BEACHY KEEN

A musical cruise with Jill Cunniff

Jill Cunniff is the girl you want to be your best friend, your sister – hell, even your mother. If you could bottle her fresh, wide-eyed outlook on life, you’d spray a mist of it onto yourself every morning. What makes her words so inspiring is that they’re backed by honesty and experience. Cunniff was born and raised in New York City, and achieved most of her notoriety and success with Luscious Jackson. Now, after having two children and settling down with her family, Cunniff has emerged as a solo artist with her debut album, City Beach (The Militia Group).

After teaching herself how to engineer, Cunniff spent the last five years working on the album that, among many things, was inspired by Brazilian music, Coney Island, and her love of the beach. She pairs positive themes with mellow beats to evoke images of warm, hazy sunsets and long, coastal highway drives with the volume up and friends in tow. City Beach is layered with dreamy love songs, addictive pop tracks, and plenty of funky electronic drums and bass that will guarantee this record a permanent spot in your rotation.

NC: You said you wanted to bring the beach to “caged-up city dwellers.” Why?
JC: We just went through September 11 and it was intense to have a three-week-old baby for that period. So, we went to Martha’s Vineyard where there are these incredible beaches, and it was so beautiful, peaceful, and mellow. I was really inspired by the beach because it felt like the world was coming to an end. I thought, “How could I bring this to other people?” We were in this chaos while we experienced the healing qualities of the beach, and I started writing those songs. I wanted to make an artistic place that was really peaceful, and that’s how it came about to try and create that feeling I experienced at the beach with music. I’ve always loved beaches. It’s always been my favorite place even though I’m a city girl.

What’s happened in your personal life that’s affected this solo album?
It’s all about relationships, and I think having kids brings home a lot of things that aren’t as clear when you’re single or sort of cavorting around doing your own thing. Most people don’t have kids in their twenties anymore, so we have this really long, extended adolescence, myself included, in which to explore the world or have careers. It’s just a lifestyle that involves eating out all the time and meeting friends for cocktails, and it just goes on and on until suddenly you’re 30 or 35 and you have a kid and everything changes. This sounds really corny, but a lot of it’s just about being nice to each other and learning how to do that. It’s about learning how to be in a relationship, how to be consistent for other people, and how to love each other.

Do you find it more gratifying to be a solo artist at this point in your life?
I’ve wanted to be a solo artist for some time. I thought that would really be fun. It’s almost like I’ve been a painter or something with the way I’ve been doing this record. I’ve sort of been tinkering away at it, adding colors, going back to things after a while and adding more, which is not the same as when you’re in a rock band on a major label and you have a certain amount of time and it’s really intense, everyone’s up all night, and you’re paying all these people. I associate the band thing with much more of a party scene and people just hanging out. This is way more personal. But I did miss the band, so we spent the last year making a kids’ record.

So you taught yourself Pro Tools and everything?
Yeah, I did. When the band broke up, I was like, “I’m going to be a producer now.” I did not want to do any more performing. I really thought I would never do it again. I was so done. I also felt like I wanted privacy to have kids, and I did have it. I just didn’t want to have to deal with any public stuff. I did tons of work with different artists, and I learned a lot about the other side of the music business, which is writing and producing other people. The whole time I was doing that, though, I was tinkering away at my album, which was my special release. I have a special interest in teenage girls because that was a big, big time in my life that I still feel really connected to, and I’ve written a lot about it in the past. My teenage years have come out in Luscious Jackson a lot.

You still have a little bit of that in this album too.
For example, a song like “Eye Candy” is something I felt that girls needed to hear because a lot of teenage girls are trying so hard to be beautiful, but they feel so ugly. Of the 15 girls I’ve worked with, there is a percentage of them who have suffered, or are still suffering, from anorexia. I think they just never got that they were beautiful in this other way.

The album has a lot of positive themes.
It’s funny, because ever since I was a teenager, I went through a lot of that stuff— like low self-esteem, body image issues, and boys all through college. A lot of the Luscious Jackson songs were written coming out of that period, so I’ve definitely gone through a lot of that stuff myself. I feel like finally I don’t have those desires to self-destruct. I hope there’s a lot of positivity because I’m not dwelling on all that anymore.

Do you feel that’s from growing up and having a family?
Yeah, and from personal work and trying to get through all of it, you know? If teenagers are educated about this, then they won’t feel like, “I’m never going to get over this and I’m always going to feel like I’m not good enough.” The reality is you actually can get over it and feel good about yourself.

By Nadine Cheung