Interview Jen Dixon

Mal Lythe
Jan 20, 2021
3 min read

Firstly who would you say your biggest influences are and how did you get into song writing and performing? I always find it really hard to talk about what has influenced me. I wasn’t brought up within a particularly musical family - my first concert was ‘Steps’! People tell me I sound a bit like Dido?! But I can’t say I listen to anything for inspiration. I love The National, Alt J, Bring me the horizon - but I don’t see any of these in my music. I just sit down and see what comes out.

I started drumming at 11 years old, wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life and ended up studying music at college. I went on to do a degree in audio engineering where I learnt to record and produce music. During this time I taught myself guitar and started to dabble with a bit of singing. I broke up with my boyfriend a couple of years later, and decided I needed to throw myself into my music (so cliche). I started to go to open mic nights with a friend, and built up the confidence to perform on my own about two years later!

You’ve got a new single coming out called “Why did we crash?” What can we expect from this song? It’s a piano led, heartfelt ballad with a breakbeat kicking in after the first chorus. I think the lyrics are relatable for a lot of people, the aftermath of a break up is something we’ve all been through. It’s three minutes long, has some pretty harmonies and a couple of big notes towards the end.

This is your second single first one being “Falling Into You”. How do you feel the response was to this song? For my debut single I really couldn’t have expected a better response. I was really worried about releasing my music, you almost feel vulnerable knowing that everybody is hearing something that you’ve put so much effort into. It had taken me years to build up the confidence to share what I was writing! It was a small release, only telling friends and family on social media pages, and I was amazed at the amount of people listening. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support.

Do you have any plans on any future releases? I really want to release my first EP this year! I have quite a few songs written but I’m quite self critical and want to take my time so that I can release the songs that I think deserve to be heard and represent me as an artist.

We are still currently in a lockdown and this has limited many musicians. How have you been keeping busy creatively through out all this? I’ve spent most of my time in my bedroom studio! Writing my own songs, collaborating with others and making daft videos. I decided to make videos of a ‘one woman band’ and recorded a few songs with me playing the different instruments. When I was furloughed I wrote a parody of Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ which was shared around on social media - probably because it featured dogs and my pet chicken doing an obstacle course… I was VERY bored.

Do you have any plans for when we can get things back to normal? At the start of 2020 I made the decision to go all out and push myself as a singer songwriter. I had a couple of gigs at the start of the year… and then Covid. This year Im just hoping I can get out there and share my music, and it would be amazing if I could get a band behind me. I really miss being with other musicians, and can’t wait to be surrounded by talented and creative people again.

During your time as a singer song writer and performer what have been some of your favourite moments or gigs so far? I have some really great memories of being a drummer, I was really lucky to record at Abbey Road Studios, and recorded some backing vocals there - my first experience of recording as a singer! As I’ve only really been a singer songwriter for 2020 I’m quite limited! Releasing my first single was definitely a top moment, and having my upcoming single played on BBC introducing over the last couple of weeks is really reassuring that I’m heading in the right direction.

And finally if you could recommend any five local acts who would you pick?

Lost in the Crowd

Twist Helix

Frikhan

Crimson Bloom

Motherland