52 In-spire LS
Helena Jesele
Hi Helena, how are you? Thanks for taking the
time to talk to us.
Hello! I'm well thank you, and very happy to be
doing an interview for In-spire LS today!
Take us back to the very beginning. When did
you first realise you had a passion for music?
I come from a big Irish family so music was always
part of my daily life. My earliest memories are of
family get-togethers with everyone either singing
or playing instruments. I first became aware of my
own particular passion for music when I happened
to stumble upon an Ella Fitzgerald cassette tape one
day and popped it into my Fisher Price recorder.
I was only 5 but I remember immediately feeling
hooked when I heard her voice for the first time.
After that I think I was drawn to jazz music. I do
embrace other genres of music but jazz was where
my personal love affair with music began, so I
consider it to be my roots!
When did you discover that you had such a great
voice?
I was extremely shy about my voice when I was
younger. I was happy to sing in front of my family
but I was petrified of singing at school or in public!
My Mum picked up on the fact that I used to hide
in the back row of the choir and went to see the
choir mistress at my school. She told her that I
had a lovely voice and need to be encouraged to
sing more, the next thing I knew I was called to
the choir mistresses office and informed that I'd be
singing Gershwin's `Someone To Watch Over Me' at
the next Parents Day in front of the entire school....
alone! That day, the nerves nearly killed me but
when everyone stopped to listen to me sing, I knew
that was the beginning of the rest of my life!
Growing up who inspired you musically?
I mentioned Ella Fitzgerald earlier but as well
as her, I was influenced by Julie London, Frank
Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ray
Charles, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett....and
many more! Even though I very much delved into
the old school worlds of Jazz and soul, I was also
inspired by the trip-hop era of Portishead, Massive
Attack and Tricky etc. I still love those bands. I
really liked electro-tango music too, The Gotan
Project are brilliant!
What prompted you to study Art & History at
University?
Even though I always wanted to be a singer, I didn't
have the confidence in myself to go for it at that
time. Also, growing up in Catholic Ireland, it's not
really the done thing to become a jazz singer! I felt
I ought to go down a more sensible route to begin
with. Art history, particularly Italian Renaissance
was my other passion, aside from music. So I left
Dublin and came over to London to study.
After graduating, you went on to sell fine art
during the day but did the London Jazz club
circuit by night. Was there ever a time when you
felt perhaps music wasn't the pathway for you?
They say you should follow your `instincts' in
life, so even though I really enjoyed working in
the art world, my instincts always told me that I
belonged elsewhere...on the stage of Ronnie Scotts
for example! There have been many times when
I've thought - "Why oh why did I give up a steady
pay check for this?!" - It's such an unforgiving and
tough business to be in, but when things do go right
there is nothing more rewarding. I feel extremely
lucky that I have the opportunity to make music.
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What do you get when you cross Dublin lass that was raised in Manchester with an Ella Fitzgerald cassette
tape and a Fisher Price recorder? You get Helena Jesele of course... a jazz singing, fine art selling extraordi-
naire! With the recent release of her debut album; Sweet Sticky Fix causing a buzz across the industry, I caught
up with Helena to find out all about her musical journey so far.