Jesca Hoop Interview
As I arrive at Barfly I am greeted by a cheery young lady who offers to make me a cup of tea while she prepares a ginger, lemon and honey drink for some of the crew.
This lady is the extremely down to earth Jesca Hoop, a songwriter from Southern California via Manchester.
After she made a cup of tea for me, and attempted to hold a conversation in Welsh, we settled in the very decorated artists’ area and Jesca answered some questions for us:
Recently you made the decision to move to Manchester. Most people who move to the UK automatically head to London, what made you choose Manchester?
Love. I fell in love and moved to Manchester to be with them. I love London but I couldn’t live there, mostly because I’d rather live where things are affordable.
If you wanted to escape from everything, do you have a hideaway where you’d always head to?
Not over here yet. I would probably head to Spain, but back at home I would always head to the north east Californian coast.
At what age did you realise that you were to be a professional singer?
I was always a singer, throughout my life, however when I was 28 I made the decision to do it seriously. It comes with its challenges and my life isn’t as simple as it was, but that’s okay.
It is well publicised that you were raised in a strict Mormon community until you opted out and lived your life outside of the community. It seems to lend itself a lot to the “quirky” tag that a lot of reviewers give you, what do you think of this?
There’s a quirky element to what to I do but not all of what I do is quirky. I think a lot of it is people being lazy. My family still live by their Mormon ideals except for my younger brother, who teeters in it, but I'm done.
You come across as being very modest in interviews, is this because you were raised in a musical community rather than being the centre of attention?
I think being interviewed is boasting enough, having your name in print is boasting enough! I know before I decided to perform for a living I had to justify it to myself. I thought: why would I put myself in the middle of the room and demand that everyone pay attention to me? And I couldn’t justify it. So maybe it has something to do with my constitution, I don’t know. My family are natural performers, natural thespians. My mind will ask me to argue the point “if you’re going to do that, how does that make sense?” So I just decided it doesn’t matter if it makes sense anymore. But I don’t have to justify it to myself anymore. In this world where people are celebrities for the sake of it I find it difficult to justify that lifestyle, I could never do that.
There are lots of comparisons used to describe your style, like Joanna Newsom frequently and Imogen Heap. Which has been the most dubious comparison you have seen?
The Cranberries, just because we are females. That is the only reason that these people compare us to anyone, that we are females, and people are still coming to terms with females as performers and holding a platform.
Which song do you wish you had written?
There are a lot of them but... Running Up The Hill by Kate Bush, her example of being a left eccentric female.
What was the last record you purchased?
The last record I purchased was either Iron & Wine or The Clash - London Calling, but I have mostly been listening to BBC Radio 6. I have been working really hard so letting the radio play has been the way to go.
What is the best live gig you ever attended?
The Beastie Boys, it was my first concert, that and Erykah Badu. The first times have a lot to do with it.
If you were to have an ultimate line-up, sharing the bill with two acts, who would they be?
An ultimate fantasy line-up? Dead or alive? I would share the stage with Bulgarian Women’s Choir, well, I’d have them with me as my backing band, so they don’t count. I’d say Jeff Buckley and, well, I would say, I would love to play with Bon Iver. In a church, with no amplification.
What is your opinion on file sharing? Would you rather have a venue full of people singing along, or an empty room but everyone having the CD at home?
That’s a good way to put it. If they paid for the show I’d rather have a full, oh, I don’t think you’d have to have a room full of people who haven’t paid for the music, so I would rather people be educated about what they are doing and the consequences of what they are doing. The copying has always happened, and it always will happen. When we were recording with cassette tapes we were recording at such a slow rate that it didn’t damage anything, and the rate that kids are copying music has transformed the music industry. The music industry has evolved into something else. Downloading has turned this industry into something else. It is good in some ways and it is not great in others. I just wish the kids knew what they were doing, and their parents would make them aware, and their teachers would make them aware so that they could understand that the consequence is felt by their musical heroes when you don’t give something in return and you are part of a damaging movement. It’s the person who wrote the song who is missing out, it’s their material. Things like MTV Cribs hide what it takes to earn a living in this field, earning a living is the most important thing. There are benefits as a musician but it does not allow mindlessness on behalf of pirates.
What would be the first change you made if you became Prime Minister?
If I made one change, I never would have gone to fight in Iraq. But to pull out now would not be possible, strategic cleaning would be the only option, so maybe that would be less immediate! I would have a serious talking to the Queen about the guards of the palace, the Yeomen Warders, I think they need a break from standing sometimes. It’s really difficult to stand for that period of time, I mean how long do they stand there for? Humans, they stand for about 5 minutes before they sit down, and they stand there for hours! I think it is unreasonable to ask them to stand there for that long! The Queen should stand on guard for an entire day once a year, just to get how they feel. And I’d turn Buckingham Palace into flats for the homeless.
Thank you very much for your time!
You’re welcome very much!
Jesca’s latest album Hunting My Dress is available now.
Leisure orgs in Cardiff are here.
