Pop Star

It’s always impressive how much Princetonians are able to do on top of their schoolwork. Jess Turner ’12, an English major from New York, epitomizes this: She released her self-titled debut album of catchy pop tunes on Jan. 1, which you can stream for free at jessturnermusic.com or look up on iTunes and Amazon, and as any senior will probably tell you, that’s no small feat on top of extracurricular commitments and having to write a thesis. Street sat down with her to find out about her musical talents and exactly how she managed to pull off the whole thing.

Q: What’s your musical background? Do you come from a musical family?

A: My great-grandmother actually was a pianist for silent movies, which I think is so cool. I was trained classically in piano and cello from a very young age, and I did that whole classical thing for a while, and then around 13 or 14 I just started writing. It just kind of evolved out of messing around on the piano ... I started with classical stuff, like I wrote fugues.

Q: Writing fugues at 13 is impressive.

A: Fugues aren’t actually that hard; they’re just a bunch of rules ... It’s kind of like math. And I started playing guitar and saxophone [around then]. And I sing. I’m working on drums; that’s the one thing I need help with.

Q: How would you describe your music, in terms of genre or mood?

A: I guess the technical genre is “singer/songwriter.” Apparently that’s a genre now. I guess also acoustic pop, like a little folky … kind of more like John Mayer, Sara Bareilles, Gavin DeGraw. It’s generally acoustic-based. I do really want to start experimenting with electronics, but I just don’t have the technical skills.

Q: You’ve also composed some classical music. Would you say the processes of the two are similar? Does one influence the other?

A: Well, one definitely influences the other. If you listen to the CD there’s a lot of cello on it, because that used to be my main instrument … I write a lot of cello lines in my pop songs that are pretty involved. A lot of times you’ll hear strings in pop music that’s just a lot of long notes, which works — I do that sometimes, too — but in the fourth track, “Cold Blue Eyes,” there are four different cello tracks playing four different lines.

I guess that’s the main way that my classical stuff influences the pop stuff. It goes in reverse, too; that’s why I like film scoring ... [It’s] like classical and pop combined. It has the technique and some of the theory that’s involved with classical music, and it has the widespread emotional appeal [of pop]. You have to understand the instrumentation and classical parts to write them, but sometimes the best film scores sound poppy.

Q: Did you play everything on the album yourself?

A: Yeah, everything except for drums and bass.

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Q: How did you release the album?

A: I have a publisher ... It’s like publishing a book. If you want, you could have a record label, which is more about promotion. It’s actually very interesting to read about this stuff, but very few people need to be signed to record labels anymore. That whole system is disappearing; not on purpose, but because of like, YouTube and SoundCloud — you can promote yourself and get exposure without a label. [The promotion] is generally just me, but right now everything’s on hold a little bit until I graduate. Right now I’m doing stuff online … I don’t have time to go and play a bunch of venues when I’m trying to write my thesis.

Q: Is there a physical copy?

A: It’s being printed as we speak … I debated whether or not to even make physical CDs, but I just like it. The process was really fun. I got to work with this designer in Paris.

Q: You’re an English major, but did you take music classes in Princeton to further your interests?

A: What’s funny is that there are a really large number of English classes about music. Probably a third of my coursework in Princeton has been music-related. Both my JPs were.

Q: During the creative process, did you get any help or was it just all you?

A: It’s all me, which is good because I’m very self-sufficient ... but once I leave Princeton I’m definitely going to try and get a band together. Whenever I play gigs at Princeton I always get friends to play with me ... I love playing with musicians, but I don’t have a set back-up band right now. That’s probably my number-one priority once I graduate.

Q: How did you produce the music?

A: I went to a studio ... a few different ones actually, mostly in New York and Boston ... It was good practice. It’s fun, but you only have a certain amount of time. You kind of have to know what you’re doing ... like a performance. If you’re having an off day, that stinks, but you have to just do it.

Q: What other on-campus activities are you part of?

A: I’m in eXpressions, Theta and Tower. I wrote music for Triangle … I wish I’d gotten involved in that more, but for this past show [I wrote] the silly little song with the vacuum, the Roomba song. I [also] wrote the nun’s one, and I wrote the love song, called “Perfect.” It’s the one serious song. Now I know that I want to do musical theater, too. It was really fun writing for them.

Q: Has their been any initial reception to the album?

A: Yeah, I’m on a bunch of different [streaming] websites. One of them is called Jango.com, and there’s been a huge spike in listeners. [And] I was out on the Street a few nights ago, and a random guy was just like, “Hey, Jess, I like your album,” and I was like, “Oh ... thanks!”

Q: What are your plans after you graduate?

A: The plan is to work in the industry [at a record label, Universal] while also trying to pursue my own career. I kind of like to have both going on ... I think it’s important to understand the business side as well as the creative side. It’s weird because I feel like it’s so not Princeton. I feel like I should be going into finance. I might do that if I totally fail, but I feel like I should do the stupid thing first.

Q: Do you have any motivating words or advice to aspiring young musicians in Princeton?

A: Get to know who else is writing music on campus or who else plays certain instruments, because being involved in the community is really fun and really helpful in terms of asking [people] for advice. Try to get hooked into the Princeton community. It’s a really fun and welcoming one.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Reed Tan.