Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/ bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today, we’d like to shine the spotlight on Jess Yaffa!
Hailing from the urban suburbs just outside of New York City, nineteen-year-old singer, and songwriter Jess Yaffa taps into the world around her to deliver relatable and singalong art with a fresh spark. “The songs are the stories that roll around in my mind at night – set to music. For me, all of the thoughts come with colors and music attached to them – making me feel moments of life that I want to both remember and forget,” says Yaffa.
Jess’s philosophy towards songwriting and performing primarily involves a connection to the journey that’s being told through her lyrics and how that can move a person. The stories she tells, while moving and deep, are uplifting. They are experiences we’ve all had through our lives, and the way she talks about them leaves you feeling optimistic. As an artist, she has garnered influences from performers such as Etta James, Florence Welch, Daniel Caesar, Fleetwood Mac, and many others who have helped shaped her path.
Jess began singing at four-years-old and in her teens added piano, guitar, ukulele, and bass to her repertoire. She soon immersed herself in learning the craft of songwriting and began honing her skills throughout middle and high school to better understand the struggles and excitement of growing up. In her junior year, she was one of eighteen students chosen to participate in the Future Music Moguls Program at the Clive Davis Institute of Music at New York University where she was able to learn, record, and write in an environment that solidified for her that making music was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
In 2019 at seventeen-years-old she released her debut EP “intro” which was produced by Grammy-winning producer Scott Jacoby who also worked with Coldplay, Janelle Monáe, Jason Mraz and John Legend. and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer, Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Foo Fighter, Sonic Youth.)
In the fall of 2020, amid a global pandemic, now in college, she returned to The University of Michigan while writing and recording the songs for her upcoming EP, once again working with producer Jacoby and engineer Lazar on the new set of songs.
Relationships and the harrowing thoughts they can inspire showcase her storytelling prowess and knack for creating a smooth and upbeat pop sound, complete with sweet vocals and radiant harmonies. Her songs are filled with unfiltered honesty and lessons of love, life, and learning to keep going. Jess’s wish is to communicate the highs and lows of life in a way that is relatable and real.
Her new song and video for “Too Soon” is out now with more songs and videos to come leading to a summer EP release. Stay up to date at https://www.jessyaffa.com.
Some artists cite when they heard a specific album or saw a band live as when they knew music was going to be their life. When were you bitten by the music bug?
Jess Yaffa- I can’t tell you when exactly I was bitten by the music bug because I’ve been singing and writing songs since I was a kid. But I do have a moment that wasn’t involving a concert or a band when I realized it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My junior year of High School I spent every Saturday of my Spring semester at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU as a part of their Future Music Moguls Program. We spent all day learning about the ins and outs of music production, business, songwriting, and collaboration. It was through spending this semester with 15 other people that I had never met, each from a completely different background but sharing the same passion, that I recognized that I wanted to be in this world and write music and sing for the rest of my life and that I would do anything to make that a reality for myself.
Name three people, living or dead, you’d love to have dinner with?
I’m a big fan of deep dinner conversation – small talk is not on the table, so I would love to build a dinner of people who I know would stimulate each other’s brains as well as my own in fun and new ways. I’d love to have dinner with Jack Antonoff, the singer of Bleachers and a very talented producer and songwriter. His insight and upbringing in suburbia is something that I relate to, yet am also intrigued by and want to learn more about his mind and how he intertwines himself within his music. I am a huge Criminal Minds person and I have watched all 15 seasons and can probably recite the plot of each episode. Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Spencer Reid on the show shares some of the quirks of his character in real life and I can relate to them in weird ways. I just watched a tour of his “haunted tree house home” on YouTube and would love to pick his brain about it at dinner because I feel like we could be great friends. My third and final dinner guest would be Ms. Lauryn Hill. I grew up listening to “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” because of my mom and did not have any understanding of the impact of the record at the time. She is a legend who has experienced so much in her lifetime and has inspired and made her mark on so many people and the music industry as a whole. I feel as though the four of us at this table can discuss so many things that range from music to politics, to upbringing, to the future and each person would have their deep insights yet be an attentive listener. And I would have the waiter be John Mulaney. Say no more on that one.
What would the name of your autobiography be?
Yes, the weather is great up here: her story as a 5’11” musician.
If you could have any celebrity be your inner voice, who would it be and why?
Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine is a celebrity, singer, and songwriter that I have looked up to since I was 9 or 10 years old. I have seen her live the most out of any artist and I have shared one of my favorite moments of music while screaming “Dogs Days Are Over” at her concert. Regardless of that, she has an ethereal presence that is so strong in her own values and love and caring for others that she would be my inner voice. She would pull me to be more rooted and more involved in the world around me and her voice would help me keep my inner calm.
We’ve lost quite a few music icons over the last few years. If you could pick one or two to jam with, who would you pick?
David Bowie is, simply put, a legendary creative genius. If I could play music with him for just one song, I would be fulfilled. His mind is so artistic and imaginative that any song he plays is a work of his own no matter who the song is by and that is a talent that I would love to experience in person.
If your music were a mixed drink, what would be in it?
My music, since I am underage ;), would be an Arnold Palmer. It would have unsweetened iced tea and sweetened lemonade to combine the caffeine infused energetic tones of my music with a chill and sweet aftertaste that encompasses the stories that I tell.
Connect with Jess Yaffa:
