Jill Andrews finally made her highly anticipated UK debut at the back end of last year where we spent some time hanging out at her Guildford show (read HERE) and she gave us some strong hints about her forthcoming project. This was “Modern Age” and was released through Vulture Vulture/Tone Tree Music on August 18th (available HERE) which is a wonderful 10 track journey that was produced by Lucas Morton at 4115 Studios. Andrews is founding member of The Everybodyfields, half of acclaimed duo Hush Kids and her music has over two hundred million streams across DSP’s where her fourth and newest studio album coincides with an appearance at The Long Road Festival and her own UK tour starting at the end of September. At the festival, Jamie caught up with Jill to talk about the record, her return to the UK and just a good old catch-up.
It’s so lovely to have you back but I guess this is just a quick fly-in visit to come and play this lovely festival really? “I got here on Wednesday so it’s been great. I’ve done some press whilst I’ve been here and had some time to get used to the jet-lag, which is now subsiding and also I’ve been practising with my new British band over here which has been so fun.”
I caught your set earlier and it was really cool to see you play with a band because last time in Guildford it was just you on your own, so that was nice. “It’s very fun. For this record it just felt like I needed some friends up there with me.”
Then, you’re coming back to see us all properly for a longer trip at the end of next month. “Yes late September I’m starting off with two shows in Northern Ireland which I’m actually playing solo, then I’m meeting up with the band in Manchester, where we are playing all over England, Wales and Scotland.”
Yes, I see that you loved North Wales so much last time that you’re heading back to Bangor again and then obviously for me, you’re playing Green Note down my way in London which is a nice cosy spot with great sound and lighting so will catch you again there. “I’m excited about it, it’s fun to play in smaller venues when you know that the people in there really want to be there.”
You said on stage earlier that you have braved camping like the rest of us. How is that for an experience for you? That’s not normally how festivals tend to work at US festivals. “No, it’s not ha ha. However, I have camped at Bonnaroo and it was hot as hell. You know, it’s alright, I slept fine. Luckily, I have my friend Phil who is playing in the band with me and his mom has taken care of me. She tested out the tent with a hose to make sure I would be fine if it rained so, I have a mom over here now and I love it so much. Shout out to Celia and John Donnelly for taking care of me, they made sure I had comfortable bedsheets and all of that stuff so I was very warm and comfortable last night. It was a little tricky finding a shower this morning but I managed and also found a place to dry my hair which was very hard to do but I got it done!”
Overall, how does the vibe feel as a festival compared to what you have seen before? You said on stage that we do things differently here and it’s really cool, so do you enjoy being able to walk around exploring and seeing everything that is going on? “Oh yeah, it’s so fun. I love the festival atmosphere and it’s so exciting you know, getting to watch other people play and getting to see new music with seeing some artists from the UK play is really fun and also seeing some people from the US, like I have some friends that are playing here so that’s pretty cool.”
I guess we should talk about “Modern Age” which is the record that you have only just put out and you have got to play for us properly for the first time. I remember you said that it was pretty much done when we last spoke and it was just getting all of those finishing touches tidied up so I’m sure you are so happy that it is now out in the world. “For sure but there is such a ramp up and so much to do before releasing an album as you want to release it in the right way so yeah, we definitely took our time with this one.”
The way you have talked about this record and you said this on stage earlier is that it’s reflective and looking back on your childhood from the perspective of adulthood where it almost becomes a concept record in that sense. Did it naturally evolve into that with fitting it together or was focusing on these moments the idea from the beginning? “I think it more naturally evolved into that. It was just the period of time, I had a friend that passed away in my hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee and I went back home and I was by myself when I’m normally never by myself so, I had a lot of brain space and I just got to drive around my neighbourhood and just take it all in. I was able to really remember some of the things that happened, the people that I was around and I had a lot of emotions welling up in me about it. Also, from the perspective of where I sit today, I look back on that time and I know it is not like this for everybody but for me they were like the glory days you know. I had so much independence and freedom, I was just a happy go lucky kid and didn’t have to worry about a lot of the things that kids have to worry about these days. You know like Tik Tok, having very luscious lips and gun violence in the US so it’s kind of a reflection on all of that. The album cover is a picture of me and it looks like there is a globe on my head which is kind of meant to be like a retro-futuristic look and also when you look at the globe really closely, there are pictures of me from my childhood embedded in it. So, it’s like a futuristic viewfinder, it’s me in the future looking back on my past and it feels very cool.” I hadn’t actually noticed that and you know that is literally the first thing that I’m going to look at when we have finished catching up. “Yeah, zoom in on it all. There is a picture of my parents holding me on the day I was born and just so much more of me along the way.”
Last time we caught up was the first time you came over to play and it took you a long time to get over and make it happen but the fact you are coming back twice so shortly after must have meant that we did something right here that made you want to come back so quickly. Can you pinpoint it on anything in particular that makes it feel so special here? “It’s the people, it’s the fans. I just knew and it felt so good to play for the good people of the UK, I just don’t know what else to say. Everyone has been so encouraging and I don’t know, just positive in really wanting me to come back. They were really loving the shows and it was just a vibe in the audience that I have really grabbed on to and it felt like this is where I need to be playing and focusing more attention.”
It’s so sweet of you to say that. Before you come back in a couple of weeks, what are you up to back at home? Are you still in busy promo mode with the album only being out for a couple of weeks? “Yep, I’m playing some shows back in the US and mostly focusing on that, probably should get back to my family a little bit too.”
It’s a nice sized run over here when you come back, is it just UK and Ireland or are you ready to venture into mainland Europe yet? “It is. I haven’t made it off your island when I’ve been over yet and it will be my first time in Northern Ireland. I would definitely love to spread out even further but just trying to focus on what I can do here for the moment.”
They are steps and building blocks, like we’ve talked about before with the commitment and the organic growth that happens in Europe. People will have seen you here for the first time that probably didn’t know too much about you and they will tell their friends who will check you out, then if you keep coming back they will come along and tell another friend because they really enjoyed it. Well at least I really enjoyed your set and it was fun to see you with the guys playing these new songs so, I’m excited for you to come back again next month and love getting to hang out again. “Thank you so much, it’s always fun chatting with you and I promise that I want to keep coming over to see you.”
UK Tour Dates: 29 September - Derry, Northern Ireland, UK @ St. Augustine’s Church (w/ Rosborough) 30 September - Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK @ Black Box (w/ Paul Casey) 2 October - Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall 3 October - Cardiff, UK @ Acapela 4 October - London, UK @ Green Note 5 October - Southampton, UK @ The 1865 6 October - Bangor, UK @ Blue Sky Café 7 October - Glasgow, Scotland, UK @ Classic Grand Social Lounge 8 October - Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Philharmonic (w/ St. Catherine’s Child)
Modern Age from Jill Andrews is out now and available HERE. Jill returns to the UK next month for her own town with dates shown above where you can find ticketing information by checking out her WEBSITE and of course you can follow along socially on INSTAGRAMTWITTER & FACEBOOK. The Long Road Festival will return in 2024 to Stanford Hall in Leicestershire over the weekend of 23rd to 25th August with limited early bird tickets available from Thursday 31st August 2023, and details available on their WEBSITE along with INSTGRAM or FACEBOOK.