Interview: Nite Jewel

I read recently in an interview you did with Spinner where you said that you’ve wanted to be a singer since you were little.

Yeah.

You mentioned something about "Star Search," and I don't think that you're a "Star Search" kind of singer…

Well, I think I could be a "Star Search" singer if I wanted to be. I've been musically trained since I was a little kid, so I've been taught to sing like that. But it's really hard to break into anything if you do something run of the mill and status quo, you know? I think I went about it in a roundabout way, just choosing to be really expressive as opposed to just choosing to use those trainings I had. I think if sounds all super profesh right out of the gate it can alienate people who think that you sound like everybody else.

On the latest release I heard, the It Goes Through Your Head EP, it sounds like you're just more confident in what you're doing. Is that something that came about just from recording more, or from having a full band? Or do you just feel like you're really in a good spot right now with your music?

I think you're right on about everything, I mean it all sorta comes together and influences you. I think I've just become very much more interested in pop music recently, whereas when I was recording Good Evening I was much more interested in instrumental electronic music and I wasn't really hearing the place for my vocals. Also, the pop music I was listening to was super outsider music where the vocals are very much obscured. Lately, I've become more and more interested in the classics, you know? Also, by being in a band for two years and performing all the time and recording all the time you just get better at singing.

Sure. When you recorded Good Evening did you imagine that an audience would still jump onto your music the way that they did, or was that something you just didn't really think about?

I absolutely did not think that people would respond to it in the way that they did at all. I thought certain people would be able to relate to it, like my friends. I could see them liking it, because they could get beyond production method. But I never expected mainstream listeners who listen to like Aaliyah and Rihanna, and people who were into R&B - like new R&B too - would latch on to it. I didn't think they would be able to hear that in it - I mean, I could barely hear that in it. I was just like making songs, and all of a sudden people were like, “Oh, this is super funky,” and I'm like, “Oh, really? Cool.” [laughing].

[laughing] So you're more funky than you thought?

It's just an implicit part of making music for me. Like being funky and having that influence is such a part of the way I've always done music forever.

Besides funkiness, I wonder what a Rihanna listener gravitates towards in Nite Jewel. Do they like the danciness of it - do they like that you're a girl singing? The melodies? What is it that they like?

I have no idea! You should ask them because it's a fucking mystery to me. I have friends who tell me what they like about my music, but I don't really know anybody who listens to Rihanna very well. I have one friend, Lauren, who I went to college with. She likes Rihanna, and she really likes “Another Horizon,” that song I wrote on my [Am I Real] EP. But I never asked her, “Hey, what do you like about this specifically?” She's just like, “It's fucking great,” and I’m like, “Okay.”

Let's say you meet someone and they find out you're a musician - say it was someone's mom - and they're like, “Oh, what kind of music is Nite Jewel?” What do you say? Do you say you're an electronic musician?

For a long time I just said , “Oh, you know, it's like, electronic.” I would barely describe it, or I'd be like, "Oh, you should just listen to it.” But now that I have a band, you know, I have three people who can vouch for me when they're standing around and someone asks. They say it's pop R&B, which is what I call it now. With the new record that we're making, there's a lot of songs on there that I could hear on “The Quiet Storm” or something. I guess that's just an easy way to sum it up for an older person.

So this new album will be the first time a Nite Jewel record has a full band on it. Is it also the first time you've done work in the studio?

With Nite Jewel, yeah. It's the first time I've worked in a studio with acoustic instruments being recorded on mics. I have a home studio where I go direct through pretty shitty stuff - pretty horrible gear. But yeah, this is the first time with this particular project that I'll be recording in a studio with band.

Has it been a good experience?

Oh hell yeah. Working in a studio with an engineer and a band…I mean, there's nothing better than that. I feel bad for these kids who are spending the majority of their time recording in their bedrooms. It's fucking fine for a little while, but if you're a real musician that shit gets dull.

You’ve been to Austin before, right?

I was there in 2009.

Also for South by Southwest?

Yeah, and then I was there with Deerhunter and Times New Viking.

What do you think about the city - comparatively speaking - to L.A.?

Austin?

Yeah.

Oh man, its really hard for me to judge. You know, because I was only there for like, a short period of time with Deerhunter. And at South By it gives you such a weird perspective.

That’s true.

When I was at Southwest in 2009 I was staying at Lake Travis. I didn't really get to hang out or see much. It’s sort of you know, like down-home. Kinda country and dusty…you know what I mean? But it definitely has a super thriving art scene. I always feel very welcome there. I'm sort of expecting this to be a clusterfuck, because it’s south by southwest. Looking forward to it.

Nite Jewel: [website]