JESSIE MURPH

Lit

With an Awe-Inspiring Array of Killer Collabs, More Music and Coachella on the Horizon, MTV Video Awards Nominee Jessie Murph's Star is on the Rise

PHOTOS BY martin rusch
WORDS BY TAMARA RAPPA

Listen to the extended podcast interview --- find Story + Rain Talks and Jessie Murph's episode Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

 
​T​amara Rappa: When did you discover your voice?

Jessie Murph: I was always singing​  around the house​. It was something I ​would always like to d​o​, for as long back as I can remember. I ​when I was around 11, I filmed a video of me covering Titanium or something, and posted it on YouTube​. I think that was the ​very first moment when I realize​d I could sing.

​T​R: As an artist at the beginning of your career, wha​t, at this point​ in time​, do you think about in terms of​ your sources of inspiration?

​JM: All of my inspiration ​is taken from my own life​. Anything that I​ writ​e ​has to do with something that I'm going through. I find it incredibly difficult to write something that I'm not feeling​, so ​I work with my own life experience and events.

​T​R: How do you describe your style these days​; your musical styl​e​, and your personal style?

​J​M: Ooh, musical style​...I mean, it's ever evolving. I feel like I'm also ​very sonically ​influenced by ​the things that I'm listening to​. I'm like a sponge ​for music​; I'm always absorbing ​the things that I'm listening to. ​That will sometimes come out in ​my sound​.

​TR: Your musical style is woven in diversity, and your taste in music runs far and wide. Why do you think your musical influences are so diverse? ​

​JM:  I think it does have something to do with where I grew up. ​In Alabama​ there's a lot of country music​,​ but there's also a lot of hip hop around me​. I've always loved all types of music. And my brain ​is all over the place​. I'm always feeling a lot of different things, ​so I need different types of music to suit that.

​T​R: Let's go back to the time when you started publishing on TikTok and YouTube. What do you remember about your very first upload?

​J​M: My first upload on YouTube​, as we were talking about, was ​when I was 11​. I remember I learned the song on this shitty keyboard my grandparents had.​ I posted it​, and it got like 24,000 views. ​ I remember freaking out​, thinking, ​'this is insane​'.

​TR: Do you remember how long it took to ​reach 24,000 views?

​J​M: It happened over ​one week. ​I was freaking out ​about how cool it was and then I kind of took a break ​on posting for a while​. I went back to doing normal kid things. ​Then​ when I was 15, ​ I started posting ​and singing on TikTok.

​TR: It must be so funny for your family to think back ​to the keyboard that started it all. When were you 'discovered​'?

​J​M: I ​was posting on TikTo​k​, the video started getting tractio​n, so I ​then would ​sing ​and post covers​. I thought, if I can do covers, I c​an ​also make one of my ​own songs​ and have it do well. ​I really committed to ​it. I would spend hours and hours and hours and stay up all night in this room in our hous​e, recording and recording and recording videos. It was all I wanted to do. I was so passionate about it. I posted the song Upgrad​e, it went vira​l​, and I ​then I started getting emails from record labels​.

​T​R: How do you think you get your best ideas?

​J​M: I need to have something going on in my life​, whether it's a relationship or a bad relationship​... I need to feel some type of way for​ ideas to come out of me.

​T​R: Do you have a special place where you record ​your ideas and lyrics?

​J​M: I mean​, for me it's a way of getting things out of my brain​, because if I don't, I suffer.

​T​R: ​ Like journaling.

​J​M: It's like journaling in ​the sense​ that it's about getting things out. It's almost ​like I have to get​ [the feelings] out of me or I'm gonna hurt. I need to get it out. So ​that means it can happen at anytime, ​anywhere, in any place.

TR: Do you physically write at all? Where exactly do all these ideas go, once you get them?

JM: Normally if I'm feeling some type of way, I'll just sit down at a piano.

TR: So once your creative process kicks off, you put your head down to make something. Do you have to take breaks?

JM: If I start something I need to finish it that day, because I might not feel the same way tomorrow. I need to finish things when I start them; the writing, especially. Some of my most favorite songs were created in thirty minutes. If I'm feeling something intensely enough, it'll come really fast.

TR: It's a rush.

JM: It's definitely a rush.

TR: How have you grown and what have you learned about collab'ing with artists like Jelly Roll, Maren Morris, Teddy Swims, and Diplo?

JM: You learn so much by getting to meet other people who do what you do, and seeing how they go about it themselves. It's all so, so inspiring and cool. One of the best parts about doing this is getting to connect with the people that I've looked up to. It's so sick to put two heads together and see what happens.

TR: Singer-Songwriter Soundoff: what comes to mind when I say 'Jelly Roll'.

JM: Kind. Very kind. Very inspiring. You can just tell the dude's so grateful for everything. And it's such a beautiful thing to witness. Such a great man.

TR: Maren Morris?

JM: Icon. I love her so much. Honestly when I think of Maren, I think of nostalgia. I used to listen to her stuff all the time when I was little. I think nostalgia, and a comforting sound.

TR: Teddy Swims?

JM: Ooh, Incredible voice. It's just a powerhouse of a throat that he's got.

TR: Diplo?

JM: Really, really funny guy.

TR: Is there a secret sauce to creating something great with someone else?

JM: Both people have to feel the song and feel connected to it; that's important. Both people have to want do it. That can be a big thing. Both people wanting to do it is important.

TR: Have you had any artists that you admire share their love of your music with you?

JM: Lil Baby; all the people I've collaborated with. There have been a lot of people over the years. It's crazy that I'm saying 'years' now! It's wild!

TR: It's been a very full few years for you. Who do you dream of working with, who would be a killer collab for you?

JM: I don't know if I can share all, but my dream collab, my number one collab, just happened. It's not out yet but it's recorded, done, video shot.

TR: As an artist, do you find that your physical surroundings affect you? Do you feel sensitive to your environment?

JM: Absolutely. I'm so deeply empathetic. I feel everything around me, tenfold. Surroundings are definitely important. If I'm in a room where I don't feel comfortable, I can't really work very well.

TR: Is there anything from a visual standpoint that needs to be in place for you to feel creatively inspired?

JM: I used to look at pictures on my phone. I used to look on the Internet to find images that inspired me. But the older I get, the more I find that I'm driven by my emotion and what I'm feeling.

TR: Can you describe your mindset and what it feels like just before you step on stage for a live performance?

JM: It depends on where, and what. It depends on what I'm doing and who I'm performing for. I do get nervous, but the second you step out there, it's a shot of adrenaline. You kind of black out, in a sense.

TR: How do you prepare physically for a tour or for a string of live performances? Is there mental preparation, too?

JM: I think my mental is good on the road because I don't have time to think about things. I'm so busy and surrounded by people all the time, and I don't have time to be down. The hard part of touring is when you get off the tour, because you've gone from one hundred miles an hour to zero. It's really weird and a hard mental adjustment. I try to work out before tours, do dance movement lessons, to really get myself ready.

TR: Image can be a lot of what takes up time, especially as a new artist. What are your thoughts on your persona and image as an artist, and being true to yourself while also taking into consideration all the things?

JM: It's a fuck lot to think about. It's hard doing what I do and being my age. This is the age when we are supposed to figure out who fuck we are, and that doesn't exclude me. I just happen to have to figure it out a little bit more quickly. It's weird that as an artist you have to constantly evolve, you have to be ever-changing. You're almost a new character every year. It's weird but also cool to figure out. It's been fun.

TR: What you have to think about is twofold. Who am I? Tap into it, and tap into it right away. Then there's the secondary piece: where am I going to go next?

JM: One hundred percent. You're constantly thinking, who am I?

TR: I think it's probably a very good exercise in knowing yourself and being in sync with the things that you like and don't like. It prepares you to think more about who you are as a person and artist. Has it been difficult to hear the opinions of others when it comes to how to step into---and what to step into---in terms of your image and vibe, or do you feel up for the task?

JM: I'm definitely up for the task. It does get a little hard when everybody's coming at you from different directions in terms of what you should be doing. And it's not just the people around you, it's also people online, saying this or that about the way you look. I think that at my core I know who I am, and it's something I hold onto a lot. I'm trying to keep it front and center.

TR: What have you come to discover about social media in the years since you've been using it?

JM: The more that I do it, the less of myself I want to share. I've looked back on shit I posted when I was 16 and thought, why fuck why did I post that?

TR: Time to be a little more restrained...

JM: Definitely. The more you share, the more can be used against you. I feel like there are downsides to social media but I'm also grateful for it. I wouldn't be here without it. So I love it. And it's definitely something to constantly be figuring out.

TR: Your followers are 10.5 million on TikTok, 1.4 million on Instagram. Being such a public figure, have you found beautiful moments of connection there? Have there been people and moments that have really lit you up?

JM: Absolutely, and especially in terms of my music. I have fun songs and I have 'up' songs, but I also have really heartfelt songs, and really hard, emotional songs. Seeing people cope through them and let themselves feel through them has been so beautiful. It also has made me feel less alone. I'm going through this too, so seeing other people go through the same things is just so comforting. To know that I can be there for people and vice versa, is really cool. Also to see it happen live is just so beautiful.

TR: Is there anything that's surprised you on this journey of being a working artist stepping into opportunity?

JM: Something that has surprised me is how expansive my mind can be and how expansive creativity is. I've also been surprised by how much I've learned from being around other creative people. I reached a moment, I think in 2023, when I started working with this new producer and something just unlocked inside of me. I became this entirely different creator. I started creating completely differently. I think about how much being around other creative people, absorbing everything from them, can affect you. It's so cool to me.

TR: What are you seeing as your milestone moment?

JM: Probably selling out. It was my first arena show in my hometown at the end of last year, and it was such a special moment. I've always wanted to play [Von Braun Center]. Playing an arena alone...was just so cool.

TR: Have you experienced any downsides to fame?

JM: It can be isolating at times. I also think that everybody's fucking isolated right now. We're all kind of isolated. It's a weirdly lonely time.

TR: Your career kicked off and into high gear right around pandemic times.

JM: Yeah, that's when everything started. It's a lot different now. Everybody was locked at home. I went from going to high school and being a cheerleader to moving cities. I moved away from all my friends, and then the music was happening so I kind of leaned fully into it. Life is so different now. I don't live in Alabama anymore; I'm far away from my family. It's different, but beautiful. I am where I want to be.

TR: Do you miss it? What is your relationship to your hometown like now, in terms of feeding your creativity? Do you feel like you are always going to need to have that tie, to get back there in order to keep tapping into who you are? Do you feel like you have to stay connected to where you come from?

JM: I've got to go back because my family's there, and I love them. But oh, dude, moving away from Alabama was the biggest blessing. When I was there I think I resented it because I wanted to get out so badly. Now that I don't live there, I appreciate it so much. I look at it in such a loving, appreciative way. I'm so grateful that I grew up the way that I did, because it's given me so much perspective. I've lived two completely different lives.

TR: What has you energized as an artist right now?

JM: I'm making a new album, and sonically changing things up. I'm very excited about it.

TR: Congratulations on upcoming Coachella.

JM: Thank you. I'm looking forward to Coachella. I'm doing a whole new show. Everything's different, and it's a new era. I'm coming into a new character and a new part of myself. Musically, I'll be leaning into my rap side of things. I'm very excited about that.

TR: What's a story about your career that you haven't had a chance to tell yet?

JM: There's one moment that I think about a lot. I saw a polaroid from it the other day. It was really small show, it was on my first tour, I think it was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I remember that everybody at the front of the stage was crying, and it was so beautiful. It was a moment where I thought, holy shit, I am in my purpose right now. I will never forget it. I think about it all the time, and it's one of my favorite shows I've ever played. It really puts things into perspective.