No mountain high enough
From the rocky landscapes of Montana here comes a voice so pure as existence itself. Jessica Kilroy writes songs that are born from experiencing life with the strenght and the free spirit of the climber she actually is. Her music is the expression she brings to us from top of her beloved rocky mountains where she enjoys deeply beautiful views. She presents us her third album titled Cold (Limited European Release 2011) after the acclaimed and award winning sophomore album "Big Dreams" (2007) and the successful debut of her side project Pterodactyl Plains. Now Jessica Kilroy is looking forward new horizons and new mountains to climb.
Your latest solo album is Cold (2011). Which influence has your natural environment in your songs?
"Cold", my third album was a limited European release in 2011. I wrote many of the songs while house sitting an old, drafty ranch house at the base of the Rocky Mountains in NW Montana.
Does nature inspire you more than cities?
No, I'd say that I am inspired by both. The solitude of nature inspires me in different ways and the beauty of the city does as well. I suppose I feel more compelled to write more western story songs while in the mountains and ballads while spending time in the vast open valleys. I am inspired in different ways in the city...a quiet spring morning in Greece makes me want to sing differently than the bustling Paris metro. There is beauty all around. A song called "Lightning Bird" I wrote for my side project, Pterodactyl Plains, shows both sides.
And what about your creative process including the recording sessions. Is it normally a Long Lonely Road, like the title of one of your songs, or you look for some collaboration?
Recording sessions vary tremendously. I enjoy recording with others much more than going it alone. I began writing to help get out the endless stream of stories, emotions and images constantly flooding my mind... it's a form of expression that's easier for me than speaking. So I began alone but I would much rather record and perform with others and have made a point of doing that as often as possible.
So writing is a kind of deliverance process for you?
Yes, writing is a deliverance process in many ways for me. It began as a means of expressing the confusing mess of emotions and memories that rolled as dark clouds across my nights and days quite early on in life. I guess it was probably the safest way to cope with situations that could have been very damaging had I not had music as an outlet. It also helps me give others a voice when they don't have the ability to expose something uncomfortable. It's not all about me.
Talking about the voice. Your first solo album was Before dawn (2003) in which every song was recorded just in one take, and since then, your voice has always a prominent role. What can you express through your voice better than with other instruments?
My voice was my first instrument. I like to play many other instruments as well now. I don't think there's anything better about expressing music through my voice, it's just the most natural for me as a songwriter.
Looking back to your career we find three solo albums. Which ones are your Big dreams?
Big dreams? It was my second album 2007. I'd like to be able to continue making music and sharing it with others around the world...and to be able to pay the bills would be a plus! I also aspire to scoring/making films in the long run.
In your first album there's a song called Revolution. Why a revolution?
A revolution inside. Each song speaks differently to each person so I can't really say what it might mean to anyone else.
Returning to your most recent album, Cold. In reference to the song River, how would you define your personal river?
I recently wrote a story for an outdoor magazine here in Montana. The story is about a forest fire I was on in the River of No Return Wilderness area in Idaho and the realizations I came to while nearly ending up as ash. I remembered thinking how natural I'd made it for myself to seek uncomfortable situations, jobs, people...and decided to stop and see what it might be like to go with the flow (make music for a living instead). I thought of the river of no return and decided to jump in. It's still unpredictable, but gives endlessly.
The river of no return, it's a beautiful image of what life is.
True. You never know what's around the next corner.
Love can be also a river of no return. You sing Love don't make mistakes. Are you sure?
I guess what that song is expressing is that Love itself really cannot make mistakes. We make mistakes, but love doesn't. It seems we make mistakes in who we decide to love, or leave, but love itself is always true so what's the mistake in it?
So love is a kind of utopia?
If it is totally pure, why not? But that's not what the song's about. The song is saying that we can make mistakes of selfishness that become so big that what we are feeling is no longer love anymore. Again, each song speaks differently to each person.
What does Pterodactyl Plains means to you?
Pterodactyl Plains is a band name that Kier and I came up with while driving from Montana to Nevada. We were admiring the high desert and imagining how cool it must have been to see Pterodactyls soaring across the open skies. We were also laughing about the fact that Pterodactyls may not have existed at all and that the fabled creatures may have been put together by overzealous archaeologists...it seemed to fit our music.
Two albums together, the last one titled In the air includes as beautiful songs as Lightning Bird. Is it very different to work in a Pterodactyls album than in your solo ones?
We are working on our third album right now and hope to release it before 2013. Yes, the music is much different. Pterodactyl Plains is a refreshing escape for me. I can be as strange as I am without worrying if people will understand or judge me. In the world of singer/songwriters it can be a little more challenging to get away with being "out there" and still maintaining an audience that's already been built. Expectations are the problem really.
Audience expectations, you mean?
Pterodactyl Plains began as a whimsical "no hold barred" experience between two kids in love with a passion for music and creating.
So you don't feel free enough to express yourself in your solo project?
We had no idea or intention that anyone would like the music nor did we care. It was a pleasant surprise to find out people did like it and so we kept making more. In my solo music I am getting more comfortable being totally honest in my writing but it has taken some time and some coaxing. Unlike the psychedelic musings of Pterodactyl Plains, when I play alone there's no reverb or drum machine beats or another person to hide behind. Pterodactyl Plains has helped me let go of any expectations I think the audience may have and I am moving in a very different direction with my writing now. My writing is constantly changing.
Ain't No Coming Back ...always looking forward new things.
Yes, always looking forward.
JESSICA KILROY ‘s videos click here
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Photo courtesy of Jessica Kilroy
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