Known As Rocker Courtney Love’s Muse, Ms. JENNIE VEE Discusses How She Got to Play With Her and All About Her Solo Album!

Meet Jennie Vee!

She just played bass for none other then Courtney Love on her “Endless Summer” tour along with Lana Del Rey. 

After meeting her at a DJ gig, Courtney Love was instantly taken with her and her music and has since described Jennie as her “muse”. Courtney has styled her for several photo and video shoots featuring clothing designs from Love’s own Never The Bride line.

Vee recently released a cover of Echo & the Bunnymen’s single “Lips Like Sugar”. Her second EP, “Spying”, is due out this summer. Her songs capture her brilliant pop juxtapositions: radio friendly on the surface, authentically indie on the inside.

Learn more about Jennie Vee in the following All Access interview:

It’s been quite a whirlwind past few years for you! Hard to believe you played your first gig as Jennie Vee just last May. How do you feel about all this momentum right now?

There’s an old saying that success happens when preparation meets opportunity.  I’ve been been playing bass, guitar and writing songs since I was a young teenager and rarely, if ever during that time took any sort of “breaks” from creating.  I feel my whole life in music has had momentum, this year has been busy and rewarding just like the others.

What has it been like playing with Courtney Love on her “Endless Summer” Tour with Lana Del Rey?

I love playing with Courtney.  I learned to play bass many years ago jamming along to “Live Through This”, so a lot of the material we played was already en-grained in me.  Backing her up live is a true honor. She is such an inspiring and energetic performer. When she takes the stage, she is giving the crowds so much of herself.  This tour in particular was so special. Lana Del Rey has lots of young fans and this may have been their first concert and being exposed to a real ROCK show with Courtney sharing the bill may have intercepted their development at the right time! (Laughter) Pick up a guitar young ladies!

How did you first get involved with Courtney Love? How did you get to be her “muse”?

Courtney and I met through mutual friends, one of which was quite sure that we were meant to play music together.  The muse concept is mutual- she’s always inspired me.  I think she was just tired of seeing me in all black clothing and as any good friend (who also happens to be not only a musician, but talented artist & designer) would. She pulled from her “Never The Bride” collection and loaned me magical & colorful pieces for some of my video and photo shoots.

You recently released your cover of Echo & The Bunnymen’s “Lips Like Sugar”. Why did you choose to cover that song?

I grew up on British sounds.  Echo & The Bunnymen were always tops on my list along with New Order, the Liverpool and Manchester scenes of the early and late 80’s.  I’d never really done a cover and as my own sonic landscape was becoming clearly defined in my home studio. I wanted to play around with a cover and Will Sargent’s guitar work was a joy to interpret.

Your album “Spying” will be released this summer. How are the songs on this collection different then the songs on your first EP, “Die Alone”?

Both EPs were written around the same time so “Spying” is a continuation of “Die Alone”.  I examine themes of isolation and accountability for ones own happiness on both EPs.  One thing that makes “Spying” different is that Chris Lord Alge (Grammy award winning mixing engineer- Green Day) and Paul Wilson (Snow Patrol) took on some of the mixing duties.  Both EPs were co-produced by Richey Rose – a Manhattan based studio genius.

Growing up, was music always a big part of your life? What musicians have been inspiring you since day 1?

I was an obsessed fan of music from day 1.  Some of my earliest memories revolve around music.  My mom’s favorite band was ABBA and riding in the car with her listening to their music. I’m sure they had an influence on my pop sensibility and structured approach to songwriting.  I was also big on Buddy Holly and E.L.O as a little kid.  Getting closer to 10 years of age I fell heavily into the aforementioned British music spiral and my biggest songwriting influences are Robert Smith from The Cure, Martin Gore from Depeche Mode and the Reid brothers from Jesus and Mary Chain.

How did you get to work with the Grammy Award winning producer, Chris Lord-Alge (Bruce Springsteen, Green Day, Stevie Nicks)?

Chris reached out to me online and as a huge fan of his work I wasn’t sure if it was really him or not!  He liked my songs and chose “Wicked” as the track he wanted to mix.

How did it feel to be booked by Alan McGee’s first ever Creation Unsigned Acoustic Night last September?

Alan McGee is a legend.  I’m a huge fan of Creation Records and it was always my “dream label”.  I sent him my first ever demo tape many many years ago and he had replied with a hand written letter. Fast forward to 2014 and I sent him my newest collection of songs. As fate would have it, he had recently acquired a beautiful old chapel in rural Wales and was in the process of setting it up as a live venue and community space.  He asked me to come over and how could I say no?  It was a true honor and privilege to play in that space.  I love Alan, I love Wales – it was pure magic.

Where can fans see you perform next?

I’m heading across the pond in the fall- playing a festival with Johnny Marr and Spiritualized in October.  In the immediate future, I will be playing bass for my friend Tamaryn.  She has an amazing album coming out on Mexican Summer called “Cranekiss” and we will be hitting the road playing in Europe and North America this summer.

You can find me online here:

BANDCAMP:

http://jennievee.bandcamp.com

YOUTUBE:

http://www.youtube.com/jennieveemusic

FACEBOOK:

http://www.facebook.com/jennieveemusic

SOUNDCLOUD:

http://www.soundcloud.com/jennieveenyc

TWITTER:

http://www.twitter.com/jennieveenyc

All photos by  Katrin Albert Fine Art Photography