Singer Jillian Hervey of futuristic funk-R&B band Lion Babe tells Pride about growing as an artist, adapting to change, and lessons learnt from having a famous mother
For the children of famous people, it’s easy to imagine there being some difficulty in finding your own way.
But rather than absorbing the star power of those who’ve come before her, Jillian Hervey is undoubtedly carving her own path. As the daughter of singer, actress and the first Black woman crowned ‘Miss America’, Vanessa Williams, Jillian has had an insight into the world of celebrity for as long as she can remember. And growing up with such creativity in her midst, it’s no surprise that Jillian’s a bundle of artistic energy: she made her New York Fashion Week debut in February 2019, walking in a show for The Blonds, and is a hair ambassador for a variety of brands.
It was while studying dance in New York that she connected with Lucas Goodman, a producer and the eventual other half of their band, Lion Babe. After enjoying each other’s work, they decided to work on a project together, and put their breakout single, ‘Treat Me Like Fire’, out into the world in 2012. Happily for them, it was pretty much an instant success: the song did indeed catch on ‘like fire’, and led to the duo signing a deal with Interscope Records.
Honing their sound over the next couple of years, they released their self-titled EP in 2014, and their debut album, Begin, in 2016. Combining elements of funk and soul with futuristic dance-pop, Lion Babe’s music is certainly a diverse sound, and has made for great collaborations with the likes of Disclosure, Childish Gambino and for their latest single, ‘The Wave’, rising rapper Leikeli47.
The world’s changed quite a bit since they released their last project; with a new president in the US, and Britain (where they recorded part of their first album) in political trouble of its own, the world’s in need of some brightness – and that’s a lot of what’s their music inspires.
We spoke to Jillian over the phone while she and band partner Lucas Goodman were in New York City. On the cusp of releasing their sophomore album, Cosmic Wind, both were excited for what this new era of Lion Babe will bring. Jillian also told us how her mother’s experiences with fame has taught her to handle public life of her own as an adult.
Hi Jillian! So, it’s been a while since Lion Babe’s last musical release. What’s changed and developed since you released Begin?
Jillian Hervey: We’ve been really working a lot out of New York for the past couple of years; we made a lot of Begin in London, and now we’ve been in a new studio space. We took all of the experiences and lessons of making our first album, and we had more clarity of going into a new project. That’s been the main change; we’re a little bit more seasoned in what we do, because when we first started, we put out ‘Treat Me Like Fire’ and then the next thing you know, we’re talking to labels. It was a real whirlwind and we had to grow in the public while putting things out, so it’s been really nice to have the time to put a cohesive, focused project together. We’re in a very good space; things are feeling good for us, and I’m so excited.
Where did the album title, Cosmic Wind, come from?
Jillian: The title is very much inspired by this transformation, this energy shift – this new feeling we’re in. [Lucas and I] are both going into our thirties, and everything is shifting for us. The inevitable wind is coming, and you have to face it.
The album’s lead single, The Wave, is undeniably a positive sound – and we’re in time where lots of positivity is needed! Where do the positive vibes stem from?
Jillian: I think so many times in our lives, especially in the world we’re in right now, music is really a means of escape and therapy and a place to go and feel free to escape from everything else that’s going on. We always want our music to help the current climate we’re in. Then again, it does go back to the fact we genuinely have fun when we’re doing this, and I think we wanna capture that moment. Who doesn’t wanna smile?
Do you think there’s an expectation for Black women to make a particular style of music? How does it feel, playing with what people might expect?
Jillian: I guess I’ve never really identified as a ‘regular Black woman’. I know there’s so many different types of Black women, and brown women, and everyone’s different. I think growing up in a predominantly white town always made me feel a little different. My experience was specific to me. And my voice, and/or sound is kind of a blend of all of those things. At the end of the day, though, I am drawn, and always have been drawn to great soul singers, and a lot of them are black. A lot of them, even the male singers like Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix… I think it’s a mix of pulling on those influences and those tones, and making it feel like it’s also me; having a mix of contemporary sounds. I don’t really feel like my story is a specific story for any black woman; I think empowering my individuality and my authenticity is what I try to do, and I hope that inspires everyone else also, to do the same. I think that’s black women in their highest form, for me, that’s what draws me to them, that we’re fearless, that we’re really just being ourselves. We’re always told we have to be a certain way, or we have to look a certain way.
Let’s talk hair – it’s a massive part of your overall image. What made you want to incorporate it into the Lion Babe brand?
Jillian: It was kind of a happy accident. In our first visual, I had the big ‘lion’s mane’ and that vision fit for that specific song. From there, the amount of people that were talking about it… I always thought that expressing yourself through your hair, if you don’t get a chance to sing something, when someone sees you, it gets someone’s attention. My interest is to play with the amount I can put on my head, and the different shapes and how powerful it is. It’s so much fun to express myself through my hair. Going back to that other question [about expectations of Black women] – for my identity growing up, I always thought my hair had to be a certain way and that really trapped me for a long time. This, for me, is a way to just have fun and be loud with it, and do whatever I want.
You’ve said in the past about growing up and not being ‘proud’ of your hair. What was the turning point where you started to embrace it?
Jillian: It definitely all started to change when I moved to New York City. Finally I was going to school for dance, and I was really focused on my work and just getting confident as a performer and an artist. And there were so many different people and colours, everyone was doing their own thing, and didn’t feel like I was in that same space, and how I felt about myself was changing too. I dyed my hair blonde, and it was such a freeing moment because it’s something that did change me; it’s great to not feel so constricted by that.
Growing up with a mum in the public eye: did that give you pointers, starting off, about what the business is like?
Jillian: For sure, one of the biggest pointers being: don’t go too ‘in’, stay out of it a little bit. I appreciate my mom’s really down-to-earth sensibility – she looks as her work as her work and I try to kind of apply that same thing. I think you just have to realise that it’s just like any other business, and I think seeing her relationship with fame and how people have treated her, and going through traumatic events – it hasn’t really given me any real desire to experience that kind of lifestyle. My goal is to really just focus on creating things that I really feel 100% behind, and being able to touch and reach out to as many people as possible. So it definitely keeps me grounded, her example, and I have a lot of other family members who are also in the industry too – so just knowing that everyone plays their part, and everyone’s equal, it helps me to stay in my own life.
Have you been tempted to explore the celebrity side a bit more, instead of being purely an artist?
Jillian: I mean… No. It’s always weird for me when someone calls me a celebrity. It’s definitely not how I view myself, and I definitely respect artists who… like, where is Sade? Where does she live? She comes out of nowhere, will drop a song and that’s that. I respect that. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be a celebrity: I think it’s great when you have a spotlight, because then you have the space to say whatever you want and to help people and all of that. That’s the type of stuff that interests me, if I get more exposure: being able to be an example for someone else. It’s all about representing things that feel real, and hopefully that will inspire other people to also be real. That’s definitely what I’m more interested in, than being famous. That can be annoying. I like my privacy too.
Finally, what will 2019 bring for Lion Babe and Jillian Hervey?
Jillian: Well, the album comes out, and we’re gonna be working on our live shows and starting that whole beast, which we love. And travelling. Also, making more music – we’re in a really good rhythm right now, so we’re squeezing as much out of ourselves as we can.
Lion Babe’s new album, Cosmic Wind, is out now
