interview: jen hirsh

There is much more to Jen Hirsh than meets the eye. Out March 1, 2011, her album Myself in Two is influenced by folk, soul, jazz, funk and pop music. Beyond being an extremely gifted vocalist and charismatic performer, the young indie pop songstress has loyal followings on both coasts of the USA, expertise in many genres, a wealth of life experience and the powerhouse talent to back it all up. I’m not the only person to notice that, either: she got very far in American Idol Season 9 and when she met John Mayer at an LA venue they both played in one night, he knew her name.

On January 15, 2011, I headed to a small, well-known venue in Williamsburg to see Jen perform her new material. I wasn’t aware of this prior to the show, but a little time spent talking to other concertgoers educated me. Jen had attended the Berklee College of Music with several really talented musicians who were also taking the stage that night. Jen used to sing with the 12-piece funk-jazz band TURKUAZ and had the first set in their CD release party. She actually performed twice that night, first in the outstanding showcase of her own material, then three hours later singing with the headlining band.

During the interview that followed that show the next day, we talked about everything from the difference between living on the East coast and the West coast to her background story to where she’s going with music and so much more.

Tell me about your artistic process in making Myself in Two.

 Adam Tressler, my writer and the guitar player, was really important. I was going through a rough time and we became really close so far apart. We would talk everyday, and I’d be telling him about how much I missed New York and be upset about my breakup, and he was great. He would respond to me with songs, send them to me in my email and I would put my own spin on them. It just came to this point where we had fifteen songs, and it just felt right to put a record together. Every song was sort of different; the first couple songs, I was more involved because I was here in New York. He would bring them to me in person, it was collaborative, but he still brought the meat and potatoes to the table. Then the next six songs happened in maybe three months. It was so fast, we had all these emotionally dense, beautiful songs. At first, I couldn’t get through half of the songs live without crying. We did a lot of stuff over video chat, and it totally evolved organically. We hadn’t even played any of these songs with the band until the [recording] sessions.

Where would classify your new material? I’m sure people put you into the singer-songwriter genre, but your new material has a different feel than that.

I would say indie pop, folk soul. Can you really put indie and pop in the same genre? I don’t know, I feel like genres don’t really matter so much anymore because with the internet it’s easy to just listen to whatever you want. I like to say it’s emotional, but it’s not “emo”.

Tell me more about Myself in Two.

This record is all of me, my heart and soul is in this record. Something just clicked with this record. A teacher of mine at Berklee told me to get something recorded, which is how I ended up releasing my first EP on iTunes. She’s someone I really look up to, and I remember emailing her before I moved to New York asking for advice, and she said to get something recorded, something that you’re proud of, to hand out so you have something to show. So I sort of forced these 5 songs that I didn’t love, but they were great for me at the time. I remember getting my 1,000 CDs delivered to my apartment here and I was so excited to see them all shrink wrapped. I still have six boxes…I didn’t know what I was doing, but you live and you learn, you know? This time around it feels like I’m doing everything the right way.

So what inspires you?

If there are ten songs on the record, right, I would say six or seven of them are inspired by my breakup and the move, by my body being in one place and my head in another. The album is called Myself in Two, and we’re playing on that.

What do you want people to take away from your live shows?

I want every person in the audience to somehow feel connected to one of the songs, or to me. When I’m performing, I try to go back to whatever place I was in when we first wrote the song, and really be there for people to see. I hope to be able to hit that nerve in everyone, to make them remember something, to make someone cry or laugh, just to connect. The best thing about being an artist is finding people you can relate to. There’s nothing better than when someone pulls me aside, someone I don’t know (or I do know), saying “you made me cry” or “that song brought me back to five years ago when I was going through my stuff”. I always stop and appreciate that, because there’s no greater feeling. That’s what I’m trying to do here.

You definitely achieved that in the show last night. I was blown away.

Well, we’re in New York so I adjusted my set list a little bit. The new pop sound sort of trims things down a little bit. A lot of my friends miss the other stuff. In LA, people get this new music and they don’t know the old Jen. But my friends here, they were like “please can you just do one of them where you freak out?” So I did “Can’t Make Up My Mind” for a few people in the audience. I was surprised that we brought 30 people because I only texted maybe 15 people and created the Facebook event a few days before the show. I loved playing a venue where people were standing. That was a first for me.

How do you feel about the media and the internet being such a big part of getting exposure? Is it a good thing or a bag thing?

You have to be in it – in this generation, we have to be in tune with what’s going on right now on the internet. I still feel like I’m behind, you know? I’m trying to boost my Twitter followers everyday, but at the same time, I can’t believe that almost 200 people care about what I have to say. I gotta do it, to be a part of it.

What’s the first show you went to and the best show you’ve ever been to?

The first show I ever went to was Linda Ronstadt. I was really young, and I’m half Mexican so I always listened to traditional Mexican music growing up. I used to sing in Spanish and Portuguese a lot, and I want to bring that back. I kinda have a knack for languages, and I want to play music in other countries.

And the best show I’ve ever been to, I think, was Radiohead at Bonnaroo.

Do you prefer signing with an independent label or are you looking for something more mainstream?

At this point, it’s far away for me. Well, not so far, but far. Obviously I would make more money up front if I signed to a major label, but major labels are tough. You never know what’s going to happen. I think it’d be cool to be a part of a boutique indie label, to be with someone who gets the artist. I’ve had a little interest, but I’ve put it on the backburner for now because there’s still a lot I want to get together. I want all the say in this record, I don’t want anyone telling me what to do. We’ve gotten this far doing it our own way, we want to finish it like that.

Ok, so I have to ask. Tell me about meeting John Mayer.

He didn’t see my set, but he did know my name. It was everywhere at Hotel Cafe that night. He did a surprise set at midnight. We brought a lot of people, and when I met him he was like “you’re Jen Hirsh!” It’s my dream…one day I will sing a duet with John Mayer.

Finally, are you a feminist? And if so, in what way?

I mean, I’m a strong believer in women doing their thing. Everyone I admire is a strong woman making her mark in this industry. I am happy to be a part of that. I think that there needs to be more strong women doing this. It feels good, to do all music on my own. I feel stronger because of the fact that I am woman and don’t have people helping me. I want younger women to look at me and see that they can do this too. I want that to shine through my music and at my shows. It’s happening for women, every year it’s getting better and better.