Hi all! I'm Pop Warner your guide to some of coolest indie rock and quality pop music out there today. The fine folks at antiMusic bestowed on me the honor of interviewing artists that I discover in my travels and for this very first Pop Warner interview I spoke with the incredibly talented lass by the name of Jasy Andrews about her big debut Little Girl. If you're like me you like artists that not only have talent but don't put themselves into a musical box but instead spread their wings to discover different styles and sounds. Jasy did just that with this LP and I was excited to discuss the music with her. 

Pop: Jasy, welcome to antiMusic.com! Thought you might be thrown by our name, but don't worry, we love music and are actually one of the leading sites for cool new and indie music coverage online. Enough about us, let's talk about you. Right now, you're promoting your debut LP, Little Girl out nationally through Versailles Records, how has it been going so far?

Jasy: The critical response has been really positive so far. I've started playing out live around Nashville with my band, which has been exciting because the album's songs come to life in a whole new way. My band includes my fiancé Chris Lambert on drums, he's got a jazz background, and my brother Jason Andrews on guitar, and Nathan Woods on bass. It's a very exciting time. 

Pop: We understand you are an operatically trained singer and classically-trained pianist- how did you make the leap from that to the pop singer/songwriter you are today?

Jasy: I love opera still, and listen to it a lot. As for piano, all of my training comes to bear because I know I wouldn't be able to play- or sing- as well as I do without the training. As far as the leap, the music I make now was always in my heart deeper than the opera was. I would say its analogous to the sculptor chopping away at the stone to get to the sculpture he ended up with. I love the training, but more as a means to the end of writing and arranging my own music, putting harmony into them, I just love the process. My training plays heavily into my writing- as far as structure… I don't think there has to be a fixed structure to a song, I don't believe you have to have a bridge, and a chorus, two versus in the beginning- which runs opposite to opera, where they do have the A B A structure. But there's still a free-spirited beauty to the way the music is performed, it just soars. So as far as arranging, listening to a lot of classical composers has definitely helped me in striking a balance between the traditional 'structure', if you will, of opera compositions and those that exist within pop composition. I try to leave enough room in my music to soar, so to speak…

Pop: Little Girl is a double LP, which is quite an ambitious amount of material for a debut LP, what led you to decide on a two-CD album?

Jasy: I think every song tells a story, and all of these stories are a compilation of the last 10 years of my life. Every song fits like chapters in the story of my life- to where you couldn't leave anything out, because the story would then be incomplete. I think we ended up with a good read, or listen I guess… (Laughs)

Pop: One listen through the CD and you hear a lot of potential hit singles, obvious ones include 'I'll Do That Much,' 'Slide Show,' and 'Keep It Up,' do you tend to write with commercial appeal in mind, or is it more subconscious?

Jasy: I guess a little. I don't write thinking 'This could be on the radio.' I write thinking 'This is catchy to me, so hopefully its gonna be catchy to someone else.' I think I have a fairly honed instinct for that, so I hope with every song it translates into something that sounds as appealing to my fans as it does to me. 

Pop: We read a quote somewhere about the way you see music in colors when you write… Would you elaborate on this please?

Jasy: I see music in colors when I write, so each song on this album represents a different shade of the female emotional experience, be it pain or happiness, in love and in life. This album is in many ways a soundtrack to the world I see around me. Each of the 18 songs on this record tells a different story that autobiographically speaks for someone, so I believe there's something for everyone to relate to.

Pop: You've appeared on several tribute albums, including tributes to Tina Turner and Bon Jovi. Was that your label's idea, and do you feel there are fans within the hard rock demographic that would dig your material? Are you scheduled to appear on any future tribute albums?

Jasy: I am scheduled to appear on a couple of my label's future tribute albums. I enjoy the tribute records because it's a chance to do something totally different from my own music, and also gain exposure to a totally different demographic of listeners. Its pretty much my choice of which songs I pick to sing, and my real goal with any cover song I do is to put my own spin on it. Like sprinkling Jasy fairy dust over a song that's always been one way to give you a different take on it that is all my own. I think if you read any of the critical feedback I've gotten so far in response to the cover songs I've done, its been positive, most notably because my take on the tunes- for instance, 'I'll Be There For You' or 'Private Dancer' maintains the spirit of the original, but reinvents the song in a truly new musical image. That's the greatest nod I could pay to any of the artists whose songs I cover.

Pop: If you had one ideally perfect fan base or listening demographic you are trying to reach with this album, who would it be?

Jasy: It would be people who will listen to my words, and take in the arrangements and harmonies, and the beauty of my style. This record is about the cumulative experience of growing up from 16- which is a hard age- to 26, and all the changes a female goes through growing into a woman- this album is a mirror for all the things you see and places you go along the way. Its about how much I've grown from then to now, and I think really shows in this album. It's a record any woman can relate to.

Pop: There's quite a bit of stylistic variety on this album. When you write a song, do you have any kind of routine or approach that is signature to all of your music, or is each different? 

Jasy: Each song is different. One norm when I write is that I'm definitely a person who writes at night, so there's a bit of reflection in the way I compose. I don't necessarily have to be happy or sad, but I have so many different melodies running through my head all the time that at night, when I wind down, if I have one I really like, I'll sleep on it, and if I wake up and its still in my head, then I know it was meant to be, and I can finish the song. That's my test for any song, if it lasts the night, then I know it will stand any longer test of time with my fans. 

Pop: What are your favorite songs from the record?

Jasy: I really like 'Slideshow,' I love the way it turned out, there's a lot of momentum in that song. I also like 'I Already Knew', I think the melody's great and it does have a commercial feel to it, accidentally almost. I also love 'I'll Do That Much,' its got a lot of head voice, its just a beautiful song.

Pop: Tell us a little bit about your live show? Do you have a specific vibe you like to go for with fans, and what do you find the greatest challenges to playing live in a city as musically competitive as Nashville is?

Jasy: It is competitive in Nashville- but Nashville's not as country oriented as people seem to think. They seem to think all that's here is hats and boots, but there's really a lot of different styles here. I think that people are open to every one of them as an audience. So its not that much of a challenge. On stage, I can't not be myself as an artist when I perform, and I think that comes across to my fans. 

Pop: Do you have any plans to release a live album at some point?

Jasy: I would love to release a live album. When I play the songs from Little Girl live, they come to life in an entirely different way- I really feel it takes an audience to make any music work. So, I'd love to capture the energy of my life show on record.

Pop: There is a pronounced Jazz influence in your music, specifically on songs like 'Who Was Wrong' and 'His Song', do you have a hidden jazz influence in your musical pallet? Will your future music have a more pronounced jazz presence? 

Jasy: I think so. I studied Jazz in college, and I do have some Jazz influence in my background, but it doesn't drive my musical style of writing or playing. I have an immense amount of respect for players of Jazz- the drummer in my band is a Jazz drummer- so I think it adds something wonderfully organic to my band's live sound, and therein my overall sound. 

Pop: Speaking of the future, what direction will you be taking your music on a sophomore Jasy Andrews album? Will there by more instrumentation on the next album?

Jasy: There definitely will be more instrumentation on my next record. I was in a band two years back called Inner Jonez, and I was the principal songwriter for that project. I worked the songs out with the band, but wrote them alone, and did our entire set in about 2 weeks. So obviously this time around- with my solo material- I'll take more time. But its honestly easier for me to write for a band- its actually harder when its just me and a piano. So I definitely hear more instruments- strings, saxophone, more guitars- on my next album. I definitely have to have the ballads- those are signature for me- but the record will have more of a band feel overall.

Pop: Finally, if you could be anywhere commercially in 10 years- meaning Shania Twain or Dar Williams- where would you ideally like to be in your career?

Jasy: As long as a have an underground fan base that is loyal, and as long as I have people who admire me for what I do- know the words to my songs by heart at the shows… I would just love to be playing by then to a huge audience, all of whom were singing the words to my songs along with me, that's where I want to be. I don't necessarily need to be on Billboards, I'd rather have an underground, loyal fan base- but I'd take arenas, don't get me wrong. (Laughs) Realistically though, I hope to keep my audience and live show more intimate in the same time, so theatres would be fine too… I just hope to still be doing what I'm doing now, just at a more established level as far as my long-term career is concerned. I think the key to that is staying in touch with my audience- both through the music I release, but also in the way I perform it for my fans.

That's it for now folks! To check out Jasy's goings-on, visit her online at the links below. 

Pop Warner: Jasy Andrews Interview

Label:Versailles

Purchase This CD Online

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