Jenny Lindfors
Having already made a name for herself in her native Ireland Jenny Lindfors is hoping to make the same impression in the UK and beyond with her debut album When The Night Time Comes. Female First caught up with Jenny for a chat.For anyone who hasn’t heard it how would you describe your sound?
I suppose kind of retro, folky you know. All the stuff I loved growing up was all Neil Young, Joanie Mitchell and all that kind of stuff so if anyone likes that kind of music it will be worth a listen.
How did you get into music?
Initially through my fathers record collection because he had so many albums and my uncles are all just fanatically into music. One of my uncles was a promoter in the late seventies in Dublin so he brought in a lot of bands so I was just sort of intoxicated by the whole scene from a very young age really.
There are lots of new artists coming out at the moment, what makes you different from all the rest?
I think probably because I’m not so consumed by style and image. There’s a lot of attitude and a lot of ego I think you know. I mean I live in east London and I always find it hilarious, there’s a certain strut about people and ever time I read about any female artist they tend to possess a really edgy quality and I can’t speak for all of them but there’s definitely an element of insincerity and something quite contrived about a lot of them and I guess I just try to stay away from that and be as honest as I possibly can.
You’re already getting rave reviews in Ireland, what are your ambitions for the UK?
The same hopefully! The response in Ireland has been amazing but because it’s such a small country it’s so hard to get your head above water in terms of making money and stuff like that so over here I’m just hoping that the same thing happens and I can just start touring. I’ve done quite a bit of touring around the UK already as a support act and it’s been really really great so just the opportunity to tour more and build an audience over here would be amazing.
That leads to our next question; you’ve already toured with Adele, what was that like?
I did one support with Adele in Dublin and it was fantastic. I was very nervous because the music I make is quite quiet, well it’s definitely a quiet set up as when I’m doing a lot of supports I just play on my own with a guitar and they loved it and I was really not expecting that! I expected them just to go ‘who is this?’ Were two female artists, fair enough, but we’re very different. I did an Etta James cover and they loved that so it went really well actually.
How did that come about for you to support Adele?
Well I had basically an agent in Dublin who works for a company called Pod Concerts and they needed a support at the last minute and in I came.
Have you started doing your own gigs now?
A little bit yeah. I’m starting to do a few round London and basically looking to doing more touring and not concentrating on London so much but really just trying to get a lump of gigs in one and I’m just working on trying to find musicians to play with so I can get a little touring ensemble going.
So the gigs you’ve done so far have they been going well?
They’ve been going great yeah, just a really nice response. I think people are always quite surprised by the Irish wit and the bluntness and the openness. There’s definitely a sort of formality I find with a lot of other acts and I’m just quite relaxed, gift of the gab and all that, so I just sit there chatting to them. It puts people at ease so they have been going really well yeah.
Who are your favourite artists in the industry?
At the moment? Who do I really like let me think…most of the stuff I listen to is very very old so its very kind of hard but I suppose I should give a shout out to my other compadres. There’s two girls who are from Ireland called Cathy Davey and the other is called Wallis Bird they’ve both just released albums in the UK and I think they’re both absolutely amazing.
Is there anyone you would like to work with?
Oh loads. There are a lot of Irish percussionists. I’d like to start working with some African musicians that do a lot of percussion and a producer that used to do a lot of Beck and Radiohead stuff called Nigel Godrich. I think that would be a dream come true to work with him.
Is there anyone you would compare yourself to now or in the past?
It’s really hard for me to do that. I think that’s basically left for other people to do because it’s not something that I feel comfortable doing and I really don’t know. There’s a lot of comparisons with female artist like Bonnie Raitt, Joanie Mitchell that kind of stuff. A lot of people in the Irish press refer to a woman called Laura Nyro and no ones really heard of her and she’s a big influence on me so that kind of genre and that kind of era is what I’m mostly compared to.
Your album is called ‘When The Night Time Comes’, where did that name come from?
Well the first track on the album is called ‘Night Time’ and the songs were all written revolving around experiences either to do with just letting your hair down in the evening time and partying and it was an exercise in imperviousness for me as an individual, you know the years revolving around when I started writing material were just all about letting go and throwing caution to the wind and not caring what people thought. Then the other songs, its kind of like its split down the middle, the other songs are just kind of about dark vulnerable times and that kind of falls under the theme of night time. The first half is more about the imperviousness and the second half is more about the darkness.
So that’s where the inspirations come from, just your own experience?
Yes always. I find it very hard to write about anything else to be honest.
Do you have a favourite track on the album?
I would say the one I tend to stick on the most when I need a little bit of reassurance is the track ‘Night Time’. I’m proud of ‘Voodoo’ cause that kind of brings in some of the African instruments and I think ‘Fearful Things’ is the one that’s probably closest to my heart because the album was finished when I wrote that and I wrote it while making a bacon sandwich which is hilarious because I’ve since become a vegetarian! At the time it was a really low point and everything seemed to be falling apart and the amazing thing about song writing is it’s a great salvation and a great way to articulate what’s causing the problem and its always a feeling of letting something go when you do get a good song out of a bad experience and that was the pinnacle for me.
What would you like to have achieved in ten years time?
In ten years time I’ll be mid thirties so I’d say it’d be great to have a few albums, I’d love to have travelled independent of music and with music and I’d love to incorporate the two kind of like Roy Couder where he tends to go to countries and record with the local artists and stuff. And I’d love to be a mother and starting that career.
We ask everyone we interview to come up with a question for the next person we interview....and Konnie Huq wants to know; know when did some one last see you naked and why?
In the showers at WOMAD. That was a lot of hippy women and a full on naked experience but I had to wash so I had to do it! I wish I could say something more raunchy than that but it’s just not the case!
Can you think of a question for us to ask the next person we interview?
When was the last time a piece of music made you cry and what was it.
Jessica Watson - Female FirstHaving already made a name for herself in her native Ireland Jenny Lindfors is hoping to make the same impression in the UK and beyond with her debut album When The Night Time Comes. Female First caught up with Jenny for a chat.For anyone who hasn’t heard it how would you describe your sound?
I suppose kind of retro, folky you know. All the stuff I loved growing up was all Neil Young, Joanie Mitchell and all that kind of stuff so if anyone likes that kind of music it will be worth a listen.
How did you get into music?
Initially through my fathers record collection because he had so many albums and my uncles are all just fanatically into music. One of my uncles was a promoter in the late seventies in Dublin so he brought in a lot of bands so I was just sort of intoxicated by the whole scene from a very young age really.
There are lots of new artists coming out at the moment, what makes you different from all the rest?
I think probably because I’m not so consumed by style and image. There’s a lot of attitude and a lot of ego I think you know. I mean I live in east London and I always find it hilarious, there’s a certain strut about people and ever time I read about any female artist they tend to possess a really edgy quality and I can’t speak for all of them but there’s definitely an element of insincerity and something quite contrived about a lot of them and I guess I just try to stay away from that and be as honest as I possibly can.
You’re already getting rave reviews in Ireland, what are your ambitions for the UK?
The same hopefully! The response in Ireland has been amazing but because it’s such a small country it’s so hard to get your head above water in terms of making money and stuff like that so over here I’m just hoping that the same thing happens and I can just start touring. I’ve done quite a bit of touring around the UK already as a support act and it’s been really really great so just the opportunity to tour more and build an audience over here would be amazing.
That leads to our next question; you’ve already toured with Adele, what was that like?
I did one support with Adele in Dublin and it was fantastic. I was very nervous because the music I make is quite quiet, well it’s definitely a quiet set up as when I’m doing a lot of supports I just play on my own with a guitar and they loved it and I was really not expecting that! I expected them just to go ‘who is this?’ Were two female artists, fair enough, but we’re very different. I did an Etta James cover and they loved that so it went really well actually.
How did that come about for you to support Adele?
Well I had basically an agent in Dublin who works for a company called Pod Concerts and they needed a support at the last minute and in I came.
Have you started doing your own gigs now?
A little bit yeah. I’m starting to do a few round London and basically looking to doing more touring and not concentrating on London so much but really just trying to get a lump of gigs in one and I’m just working on trying to find musicians to play with so I can get a little touring ensemble going.
So the gigs you’ve done so far have they been going well?
They’ve been going great yeah, just a really nice response. I think people are always quite surprised by the Irish wit and the bluntness and the openness. There’s definitely a sort of formality I find with a lot of other acts and I’m just quite relaxed, gift of the gab and all that, so I just sit there chatting to them. It puts people at ease so they have been going really well yeah.
Who are your favourite artists in the industry?
At the moment? Who do I really like let me think…most of the stuff I listen to is very very old so its very kind of hard but I suppose I should give a shout out to my other compadres. There’s two girls who are from Ireland called Cathy Davey and the other is called Wallis Bird they’ve both just released albums in the UK and I think they’re both absolutely amazing.