INTERVIEW: Jordana
Emerging onto the music scene in 2018 Maryland-raised, New York-based musician Jordana Nye has been a powerhouse for the past few years. Releasing her debut album Classical Notions of Happiness in 2020, she has expanded her repertoire with five more albums and EPs since then, including the collaborative 2021 EP “Summer’s Over” with TV Girl. Her 2022 was jam-packed with live music performances, opening for artists such as Remi Wolf, Wallows, and Local Natives. She also went on her own tour in the U.S. in June, appeared at her first music festival, Firefly, in late September, and continued her tour in the E.U. and U.K. through November.
Ending the busy year on a high note, Jordana released her newest EP, I’m Doing Well, Thanks for Asking on November 11. Composed of six tracks, I’m Doing Well Thanks for Asking takes listeners on a journey through upbeat pop rhythms, heart-wrenching stripped-down indie ballads, and chill synth tunes. Classically undefinable, Jordana flexes her musical talent by dipping into multiple genres and compositions leaving an awe-stricken and motivational impression that encourages you to get up and go—after taking a few breaths first.
Noisescape spoke with Jordana (and beloved pet/icon, Ducky) via Zoom to talk about I’m Doing Well, Thanks for Asking and all that is new in Jordana’s world.
Q. Where are you now?
A. I live in Brooklyn.
Q. How long have you lived in New York? Has the location influenced your art at all?
A. I moved to Manhattan in January of 2021 and then I moved to Brooklyn this year in May. It has influenced [my art] in a way. Moving to a completely different place like a busy city drives you to do things. I’ve had a couple of songs where I give a nod to New York or something but other than that I kind of feel like a transplant, which is fine. I’ll never know what it’s like to grow up here, I’ll never know that New York lifestyle, but I’m building my own.
Q. What was the inspiration for I’m Doing Well, Thanks for Asking?
A. It was a transitional period. [I had a] whole year of touring and just kind of being in my head and I went through relationship issues. [The EP] proved that I’m going through the motions, hoping for the best, and trying to find myself even more than I was last year.
Q. You’ve been going to so many different places. How does touring influence your creative process?
A. I love to tour because it gets me away from sitting in my thoughts. It pressures me to work hard every night and try to put on the best show and just sound good. But throughout this year I was like, “I need to [change my] focus,” because I sound the best when I’m trying to have fun. So, I’ve been trying to focus on that, enjoying myself and not thinking about all the tiny little things that are in my head as I’m performing.
Q. What does your creative process look like?
A. It’s always emotion based. I’ll write about something that happened years ago or something I’m still fixated on and other times it’s really current things in my life that I have to physically write out or it’s gonna drive me insane. That was pretty much [the case for] the EP because it was kind of break-up motivated and I was just sulking in my feelings.
The process is super different with sessions. Whenever I meet somebody [and] I am set to make music with them I always want to kind of wrack their brain for things that they’re [also] obsessed with music-wise. We’ll just open up Spotify and pass back and forth [songs] that are really inspirational and anywhere we can find a relative spot—that’s where we start. If we’re [both] like, “I love that band,” we should make something like that and just kind of start from scratch. It’s fun—music can be fun!
Photos by Aleaigh Hynds
Q. Speaking of making music with other people, are there any artists that you collaborated with on this EP you want to take notice of?
A. I worked with the Australian producer Alice Ivy on “SYT” and that was the first time I had ever worked with another female producer. It felt so good to sit in a room with her and just be like, “We’re here right now! We’re gonna make music together and there are no men involved. This is OUR thing.” It was just a breath of fresh air. I was ecstatic the entire session and she’s such a powerhouse we were just feeding off each other. I definitely want to make more music with her. She’s awesome.
Q. How do you feel as an artist/person releasing this EP now compared to your first album?
A. I feel more developed and have a sense of what my artistry [is]. I want to say I feel the same amount of control that I had with the first album, but [I] feel more of a solid vision with this EP. It’s just proving that I can do a lot more than I think I’m capable of.
Q. Do you have a favorite song on the album?
A. My favorite song is probably “Carry on Tonight” because I feel like I got a little weird in that one. I felt like I sang in a way that usually I’d listen to my take of and be really nitpicky with notes and things—but I liked how the control on that one was a little haywire. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to vocal takes, but for [“Carry on Tonight”] I was just letting it run free and it was fun.
Q. That’s interesting—do you think you’ll continue that method of letting go more in your future music?
A. Yeah, I’ve already started making some songs here that let loose a little. I notice that with Melodyne and pitch correction and stuff like that for songs I always wanna replicate it when I’m singing live and it’s sometimes really hard to not be in my head about replicating the song exactly how it is on the record. So, I want to [have] a little more freedom with that so I don’t have to worry about it in the future, performance-wise.
Q. I know you’ve just released your EP, but what’s ahead for you?
A. I have a few songs I’ve been working on and I’m gonna go to L.A. next week to write more. I’m kind of trying to do a breakout sort of thing where I’m showing range and listening to a lot of 70s music like folk and rock. I wanna do it all. I wanna make weird shit.
Q. About the album art—I’m obsessed with it. What was creating that like?
A. I had my friend Lydia style me for it in L.A. She helped immensely with the aesthetic of the cover. We had an idea for flowers— [the cover has] kind of like a cutesy rebellious thing going for it. She was taking shots and she was like, “You should bite the flower,” and I was like. “Okay, how?” She [showed me] and I was like, “Oh, okay! I’m gonna do that.” And [the cover] ended up being that [picture].
Q. You’re exploring spontaneity so much!
A. It’s other people that are helping unleash that. And it’s okay to not do things alone. That’s what I’ve been learning through the years I’ve been working. Because I always had this self-worth problem and I [thought], “If I don’t do this alone then it’s not mine.” But it can be yours. And it’s pretty awesomesauce.
WHERE TO FIND JORDANA
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