In this installment of Getting to know a musical artist we feature Jessica Tomlinson she performs with her band Rainbow Portal and works with Girls Rock St. Pete (Florida).
Q) Tell us about your latest project. What inspired you to create it?
I’m actually working on two projects at present. I will be releasing an ambient chill EP in late March or early April. Some of those tracks grew out of challenging myself to work with only one instrument at a time and explore its sonic possibilities to create the various layers and parts. I also hope to release another EP in late May featuring a few chants and cheers. Rather than shouting directly at people I disagree with, I decided to channel this energy into something positive that speaks to my lived experiences getting overlooked or spoken over. I hope this will encourage others to stand in their power.
Q) Do you know what your next project is going to be? Can you give us a preview?
Later this year, I would like to release a set of more experimental, avante-garde compositions. Working with synths has exposed me to the work of artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Daphne Oram, and Suzanne Ciani and I hope to follow in their footsteps creating boundary-pushing works.
Q) What was the first song you ever performed or put out for people to listen to?
In my twenties, I studied traditional classical piano, but soon found myself creating my own arrangements of Disney and other pop tunes, which I would play in the lobby of a local children’s hospital where I volunteered for about five years. I also used to play the pipe organ, but had to memorize the complex music, as my low vision would not allow me to read the score and I couldn’t hold a magnifier if my hands and feet were busy playing.
Q) What do you feel is the most important things a person should take from a piece of music?
I think that music, like any art form, is open to interpretation. However, to truly receive what the composer and musicians are communicating, one must listen deeply. In our fast-paced world, our attention is pulled in many different directions all at once, and music can often help us get other things done. However, it’s great if we can find a little time just to sit down, be still, and listen. This practice of deep listening was described by Pauline Oliveros and I feel connected to it because moving through the world with less vision than most people, I have always relied on listening to assess many things about my environment.
Q) Do you have a specific creative process when you write new music?
Oddly, for the longest time, I didn’t feel myself capable of composing new music, until synths came into my life. Now, I say that a certain patch somehow “gave me a melody”, since these novel timbres seem to quickly get the creative juices flowing. This month, I am also taking a beginning songwriter class where I have been encouraged to start compositions in a few new ways, including starting with words, or with chord progressions. This is something I look forward to exploring more.
Q) What are your biggest dreams and fears around being a musician?
My biggest dreams include performing live for large audiences, but also to use my music to connect to like-minded individuals and gather people near to me that I trust. I also wish to be really involved with audio engineering and producing, as this has been a lifelong love of mine. My biggest fear is that people won’t think me capable or creative because I am short in stature, very feminine and visually impaired.
Q) What do you do to stay inspired, what other performers do you like to keep up with?
The music journalist Tom Moon once said, “The more you love music, the more music you love”, and I have found this to be very true in my life. When someone asks me what my favorite song or genre is, I usually reply, “I find something to love in every genre”. I love the major decades of American pop music, along with blues, jazz, classical, hip-hop, folk and Riot Grrrl punk rock to name just a few! Some artists I love, which jump immediately to mind include Lizzo, Brandi Carlile, Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, MUNA and Madame Gandhi to name just a small few.
Q) if you could tour with one singer or band, who would you choose?
This is also a difficult question because of the variety of styles and genres that speak to me. Lisa Bella Donna is currently my favorite ambient synth artist, and a dream come true would be to collaborate with her. But it would also be a dream come true to write a folk song with Brandi Carlile or rock it out with Cathleen Hannah or G Flip!
Q) If people want more information about you or to pick up your music, where should they go?
https://linktr.ee/the_vi_artist
https://jessicatomlinson.bandcamp.com/
Final four questions –we ask everybody.
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Hopefully somewhere safe and peaceful, maybe out in the woods, hiding in a little cabin with all my instruments around me, and hopefully still be able to provide mutual aid to others and remind the world there was a time before zombies and we can still fight them!
Q ) What is your favorite Fandom (could be sports, pop culture, favorite director or author)
The Muppets and Sesame Street! I love everything Jim Henson and his creative heirs have done!
Q) What song or album, do you think people must experience before they die?
Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill! I was very quiet, small and shy as a teenager but this album provided me a little window through which to let out some of my rage!!
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
Because I have been so hyper-focused on, and fascinated by audio equipment, I talked my mom, aunt and sisters into making me a home-made graduation cake that looked like a large mixing console!! It even had liquorice faders!!
Paper Phoenix ink 