Sweetest In The Morning
An Interview with Jill Andrews
Honey dripped melodies mixed with some honest Tennessee rumpus. This is the music of Jill Andrews. For years Jill’s tunes made waves in the music industry in the form of the alt-country band the everybodyfields. Now on her own, she continues to impress as her song writing blooms. Her style captivates, her melodies haunt, and her lyrics mix well with morning coffee.
So, if you haven’t heard her latest album, grab a copy, a friend, and a beer and enjoy late at night under summer’s stars.
TDS: You have had a lot of change in the past year, personally. You have gotten married and had a baby. How have those changes affected your song writing and touring?
ANDREWS: Having our baby has effected everything the most. One hundred percent. Songwriting now happens when I get a chance to do it. I have to really schedule time to song write. I have to schedule time to do a lot of things. I have to ask can you come over and watch my baby for a couple hours while I tinker on the guitar. But Nico loves music so I have started to play guitar around him a lot and he is so enthralled by it and he sits and stares at the strings and really like it.
TDS: You have said before that song writing process does not come naturally. So now it is maybe even more difficult because of time. How does the process work for you?
ANDREWS: Well, like I said, I really have to make myself sit down and play guitar and write. I do have those moments where something will hit me and whoa, boom, bang, I have a song. But that only happens a couple times a year. The other times I have to really sit down and put my nose to the grindstone a little bit and just work at it.
I never sit down and say “I am going to write a song about such and such.” I never do that. I’m always in some sort of weird emotional, mental state—a dreamlike state almost. Like when you are really tired or so emotionally drained you are in a daze. That’s actually a great state-of-mind for me to write in. So, the morning groggy-time is a good song writing time.
TDS: What emotion would you say songs come to you in a more natural way—pain, joy?
ANDREWS: I would say a lot of them have come from pain. Most of them come from pain.
TDS: Is it a little easier to express yourself, or deal with that pain, through the writing process?
ANDREWS: Yeah, I think so. I am not much of a confrontational person. In fact, I’m pretty passive. So, sometimes when I come to a stalemate with somebody that I am having a hard time with and can no longer argue with I think, Okay, I am going to put pen to paper and then you will know exactly what I meant. (laughs) Not in a vindictive way—it’s just one of the ways I deal with things.
TDS: You once said that your song “A Way Out” was written for a friend of yours that was dealing with a hard time in their life. I am wondering what you think about music and it’s ability to heal, or point to healing. Or is music more passive?
ANDREWS: I really do think it can heal people, in so many ways. Melodies can really change people’s lives—and words, especially. Combining those two things is a magical experience for a lot of people.
I used to think that by being a musician I wasn’t doing anything special for anybody and that was something that I would struggle with. But now, after talking to people that have told me how much my music means to them—things like, “I listened to your music during a divorce I was going through” or “I listened to your music while having a baby” (laughs). All these things people have told me over the years, it really blows my mind.
TDS: Do you think coming to that realization has given a little more gravity to your songwriting? You have a bit of a responsibility when you write?
ANDREWS: Yeah, I think so. I know that I have a responsibility to my listeners—young or old—to write things that are going to be good (in a way). And lately my songs have been a little more hopeful. I think that has been a conscious and unconscious progression for me because that is what I want for people. I don’t want them to hear my songs and think, “Oh man the world is crashing down and everything is going to hell.” I don’t want that at all. I want people to listen to my songs and think that things can be really good. They might not be good right now, but things can be really good.
TDS: Where do you find hope?
ANDREWS: I’m kind of a blind optimist. I’ve always been that way, even when things are obviously really, really bad. I just stick with it and stick with it and stick with it until there is absolutely nothing else I can do but leave or get out of the situation. So, I don’t know where it comes from, maybe it is part of being a Gemini (laughs).
I always know that no matter how bad things get I still have Nico—that’s a steadying thought. Nothing gets in the way of my responsibility as Nico’s parent. No matter how bad my day is I know that I have this little guy—he’s so amazing, so beautiful. That’s something I can always fall back on.
TDS: What’s easier for you: love or music?
ANDREWS: Music. (laughs) Love is hard for everybody.
TDS: How would you define success for you as a person and is there conflict with that professionally?
ANDREWS: Yeah, I definitely do. For instance, if I wasn’t in music, if I didn’t have to be around Interstates that would take me far, far away from where I lived. And if I didn’t have to be in the same town that all my band members were in—I would love to move up to New Hampshire and live in a cabin on a bunch of land. Have a dog and play music and cook and learn how to knit. (laughs)
I kind of just want to be a grandma basically, without looking like a grandma or feeling like a grandma. But just have the most peaceful existence possible. That would be my utopia. Nothing to do but make coffee and breakfast, maybe bake muffins. Play with my son. Take a walk in the woods.
So professionally, of course, that conflicts a lot. I need to be around a city and where I live now is pretty central. If I lived in New Hampshire that would be tough.
TDS: We mentioned earlier some of the recent changes in your life – marriage and baby. The other big change, of course, is the breakup of the everybodyfields. I’m curious, what the biggest surprise of that whole situation has been for you?
ANDREWS: I think the biggest surprise for me was that the world wasn’t going to end. It was such a big part of my life. It was one hundred percent of my life for 5+ years and when we finally discussed giving it up, it was hard. It was everything I knew for a long time. But when it was done I realized, “Oh, I can still do this.”
When the everybodyfields were done I was thinking I was done with music. But, I had a lot of encouragement from people, especially my husband (who is now my manager) who said, “No, you’re not done, you can still do this. The everybodyfields, that was where you learned how to do it but now you have to carry on by yourself.”
TDS: Do you miss the collaboration aspect of being in a group?
ANDREWS: Well, I still work in a group. I have a band that plays with me all the time.
TDS: Are you writing with them?
ANDREWS: No, I wouldn’t say I’m writing with them. But I didn’t really write with anybody in the everybodyfields either. Sam and I wrote a little bit together in the beginning but really for the past 3 years we were doing it on our own.
With the new band it’s just so great. We get together and we work out the songs and we get them the way we all want them. And everyone is so great and talented. We are all so supportive and encouraging to each other. It is really a great atmosphere for me, and them, to be in. It is the healthiest band I have ever been in—probably one of the healthiest bands ever.
When we travel we get in the van and we laugh for as many hours as it takes to get from Point A to Point B. We load in. We laugh some more. We eat. We drink a couple beers. We play a show. Then, we laugh all the way home. We have a great time.
TDS: When music is done for you, way down the road, and you look back, what do you want to be remembered for?
ANDREWS: Before I ever started playing music the one goal that I had was that I wanted to be able to write songs, play an instrument, and to sing. At the time I remember thinking, “I want to be like Joni Mitchell.” She did all those things. I never wanted to just stand on stage with a wireless microphone and move my hips a lot. (laughs)
I never wanted to do that. I guess my main goal is that I want to have my work respected by a good amount of people. I don’t want to be Celine Dion famous or anything like that. I just want people to look back and think “Oh, yeah, that girl. She was really good at what she did and I respect the way she did it.”
TDS: What’s next for you and the band?
ANDREWS: We are going to start working on a full-length album either in the spring or summer of 2010 and hopefully have that come out in the fall. We are going to be on the road a lot too.
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