5 Questions with: Cassandra Jenkins
Cassandra Jenkins - incredibly talented (and somewhat elusive) musician. We know her without knowing her. My wife had appeared next to Cassandra in an issue of ELLE magazine a couple of years before the release of Miss Jenkins’ flawless full-length debut, ‘Play Till You Win’.
Then, a good friend from my university years began dating this truly gifted singer/songwriter, et voila… suddenly my wife and I were involved with a musician who is establishing herself through choices that I’m not sure she’s even fully aware of. She’s making great choices. Her messages are universal, but clearly they come from, and speak to, the female in us.
So without further ado, here’s our little interview with Pitchfork’s Best New Music category winner Cassandra Jenkins.
TFSV: Your recordings always sound so good. How much do you determine the direction of the sound and how much freedom do you allow your recording and mixing engineers to sculpt the sound?
CJ: Thank you! ! I'm fortunate to work with really incredible people who I trust implicitly, and it's always a collaborative process. My last record (Play Till You Win) was produced by Sam (Evian) Owens and we had very specific goals for how it would sound– it was, in many ways, my studio album. We also worked with an incredible mixing and mastering engineer– Eli Crews and Heba Kadry, respectively. From there Josh Bonati cut the vinyl & I can say that each step of the process was deeply cared for. For this most recent record, produced by Josh Kaufman, our "sound" was much different than I expected it to be when we first started, and I love that. To be surprised is such a great gift. We worked quickly, but that didn't diminish the amount of care that went into the process. I'm learning that it doesn't always have to be labored over to be good, which is a good & hard lesson for the perfectionist in me.
TFSV: Following up on that, how did you and your most recent producer/engineer Josh Kaufman go about selecting gear for the sessions? Was it a deliberate process?
CJ: We used all of the gear he has in his studio in Dumbo. I'd say the one thing that was more of a surprised was the fretless bass– I think he had just gotten it and was excited to play it, and before I knew it, we had it all over one of the songs (Ambiguous Norway). I love that something can enter the picture and completely redefine a song's direction.
TFSV: The artwork for your releases is always very nicely done, really top notch. Do you have your own vision of what the artwork will be, or do you collaborate on that?
Thank you! I am the sole designer of all of my printed materials. As far as the videos go, I was very involved with the direction (if not directing, filming and editing). I studied visual art for years (graduated from RISD in 2006) and have always been a visual artist– it's a vital part of my creative expression.
TFSV: Your new album ‘An Overview On Phenomenal Nature’ was recently profiled in the online music magazine Pitchfork and received a great review including “Best New Music”. Do you think you can, and do you want to, capitalize on this in the coming year, considering the fact that touring is a real possibility?
CJ: I think we all need music more than ever right now. In my humble opinion, it feels like Pitchfork is redefining itself again during this moment, and finding lesser known artists (like me) to highlight at a time when we all need intimacy and healing. It was a totally unexpected blessing, and the most I can hope to do is find a connection with other people when we all need that most. Can I reach more people right now? Yes. Can I 'capitalize'? I'm not so sure.
TFSV: You’ve played with some great musicians in the past, both live and in the studio. Are there any musicians you’d really love to collaborate with in the future?
CJ: Oh gosh, yes. I'm way too shy to answer this question though. I'll let you know once it's happened. ;)
