Up and coming pop star Jennafer Lynsey got her musical start early on getting bit by the music bug after performing in her fifth grade talent show. Her interest in music and typical tween drama led her to explore songwriting as a means of expressing her feelings. From that time on, Jennafer knew that music was what she wanted to do. After graduating high school and spending some time in Nashville, the Buffalo native has signed to Loud and Proud records and has released her very first single “Face To Face.” Working with producer Matt Squire, Jennafer was able to capture all of the emotions of a long distance love in her song which is visually expressed in her very first video directed by Bill Fishman.
BackstageAxxess had the opportunity to catch up with this rising young star and find out all the details surrounding this fantastic song and
what she has in store for the future. Please join us for a conversation with the very beautiful and extremely talented Jennafer Lynsey.
KE: Hello Jennafer! Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. We appreciate it.
JL: Of course!
KE: This has been a whirlwind year for you so far.
JL: Yes
KE: You’re originally a native of Buffalo, New York but have recently moved to Nashville, a great music city. What precipitated the move?
JL: Well, actually I moved there right after high school. I moved right there to work with a music management company and I was with them for awhile. Then when I got signed to my label, which was about a year and a few months of working with them, I actually moved back home to Buffalo. So I’m back in Buffalo now because I just kind of work wherever they need me to work. But it’s amazing. Nashville is amazing.
KE: Now you just signed with Loud and Proud. How did that come about? Did they see you down in Nashville?
JL: It was one of those things like when you’re in Nashville you make connections, you meet people. They were wanting artists like me that weren’t quite known to the world yet, someone who had aspirations of being a pop star. I was looking for a label and we kind of found each other through all mutual connections and they were really liking me and wanting me to be their artist and so it was amazing.
KE: That’s fantastic. You’ve got a great new single out, “Face To Face.” Tell us a little bit about the song and what inspired you to
write it.
JL: I was talking to a guy here in Buffalo and I was talking to him right before I moved to Nashville (after I graduated high school.) Then I
moved and we kind of started our relationship. So it was all dealing with the hardships of being far from each other and wanting to be together and we couldn’t ever be together and I was dealing with all of that. The struggle was not fun but I got a song in the end of it so mean it worked out.
KE: Exactly. Now with this song you got to work with one of the most famous pop music producers around, Matt Squire. What was the
experience like and how did he help bring out the best sound for you?
JL: He was amazing. Working with him was incredible. I was just so intimidated and so scared but meeting him, he is just so kind and so
warm and so open and he never really treats you like he’s this big monster producer (even though he’s worked with so many incredible people.) I think he helped bring my creativity out because he really wanted to hear my opinion. I guess I kind of saw a side of writing, I don’t really know how to explain it but it brought out a side of writing that I’ve never really seen before. The way he would take lines and twist them like tiny bits, it was just the coolest thing. He was just incredible.
KE: You’ve also got a cool video out for the song directed by Bill Fishman. Was this your first experience doing a music video?
JL: This was my first big official music video, yes. It was an incredible, it was really cool. It was my first big music video.
KE: Now did Bill come up with the idea for the video or were you able to throw your thoughts into the mix as well?
JL: It was one of those things where we had the song “Face To Face” and we kind of had the idea of what the song was about obviously. Then we went to a bunch of producers and we asked them to send in their thoughts of what they thought the video should be about and his was cool because he had the idea of projection type ideas where projections were on me and on the screen. So it was kind of like a world was going on but I wasn’t quite in it. So that’s how that came about. Actually the guy in the video (the lead character), it was a weird thing. He was actually an intern there for Bill and he was working the camera and the equipment and stuff like that. And he ended up, we ended up asking him like Hey, do you want to be in the video? You’re cute, you look good, do you want to be in the video? He actually ended up saying yes so that’s how he came about.
KE: You’re playing guitar in the video. Have you always played or is that just a tool you use for your songwriting?
JL: I use it as a tool for songwriting. I do perform with it. It’s not a constant thing but I guess it kind of depends on how I’m performing. If
I’m performing by myself, I use my guitar but if it’s in a band situation, I kind of just play around with it. I actually play. People have
asked me if I actually play the guitar. Yes I do. I write songs with it all the time.
KE: Are you currently working on more new music and can we expect a full album from you soon?
JL: Well right now we’re working the single. We’re kind of going down that road, trying to get that out in the world and people to hear and see it but new music will come eventually. Right now we’re just working the single.
KE: What about any performances? Do you have anything coming up?
JL: At the moment, we’re kind of working on social media, building that and kind of making it work there. We’ll get there. We’ll get to the
performances eventually.
KE: You must be itching to get out there.
JL: I definitely am. I love performing. It’s my favorite thing.
KE: How did you first get into music? Do you come from a musical family?
JL: It was one of those weird things where I’ve just always loved singing and watching Hannah Montana. I loved her and so when I was in fifth grade, we did a talent show and I decided I was going to sing and perform for people. I tried out and I sang “Somebody To Love” by Queen and I just I fell in love with performing and singing and that’s kind of the thing that really pushed me. When I went to sixth grade, my best friend and I kind of went through difficulties and we weren’t doing that well. She was being mean and I was being mean and then I ended up songwriting, so songwriting kind of started there. It was all just randomly fell into happening for me. It wasn’t anything forcibly if that makes any sense.
KE: You mentioned that you chose a Queen song. Is that one of your favorite bands? That’s a pretty brave choice for a fifth grader.
JL: Actually, there was a musical in Toronto called “We Will Rock You” and a girl named Erica who played the main character. She played
Scaramouch, who was the lead character and she sang “Somebody To Love.” Watching her perform…. I was like in love with the song. So I happened to fall in love with it through a musical but it was a Queen musical. So that’s kind of what happened. I still love all the old
music but that’s how I decided to choose that song because I loved seeing her perform it.
KE: Now who are some of your biggest musical influences?
JL: Oh, there’s a lot. I don’t really have a specific genre I like to listen to. I grew up listening to the 80’s hair bands. Guns ‘n Roses
was a big childhood thing that I listened to. I would sing that in the car with my dad all the time. Then it kind of grew to whatever my
sister was listening to and when I got to choose my music, I went really rock and punky. That’s what I was listening to until I became girly and I would listen to pop music, Selena Gomez. Now I’m kind of getting into country music. I listen to everything. I kind of get influences from all over.
KE: What types of things inspire you when songwriting? Do you find inspiration in everyday things around you?
JL: I think I take a lot of inspiration from my life. So whenever anything good or bad happens to me, I kind of start writing
about it. It just kind of flows out of me sometimes. It can be a situation I’m going through. It’s just kind of one of those things where it’s a puzzle piece and you just kind of piece it all together. Normally it’s always about my life because I like have to live in my life and deal with it so that’s normally always what it’s about.
KE: If there’s one thing you would want everyone to know about you and your music, what would that be?
JL: I just really want to be able to make people happy. I want people to listen to my music and smile and be like there not alone and they
have somebody there for them always because I will always be there. I want be able to just inspire people to do amazing things with their
lives and know that if I can do and get where I am so can they.
KE: Thanks again Jennafer.
JL: Thanks for taking the time to call me and talk with me. I really appreciate it.
We would like to thank Julie Lichtenstein from 37-Media for setting up the interview with Jennafer. Fore more information on Jennafer, please go here: Jennafer Lynsey.
