Interview with Jennifer Silva
Brandishing elegant bohemian patterns and naturalistic iconography, indie rock singer/songwriter Jennifer Silva makes a lasting impression. An artist who wears the tapestry of her life on her sleeve, her music dissects the various facets of her creativity. Silva’s new album Runaway which released to all major streaming platforms on September 27, features 11 tracks that add to the illustration of her mystical trajectory. With poignant metaphors and symbolism deriving themselves through a multitude of changes the singer has undergone, Runaway captures the ambivalence, excitement, and anxieties of experiencing new directions. As the album unfolds, listeners are drawn in and immersed in a winding road of stories, all leading to the discovery of how to embrace novelty.
Album Cover by Denyse Dias of BelleRey Photography
Q. How does “Runaway” as your opening and title track exemplify the themes of this album and cultivate your artist identity?
A. The song “Runaway” is about a woman making the hard choice to leave all she knows behind and to try and find her place in the world, even though she’s scared. She identifies with the North American Buffalo, who are known to charge the storm because they instinctively know they will spend less time suffering if they just go through it rather than run from it. I am a runaway too and can relate to that connection to the buffalo. I left NYC after 25 years and ran to the woods, to escape all the violence, the distractions, and the danger that I felt my kids were being exposed to.
I decided to take a different path, to take a risk getting back to basics and starting over with my focus on family, close friends, nature, connecting with a higher power, and the goal of making a new record. It’s very easy to lose yourself while living in NYC because there is always something exciting and fun to do. I spent many years running around the city and enjoying myself, but I felt disconnected from what was really important and it took running away from it all, to be reminded of those things and to get back on track. I was very scared to do that but I knew in my heart it was what I needed to do. As an artist, I have always connected with forms of spirituality/The Occult, nature, and animal spirits in my music and so this album is me digging deeper into that and exploring my emotions more honestly.
Q. The second single off of Runaway “Rearview Mirror” picks up from where “Runaway” left off, announcing that the album’s heroine isn’t looking back as she drives into her future. How does the rest of the album follow this narrative format?
A. Every song on this album tells a part of my story. From the way I was raised in “The Devil that You Know,” to the day I had a chance encounter with “Madame Sonja,” a Romanian fortune teller, who told me not to sign the Brooklyn lease I was considering, to the “Damselfly” that actually landed on my shoulder, twice in a row, symbolizing the 2-year journey I was about to embark on. Once we moved, my family and I would gaze at the magnificent night sky from our deck and revel in the planets and stars that shone so bright, so I wrote “Run with the Deer” for them. We were filled with so much hope and wished for a kind of peace that we were not experiencing in the city. I wrote “Hold the Rain” and “Valhalla” during the hardest times, when we first moved and were struggling to settle in. There were serious arguments, school bullies, and overwhelming feelings of loneliness and occasional regret. But “Rearview Mirror” came about once we found our way. We ended up moving again after about a year, to the Hudson Valley, and the weight lifted once we found our current place and the kids started making friends. It’s been a journey getting here, but we are so much happier now. It was all worth it and I’m not looking back.
Q. Your trademark sound blends a concentrated mixture of folk, Americana, alternative, soul, and rock. What about these genres speak to you?
A. I am drawn to stories, emotions, and vocals. I love a singer who can captivate me and bring me into the story they are telling. Folk and Americana artists like Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Brandi Carlisle do this all the time, with great storytelling. These genres use poetry to teach us something about ourselves and I aspire to do that with my own music. Rock and Alternative music have always shown us the grittier, edgier side of life and that’s where I get my appreciation for darker concepts and stories. I also love a killer guitar solo! Stevie Nicks and Heart did that so well and are huge inspirations for me. I love Hole and Bjork and Grace Potter too. Women who rock are my idols. Soul music has my heart though. Soul singers like Aretha, Yebba, and Amy Winehouse, tap into emotional truths and give us chills with their vocal abilities. I hope my style is an amalgam of all these influences. That’s what I want to do with my music I want to tell stories and make you cry (laughs). I am always growing though and learning from the greats. I am working on being more open and this album, I think, is my most vulnerable thus far.
Q. Runaway was inspired by a family move to upstate New York which was met with immense discovery but also acute loneliness. How did the production process of this album help you work through and with these feelings?
A. It’s funny because my last album Purgatory Road was tracked a week before COVID sent us all into lockdown. I was on a high from those studio days and then that all came crashing down as we had to pause everything for so so long. The loneliness I felt then was very extreme and once I started the production process again after so many months in silence, I felt saved! Getting back to work on that album was the best feeling in the world.
This time, with Runaway, I had the songwriting process to take me through the first year of being away, to keep me focused and less lonely. Every day, I spent hours in my little music studio in the basement, crafting songs, playing guitar and piano, and working out all my emotions on my own like that. I wrote so many songs! But once production began, it was frustrating and tedious. We had so many setbacks from the beginning, right up until the album release. I went through 2 drummers, 4 keyboard players, rescheduled the studio twice, battled ulcerative laryngitis, and even had to find a last-minute keyboard player for the album release show that never even rehearsed with us once. Not to mention I moved twice (3 homes) during the last 2 years. They say that nothing worthwhile comes easy though and I think that’s right. Sometimes you have to fight to stay on the right path. I know I’m on the right path. I just need to stay the course now!
Q. You and your band held an album premiere show at The Bowery Electric. What was it like celebrating your album’s release in such an iconic venue?
A. The Bowery Electric has always been a great venue for us. We’ve played there a few times now and I really love that stage and the balcony by the bar. It feels intimate and I can really see the crowd and their faces from the stage. It’s the greatest feeling in the world to perform to a captivated audience, especially when they sing your own songs back to you. I have great memories of all the shows we’ve done there and I have always loved playing the Bowery Electric!
Q. Talk about the life-altering tarot card reading session you had with Romanian fortune teller Madame Sonja which is also the name of the fifth track on Runaway.
A. Oh man, that was a crazy situation! Well, it all started when my landlord decided to sell my apartment in Brooklyn and so we had to move after almost 15 years. Prices have skyrocketed in Brooklyn, as you may know, and we were having to look in neighborhoods pretty far out from where we lived, which was frustrating. Eventually, though, I found a place that I thought could work for us. We put the deposit down and were waiting for the lease.
That weekend, I heard about a psychic fair that was happening upstate and I booked a last-second reading with a woman named “Madame Sonja”. She was a beautiful Romanian fortune teller from a long line of intuitives and I just asked her “Should I sign the lease”? Well, Madame Sonja proceeded to blow my mind with the reading of my life. She saw my whole life in those cards. I read tarot cards myself so I am familiar with how it all works and I have never experienced a conversation like the one she and I had. Everything came out in the cards she pulled, one after the next. She would ask me something, and my answer would appear in the card she pulled, at the exact same time I spoke the answer. It was a conversation in card form if that makes sense. Needless to say, it was intense and powerful and she told me not to sign that lease! She said I needed to save my family and move to the woods to be with my children. She foresaw bad things happening if we stayed. She saw things that she couldn’t possibly have known and things I already knew in my heart but was afraid to say. I went back the following day for a second reading (to be sure!) and more of the same all came through the cards. At that point, it seemed clear what I should do. My intuition felt she was right. So I told my family and surprisingly, they were very open to this idea and willingly followed my lead on this.
That very weekend, after I met with Madame Sonja that second time, a beautiful doe walked into the yard and stared into my eyes for several minutes. It was incredible to have such an intimate moment with a wild animal. It turns out that when a deer looks right at you like that, it means you should walk forward consciously, without fear into whatever challenge you are facing. [I had] chills, when I read that in my animal symbolism book Then I really knew it would be ok and that this was the decision we needed to make. I got my deposit back later that week and never looked back.
Q. Your spirituality and intuition are a guiding force in your music. What advice do you have for those looking to start their reflective journeys but are a bit trepidatious?
A. That’s a great question. First of all, your intuition will never steer you wrong. If you can silence the noise around you, and really think about what your challenge is in life, your gut will tell you what is right and what is wrong for you. You already know what you need to do. But many of us don’t want to listen to our intuition, because it’s generally the harder thing to do. Easy is less stressful.
As far as spirituality goes, I am on a journey figuring out what I believe. I was raised Catholic and spent many years as an Agnostic, but after COVID and my recent experiences in the woods, now I am searching for more answers. I don’t have them all yet, but I do know that nature and the Earth have everything to do with it, Animals are so important and they all have messages for us if you are open to listening. Native Americans have believed in their power for thousands of years and I can say that I have personally experienced them entering into my space to tell me things that I needed to know at very specific times.
Another example of a powerful animal interaction I had a few years ago, was when a red-tailed hawk flew onto my balcony in Brooklyn and perched there for 10 minutes looking at me. It was insane and a totally rare situation. But at that time I was dealing with someone in my life who was not who they said they were. But I didn’t want to believe that I was being lied to. The thing about hawks though, is that they have incredible eyesight. They can see a mouse on the ground from hundreds of feet up and dive down to grab their lunch in one fell swoop. The hawk symbolizes the need to see things clearly as they actually are and not how you want them to seem. This animal experience gave me important insight into my own personal situation and it proved to be true.
My advice for those looking to tap into their own spirituality is to look for the signs and symbols around you. Connect with nature. Go hiking, plant a garden or some flowers. Get your hands dirty. Walk on grass barefoot and look up at the stars and the moon. Get back to basics and start again if you need to. It’s ok to step off a path that you’re on if it’s not feeling right. And taking a chance on change might be the best thing you ever do.