Q: I genuinely love “Storm in a Teacup’ so much! Can you share how this amazing song came to be?
Jackie: Thank you so much! Storm in a Teacup was actually a song I had been trying to write for a really long time. I had been trying to write about this thing for so long, and it’s an extremely personal thing, so I was trying to write something that would both get the point across but also not be so personal that I wasn’t comfortable sharing it. I wrote this version of the song picturing myself having a conversation with this person, all the things I had been wanting to say to him but couldn’t. I sat down one night with my guitar and just started writing, and it just came to me. I recorded it soon after all in one take, just me singing and playing my guitar, because it felt so much more raw being a live recording. I went back a little later and added in the few harmonies. I also always loved the idea of using a common phrase or saying in a song, because it’s something that’s so familiar to people and usually very relatable, so I’m happy I found I way to do that and that it ended up being this song!
Q: Are you the type of artist that when inspiration strikes, the lyrics and melody just come flowing out or does it take some time to put together?
Jackie: I think it really just depends. Sometimes I come up with a cool lyric, and I’m like “I don’t have anything to do with this right now and I have no melody, but it would be a cool line, so I’ll save it for later,” and I just put it in my notes app on my phone and I usually do end up coming back to it. Other times, I just have a cool melody idea in my head, and it comes out of nowhere so I’ll be at school or something and I’ll end up leaving class and going to the bathroom so I’m able to hum it into my voice memos! Then there’s that rare time where it all comes at once, and often times I think those are my favorite songs.
Q: If you could swap places with any artist for a day, who would you choose?
Jackie: Taylor Swift! It would be so cool to get to write and talk with people like Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner and all the other incredible musicians and writers she works with.
Q: Do you have any hobbies outside of music?
Jackie: Yeah! I love to watercolor paint, and I also ski a lot with my family!
Q: What do you enjoy most about being an artist?
Jackie: I love it when people can relate. When someone tells me that they can relate to one of my songs or even just a lyric, it makes me feel like I’ve done my job, I guess. All anyone wants is music that they can relate to, or a song that matches their current emotions, and when someone tells me that one of my songs has done that for them, it makes me feel very accomplished. Another one of my favorite things about being an artist is storytelling. I love telling stories in my lyrics, and I love having people notice small details and piece the story together, it’s so exciting to me. It’s something I’m actually going to be focusing on a lot in my first EP, Night Music, which will be released on March 4th!
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Jackie: My parents have always told me, especially with music, whenever I’m second guessing something, to just do it. To just get it out there however and wherever I can, because you never know what could happen. And it’s worked, because I never would’ve released music or thought about writing an album at 15 if it weren’t for them, and I definitely would not be where I am today.
Written By Sarah Curry
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