Jennifer Hershman is gearing up for a busy February.
The Vancouver singer-songwriter will be releasing her third album Never Ever Wanna on February 17th and will be playing an album release party that evening at the Electric Owl. Hershman’s music career has been seasoned by a variety of collaborations and inspirations, but has notably taken efforts into her own hands.
We had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer about her inspirations, her growth as a musician, and what to expect next week at her album release show.
asapmusicblog.ca: What was the first song in your memory that inspired you to pursue music?
Jennifer Hershman: As a child, Paul Simon ‘Slip Slidin’ Away’. I just remember being in love with that song and it was the first record that I asked for when I was a kid – it was a 45. I was lucky because I grew up with a lot of music but I would say that was the first song I fell in love with.
A: The approach you took in creating your new EP was to get back to the music that you listened to in your childhood. Was there anything that came out of the recording process that came as a surprise to you?
JH: Definitely. Hopefully things just get creative in the process, right? You don’t plan everything in a creative process, for me anyway. We ended up doing a solo in ‘Keep Each Other Alive’ that was totally Pink Floyd. I listened to Pink Floyd in high school, but I never would have imagined having a very Pink Floyd influenced part along with a guitar solo in one of my songs – that was a nice surprise!
A: Never Ever Wanna is your third solo release. What would you consider has been the greatest growth for you between your first album and this one?
JH: That’s a good question. I feel like a very different artist, you know, so that’s such a hard question to answer. To be uninhibited is a big growth for me, to not feel like there are any boundaries. You don’t have to write a song in a certain way, it doesn’t have to be structured a certain way. I just feel like I do what I want now, I do what I truly feel. I would just hope that I’ve just become just a stronger and more fluent songwriter as well as a singer, and just trusting my instincts.
A: When I was reading your bio, I was reading the part where you talked about picking up the guitar back in 2003 because you realized that you needed to learn how to play in order to write your own songs. I thought that was a cool direction that you went in.
JH: Yeah! It’s nice to be independent, right? I think I was also a bit frustrated, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to just be able to do this!’ It’s a long kind of road, to learn an instrument and it can be very frustrating at first because it takes so much time to get it right. I felt very determined to want to be able to succeed – that’s another aspect of it.
I was collaborating with a lot of different people at the time, and they were in the driver’s seat of the production and where the songs were going. I could write the melodies and a lot of the lyrics, but to really create something from the ground up, it just can’t be done without play an instrument to help yourself along.
A: Your EP release party is on February 17th at the Electric Owl. For those who haven’t seen you live, what can they expect?
JH: I don’t like to toot my own horn much – I’m a very humble person, but for my live show, it’s mostly about my voice and the songs, so that’s in the forefront and that’s what it’s about. I’m going to have the acoustic guitar and have my friend Michelle Faehrmann join me on the cello. It’s just going to be an intimate, warm show just to share my stories and my songs.
For more information on Jennifer Hershman, head over to: http://jenniferhershman.com.
