Jess Chambers headed back to her roots
As a child, Jess Chambers loved the singing at the “old-fashioned, hardcore” Pentecostal church. Photo: Thomas Kuhne.
“There was always singing, clapping and a huge amount of expression. As a kid I was very inspired by that. The more expressive the better. My mother has cassette tapes of me singing my lungs out,” says Chambers, who is 29, was born in Blenheim and lived in both Christchurch – where she attended Rangiora High School - and America as a child.
Her mum is American and used to be very religious, which has influenced her personality and her music, while her father is a Kiwi.
“I’m more reserved than the average American. My music is folk, slightly gothic with a bit of alt-country. It’s got a melancholy, dark edge, with an element of hopefulness and a moodier tone to the instrumentation. It’s soothing,” she explains, “I don’t want to jump up and down and yell in people’s faces.”
Pentecostal religion is old-fashioned and hardcore, with big choirs and the preacher as a charismatic frontman, says Chambers, who also attended a Christian school, where she had to sing an anthem to God every morning. Although she says she is not religious these days, her American heritage has a strong hold of her and she’s comforted by it.
“I think of myself as 50/50 Kiwi American. When I think of my childhood I think of America, of music and driving. My granddad and aunty had pick-up trucks in the USA, we’d play Johnny Cash on the way to visit her horse,” says Chambers.
Chambers has been based in Wellington for 10 years now so it’s time for a new scene and it’s back to America, to find a city that “feels right.”
“I want to be surrounded by artists who are inspired by what they’re doing. Travel stirs everything up and creates new ideas,” she says.
She’s actually made an album in the United States before, just after she left high school, but the record label wanted to make her into a pop princess, so she decided not to release it and came home. She’s happy about the decision not to release the album.
“The older I get the more I think I’m finding my true sound as a musician. Now there’s subtle Americana creeping in. I listen to it and I feel really comforted,” she says.
Each song on the latest album Desire is a vignette of a moment, says Chambers.
“The first song, Desire, is about that feeling of broken-heartedness, the determination never to love again. I want substance to the lyrics and beautiful memories. As a singer-songwriter, what gives me a kick is expressing a sentiment precisely.”
It’s not the last we’ll see of Chambers, who promises to visit when she can. But for now, she’s going back to her roots.
Jess Chambers Desire album release, San Francisco Bath House, September 25.
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