Exclusive Interview with JAY MOUSSA-MANN

Jay is a UK based artist, who had her first radio play in 2018 when Bob Fischer played her on BBC Radio Tees. She went on to have tracks played on national radio on BBC 6 Music. Called ‘genre-defying’ by Tom Robinson, Jay is a Sage Summer Studios alumni and an awardee of the Do It Differently Fund through Help Musicians (2021).

Indiana Tonight is a cool, electric guitar-driven song that combines pop, synth-pop, and pop rock and is supported by Jay’s distinctive soft vocal style and narrative-driven lyrics. The song, which is being released on the same day as the upcoming movie and is a love letter to the Indiana Jones series, chronicles the reunion of two lovers after a period of separation and their struggle to assume the role of the protagonist in their own tale. Check out the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I was born in Stockton-on-Tees in the UK. My dad is Turkish-Cypriot and my mum is British. I spent a lot of my childhood in Turkey, we moved a lot and when I was fourteen I went alone to school in a little town in Kent called Sevenoaks. It was really hard being away from family but that’s where I really started to write songs.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I started taking piano lessons when I went to that school and did up to Grade 6 on piano but everything else was self-taught. I learned guitar chords from a book when I was 10 and all the music production, arranging side of things I’ve just learned through professionals helping me, YouTube tutorials and just doing it.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘JAY MOUSSA-MANN’?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: My given name is Jaime. When I was six years old I told my family that from now I would be called ‘Jay.’ Moussa is my surname before I was married and when I met Kevin I decided to keep my name and combine it with his. It’s strange I often wonder if there is some racism and prejudice towards my surname and whether it holds me back but I’ve always owned it and loved it and that’s why I’ve kept it as my artist name too. Some of my first and strongest musical influences were Jerry Rafferty, Simply Red and Eric Clapton because my mum introduced me to them. I later discovered Shania Twain and Christina Aguilera, The Chicks. I loved the storytelling in country music in particular.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: Stories. I was playing somewhere live earlier this year and someone came up to me and said “I really want to dive into the lyrics of your songs more, because there are such great stories in them.” I was really encouraged and flattered by that because it’s something that is important to me in my music. I tell stories to help me process life and if that connects with others and helps them process whatever they are going through, then I am happy. But I would also say the happy, upbeat pop production that I try and keep at the heart of the songs are part of it. I love moving around to music, whether that’s dancing in my room or driving. It’s really important to me that a lot of my songs feel like freedom. At least they do to me.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I actually think I went backwards with this. When I first started writing songs I don’t remember trying to sound like anyone. Although I had artists I loved and listened to, I grow up in an environment where idolising singers was strongly discouraged so I didn’t have pop idols. I am sure I was absolutely influenced by what I was hearing at the time, even if I wasn’t aiming to be but it wasn’t until years and years later, when I was first played on BBC Introducing by the presenter at the time Bob Fischer (who incidentally, stars in the music video for Indiana Tonight!) that I really started to listen to artists and try and emulate certain aspects of their musical style and genre. I’m a little late to the party but it’s been a super intense, driven learning period in the last two to three years. I was very interested in Taylor Swift when she transitioned to the pop genre in 2014. I didn’t know what I wanted but that sparked my interest and several years later I started discovering how much I actually loved that genre, but because it often gets sneered at I had stayed away from it for fear of being judged.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: My songs like White Like You covers the topic of being mixed-race and racial micro-aggressions. Someone on Submit hub said it was ‘too political.’ I didn’t think that song was political because it was my own personal, lived experiences. I suppose it’s what you consider politics. I believe music is an extremely important function of culture. I think a song and the artist can make people question their own belief system and that’s very powerful. It can also give people who are shy or scared, the courage to start speaking up and doing their own activism. The next set of songs I am working on delves much more into topics and themes that need discussion. I’m focusing a lot more on misogyny and the way women are treated across society. Indiana Tonight the new single, looks at the role of a woman in a relationship where she wants to be the hero and what she is constantly giving up. It also sees her question the idea of who the hero really is in her head, not wanting to see the flaws that we inevitably all have: He says I hate snakes its my fatal flaw / She says I don’t want to look in case there’s so much more / Romanticising you the way that I like it

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I find the process of songwriting and recording hugely fulfilling. I could live off the high the songwriting alone gives me forever. If we’re talking about audience numbers and growth, the amount of work I put in is always so much more than I get back. I think any independent artist will tell you we put so much money, time and effort into songwriting, recording, releasing and music videos, to see very little growth. I think part of the problem there is that the media and society try and sell us this story that music is a meritocracy, that if you’re good enough you’ll find success, whereas actually, even though you think your favourite artist got big purely on their talent, the amount of marketing budget put into them to get them going was immense. Otherwise how would you have ever known they existed in the first place?

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I tend to start with a title or an idea around a feeling. If something makes me angry or really sad that’s a great starting point. The difficult part is taking all those big feelings and trying to whittle it down into a catchy title or phrase and really get to the heart of the message of the song. It’s like writing a tiny novel. I often free write on a theme if I’m struggling and pull out phrases. Then I start forming it into verses. The hook though is often a separate, special moment for me. I know when I have the hook. It comes in either a melody or a sentence, the rhythm of words spoken and I’ll usually have the hook idea before the rest of the song is formed around it. I have collaborated with others, Speak Now from my last album was written with my producer Patrick Jordan. I really loved writing with someone else and I actually love the song because it has this other quality to it that wasn’t what I usually do but made it much more interesting for me to sing. I’d love to do more co-writing in the future.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: Moving around so much as a kid and being away from my family during my teenage years was really hard. I’ve also had to lose lives over and over again. You make a life in one country, that’s not your mother tongue, where you are considered foreign and you figure out all these tricks to make yourself fit in. It’s really hard work but you do it. Then suddenly you’re plucked out of that life without really being asked and plonked down somewhere else where you have to do it all over again. I honestly think it messes with your brain on some level as it’s still forming at that age. I never feel safe. That informs a lot of my art but I think it also hinders me.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

JAY MOUSSA-MANN: I’d have to say in my music career there are three significant moments for me. One was when I met my husband Kevin. It sounds strange but he gave me this unconditional support and freedom in my music that I’d never had before. He not only loved what I did but he was constantly encouraging me to get help, to go to lessons, to buy instruments and to just try. Two was when Bob Fischer played me on his BBC Introducing show. His kind words gave me such a boost of confidence and I was opened up this whole world of music with his own Afternoon show. Three was meeting and having the privilege of working with Patrick Jordan, who not only taught me about song structure, arrangement and music production but his production just blows my mind. Every song he produces teaches me something new about music and I think having someone like that to work with and learn from is rare and I don’t take it for granted.