JESSIE FRYE
“I
feel like I just gave birth,” says a giddy Jessie Frye on the day her new single, “Faded Memor y” featuring Timecop1983, is released. “It’s surreal to see it out after I’ve been working on it for half a year.” Her excitement is justified. The ’80s-inspired synthpop tune is pure ear candy, and some of Frye’s best work to date. And that’s saying something about an artist who has won awards for Best Pop Act every year since 2015, opened for Beck and has an email signature featuring a press quote calling her “Texas’ sultry pop princess.” Yet pop is only part of what Frye does. Her song “Big Bad Wolf ” is essentially a ’90s grunge song. Her live shows are high-energy rock ’n roll with dash of grittiness because, as she says, “we need more of that from women.” “I feel really grateful that I’m forming a fan base that accepts or loves whatever type of song I put out because they know it’s from my heart,” she says. “Putting out content that makes people feel connected to me as an artist, that’s what really matters at the end of the day.” Though her debut EP came out in 2008, Frye has been creating music her whole life, putting on concerts for family at Christmas as a child before starting professional vocal lessons at the age of 8 and piano lessons at 12. After dropping out of college to pursue a career in music, she submitted a demo to perform at South by Southwest in 2009. “I did not expect an answer back,” she says, “and I got an invitation to showcase. I’d never played a show before and thought, ‘I’d better get a band together.’” That is not to say the artist enjoyed overnight success. “For years, I played to nobody,” she recalls. “We didn’t make money at shows. We would play to three or four people and make 20 bucks, sometimes not even that. I think every band should go through that struggle, should feel like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can do this,’ because that moment is so important to build your character.”
I FEEL REALLY GRATEFUL THAT I’M FORMING A FAN BASE THAT ACCEPTS OR LOVES WHATEVER TYPE OF SONG I PUT OUT...
When she finally started selling out shows, it was in her hometown of Denton. “Denton has helped me grow my career,” she says. “It’s really tight-knit, but there’s also room for everyone to be successful, which is what I really like about Denton.” Her career truly took off after the Greater Denton Arts Council asked her to play a Bernie Sanders rally in town. That led to her opening up for the candidate during his Dallas visit — a 10,000-person gig she says “not only changed my career, but also changed my life.” Today, Frye is gearing up to write a new PledgeMusic-funded record produced by collaborator Matt Aslanian (“kind of the other half of Jessie Frye”), who also worked with her on first full-length album, 2014’s Obsidian, and her Boys Club EP. But first, she’ll take a moment to enjoy the success of “Faded Memory.” FIND HER ONLINE: JessieFrye.com, @jessiefryemusic on Instagram, @jessiefrye on Twitter, jessiefryeband on Facebook, jessiefrye on Soundcloud
J U LY/AU G U S T 2 0 1 8 D E N T O N CO U N T Y
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