In an effort to better get to know our artists, All Eyes Media has compiled a list of both fun and serious questions for them to answer, without any warning or context.
For this installment of the questionnaire, we reached out to Nashville-based singer-songwriter, and all-around swell guy, Jesse Daniel Edwards. Jesse has new album, Violensia, out tomorrow and you can listen to that here.
All Eyes Media: What is your favorite color?
Jesse Daniel Edwards: My favorite color is, and has always been, black.
AEM: What is the best breakfast?
a) Some kind of fruit (banana, grapefruit, etc.)?
b) Cereal/oatmeal
c) Just coffee/tea
d) Cold pizza
e) Nothing
JDE: None of the above. The best breakfast is a shot of Jameson in black coffee.
AEM: What musicians, artists, or other creative people inspired you to make music?
JDE: I was inspired at an early age by the Marine Corps Brass Band, my childhood music teachers/mentors (some of whom were quite eccentric- as I suppose you’d have to be in that position), and then later by my brother, with whom I formed my first band.
AEM: What is a favorite childhood memory of yours?
JDE: Growing up was quite the adventure, mostly driven by my mother’s ingenious penchant for creativity. Being the eldest of her seven children, I was often the first to sally forth in one or other of her latest schemes or dreams. One such endeavor, was raising rabbits to sell to the local butcher. She kept them on a flat section of the roof of our house in the mountains. One day she came to me and said, “Jesse, have you seen Mopsy? She is gone.” We thought perhaps she (the rabbit, not my mother) had fallen/jumped off the roof. As the week proceeded, more and more of the rabbits began disappearing. Then, one day we were heading to school, and plop! Just like that, half a rabbit carcass plummeted out of a tall pine tree right onto the windshield of our family Suburban. Of course, every manner of hawk, eagle, osprey, and owl in the forest had been grazing at the conveniently apportioned rabbit rooftop buffet. We took the remaining rabbits immediately to the butcher. When I walked in, with my younger brother, he simply declared, “bunnies?? We don’t want no bunnies ’round here.” And that was that.
AEM: What is your preferred way to write a song (e.g., lyrics first, an idea in the shower, etc.)?
JDE: When I write music, with my left hand I collect lyric prompts into a massive pile, and then start wrangling them around until something moves the needle. With my right hand, I will have a few guitar riffs or piano themes bandying about, almost independently of the lyrical process. Then, when there is enough meat on the bones of both, I play a little game of mix-n-match, until something fits.
AEM: What was your favorite subject in school and why?
JDE: I was hardly in school, and I dreaded every single moment of it.
AEM: What inspired you in the writing of Violensia?
JDE: The inspiration for Violensia came in part from the sweeping piano music that arrived all together over the span of about a week. The process of finding/making words to fit was much more arduous than writing lyrics alone, or composing on the guitar. Generally, the themes center on the sensations of restless malaise and overall futility that were beginning to imprint themselves on society midway through the Covid pandemic.
AEM: What are your top 3 favorite movies?
JDE: I’m someone that has a top 10 list in every genre, in every subgenre of every decade! I grew up without a television so I’ve certainly attempted to make up for lost time. There are simply so many amazing films out there. I mean, not LATELY, of course…but here are some notables:
1. Ladri Di Biciclette
2. Les Bonnes Femmes
3. Of Human Bondage, or Now, Voyager with the great Bette Davis
AEM: Cats of dogs?
JDE: Neither
AEM: What is something other than music that inspires you to be creative?
JDE: Other than music, I often write in the short story form, and I am a poet in training.
AEM: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
JDE: I do not have any pre-show rituals except arrive with plenty of time to get into the spirit flow.
AEM: What can fans expect when they come out to see you at shows following the release of Violensia?
JDE: The songs of Violensia have existed within the parameters of our regular milieu of material for awhile now, and were in fact the nexus point for the formation of the band, and my return to the stage post Covid. That being said, the energy of the record certainly translates- after much tweaking and honing- into the live environment, and perhaps even transforms it.
AEM: What’s on your bucket list?
JDE: My Bucket List:
1. Use this platform, no matter how big or small to challenge the listener, effecting positive change and social awareness regarding key issues such as gun violence, the Fentanyl crisis, and our dependency on technology.
2. Get the NEXT record out- it’s stellar and builds on the foundation of Violensia.
3. Not die alone. It’s harder than we think.