NEW ARTIST: Jeannel

Filed Under: New Artist, Q&A with... — By: Oliver Bouchard

The German capital Berlin is one of the music hot spots in the world and not just for electronic and dance music, but for an array of other genres as well. Musicians here also have a lot of resolve to experiment: music made in Berlin tends to defy genre boundaries and takes cues from many different styles and cultures. Case in point: “Noitulove,” the just released EP by singer/songwriter Jeanne Kaiser aka Jeannel, who played most of the instruments herself and did hands-on production work.

Jeanne was so kind to give us some background about her musical journey:

“I grew up in a musical household,” she recalls. “My dad is a professional classical singer, and my mom has always been very much into it as well, so I was surrounded by that type of music throughout my whole childhood. Sacral music, Bach, Schubert, Beethoven, Brahms, all that. And I played classical Cello since the age of 7, so music was kind of injected into my veins from early on. But I really got into creating own music in my teens, when I completely indulged in the freedom of letting loose of my early musical influences and listening to R’n’B, Hip Hop, Soul, Reggae & lots of latin music for years only.”

Unsurprisingly, she wanted to make music herself: “Back then I started a girlband with my sister and a friend in which we wrote make-the-world-a-better-place-reggae-soul songs. Really sweet. Later I discovered Techno and Rock, made my first baby-bedroom productions and then ended up studying Jazz. All those genres mingle in my own music now.”

Jeanne is an alumni of the Red Bull Music Academy, which unfortunately shuts down this fall. “A profound influence definitely had Red Bull Music Academy just recently, in September 2018,” she says. “For years I had been avoiding Techno and basically most electronic music, because I simply had a massive overkill through going to so many Techno parties for years back in Cologne. At RBMA I kind of reconnected with that part of myself and it feels really good.”

She adds: “Obviously RBMA is also one of the first great supporters I would name here, next to Chilly Gonzales who became kind of a mentor for me for quite a while back in Cologne. And of course a bunch of other beautiful people who have been supporting me on the way, above all my family and friends and many talented people whom I got to share creativity with.”

Asked for musicians who influenced her majorly, Jeanne comes up with a short list of legends: “I don’t really have role models, because I believe in being my authentic self. But one of the all time favorite artists of mine whom I always name is Jeff Buckley. I truly believe we are soul mates from a past life. Haha.”

Then there is Erykah Badu: “I recently went to see Erykah Badu live for the first time and it absolutely blew my mind. Her persona resonates with me on so many levels, and it was beautiful and extremely reassuring to see someone personifying a lot of what I see and feel within myself. So, if I had to name one role model, it was her. Queen witch!”

“Noitulove,” Jeannel’s new EP (Apple Music | Spotify) features five deeply emotional tracks that have the feel of instant classics. This work is very personal for her. “The story behind ‘Noitulove’ is a tedious yet quite transformative break up,” explains Jeanne. “All the songs on the record are love songs I wrote during that process. All the despair, heartache, anger, hope, growth, letting go, transformation, insights, conditional and unconditional love from that time are in there.”

It is Jeanne’s vocals that let shine through all these emotions: “I know for sure that listening to artists like Mariah, Whitney, Tupac, Aaliyah, etc. influenced my natural vocal expression and the way I create melodies a lot on a rather subconscious level. But of course all the music I consumed and consume left and constantly leaves an effect on me.”

After the release it is time for Jeanne to move on: “I’m very glad to set the record free now,” she says. “I grew a lot since then, personally and artistically and I can’t even wait to finish all my new material. ‘Noitulove’ is from a phase of my life that I grew out of a while ago.”

With this album she has created something beautiful that always remains an important part of her journey: “Yet the songs reflect parts of myself that I will always be able to connect with, and that will always guide me- fragility, depth, strength, permeability, openness, the urge to understand and grow, timelessness,” she tells us. “So I hold them quite dearly in my heart. They are really a piece of the artistic mosaic I am here to build, urging me to move forward, create more, experiment more, learn more, love more.”

Connect with Jeannel on Facebook or Instagram.