… BUT before all this, Tw*tt*r was a place where I connected with thriving music communities and found ways to uplift others and BE uplifted by them. I think that all social media has as much positive potential as it does negative, and human connection is always the move, in my opinion!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think I could say a lot about capitalism and that lack of support or infrastructure for artists, particularly in the US, BUT aside from changing the system itself, it comes down to individual folks supporting independent and local creatives. There’s nothing at all wrong with consuming mainstream music from big corporate labels – I think the artists themselves were all where folks like me are at one point, and while we could talk about who has access to opportunities and who doesn’t, I don’t fault the artists themselves. I subscribe to a streaming service myself and I love folks like Harry Styles and Lizzo! However, there are so many local and unsigned musical artists making music that is just as good. I urge folks to check out their local music scenes. Find the spots in your community where you can hear live music, and support these artists! Go to sites like Bandcamp to discover and purchase your music, because there, artists get a much larger percentage of the money you spend (and every now and then Bandcamp has a day where 100% of your purchases go to the artists themselves).
I think that, especially in large cities, so many people are totally unaware of the incredible music been made right in their backyard. Here in Boston, you can of course spend hundreds of bucks to see a big arena show at the Garden, sure… but you could also spend $5-20 at a local venue like The Burren or O’Brien’s Pub and support one of many incredible local musicians.
I don’t think it is entirely up to us as individuals to change the landscape – there does have to be systemic change, BUT every listener makes such a huge impact on an independent artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: Jessyedmusic.com
• Instagram: @jessyedmusic
• Twitter: @jessyedmusic
• Youtube: @jessyedmusic
• Other: TikTok @jessyedmusic
  crowdfunding campaign: jessyedmusic.com/fundraiser

Image Credits
Will Payne Harrison Madison Miles Louie Tomás