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AUSTIN, TX- Jerry Williams is a charmingly sweet, British indie pop, singer/songwriter. At the young age of 22, she’s been able to capitalize on her savvy social media presence, and her ever so catchy melodies, to endear new fans to her music earning over 6 millions streams of her tunes on Spotify.
We were able to spend a few moments with Jerry in Austin on her day off to get to know her, and we spoke about her music and what she’s got planned for us in the future.
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Just to let you know, I haven’t gotten any sleep. So, if I kind of lose my train of thought, just…
I’m the same, I’m the same. Haha.
So, Jerry, It’s nice to meet you!
Nice to meet YOU!
(Laughter by both parties)
We were just talking about how you raised money through a Pledge Music campaign to raise funds for your SXSW trip. First off, congrats on accomplishing your goal.
Thank you!
How were you able to gain the audience that you currently have, who actually chipped in to fund your trip to the US?
I’ve just been playing shows for so long, every show I could do. I just played it and, ya know, just built up a fan base really naturally. So it’s taken a long time to really build up this fan base, but you know what, I spend time after every show to talk to people, sign CD’s and meet people. I’m friends with a lot of my fans now, which is lovely, and it’s nice they want to support me. So yeah, just through working hard and just meeting people, yeah.
How long have you been performing for? When was your first gig and how many years have you been at it, developing your fan base?
I played my first gig when I was 17, so I’m 22 now, so what’s that, like 5 years? OMG it’s gone so quick […] I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12, I learned classical guitar, and then songwriting that whole time but was quite shy and never performed until I was 17, so I’ve been doing it non stop since then.
What was the first song you wrote and recorded?
The first song I wrote and recorded was […] called “We Should Be in Love”. I’ve still got the recording of it and [when] I listen to it back now and [I kinda cringe when I hear it].
(Jerry laughs)
No plans on making it a Pledge Music rewards then?
Do you know what? It is a good song, I’m pretty proud of that song for how young I was when I wrote it, but maybe in the future, not yet.
Save it for a B-Side?
Save it for a B-Side, yeah, definitely!
Who are some of your musical influences?
I’m really into bands like Coldplay, a band called Slow Club, they’re one of my favorite bands ever. It’s like a boy and a girl duo and their lyrics are just amazing and their stories beautiful. They are a big inspiration of mine. Vampire weekend, love their production things like that, so they are probably my main 3 that I always go back to.
So tell me a little bit about your upcoming album, what can we expect? Stylistically? Thematically?
Over the last however long I’ve been writing songs now, [my music] has come towards […] a bit more edgy pop sound. All my songs are […] cut from the same cloth […], which is nice for me. But all my stories … I’ve got new concepts to write about now, where I’ve experienced more in my life and I’ve grown up a bit so there’s a lot of new stories that are different from what I wrote from when I was younger. So yeah, there’s a lot more narrative.
What kind of stories?
[When I was younger], I used to write about boys and “he doesn’t love me anymore” and things like that, and as I’ve grown up, ya know, I’ve experienced [things] like loss in the family and meeting people, like I met this alcoholic in a bar and he was telling me his life story, and I wrote about that and things like that.
What’s the name of that song?
“David at the Bar”
That’s not out yet, right?
It’s not out yet, no, but people want it to be out. It’s nice, when I play that live. That’s the one that really sticks with them.
If there was one thing that you wanted a listener to take way from your album, what that be?
Oh, that’s a really hard question. I always say, whenever people hear my songs, I just want them to feel something. I’d love them to feel an emotion or make them feel happy, sad, want to cry. So, I just hope I can make my listener feel something, and feel connected and to a lot of my songs about living life and you know, just go out there and enjoy it and your only here once sort of thing. Sounds cheesy, but that’s probably the message I want to get across. It’s normal.
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It’s absolutely normal and we can’t wait to feel something with her music when the new alum comes out.
Follow Jerry Williams on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SXSW 2018 COVERAGE!
