Jessica 6 Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 11th 2010 6:55PM by Robyn Adams
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The group that takes their name from the 1976 "Logan's Run" character of Jessica 6 is taking dance clubs by storm. The character of Jessica 6 embraces youth and feels that life's best contributions are made young. While the band, Jessica 6, is still young and making a huge impact on music, they plan to continue the magic that their music creates for years to come, even surpassing their namesake's expectations. Spinner recently caught up with the Jessica 6 trio -- Nomi Ruiz, Andrew Raposo and Morgan Wiley -- to see what they have planned next.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Contortionist jazz exotica [all three laugh].

How did your band form?

Nomi Ruiz: We met in late 2007 when we were putting together the 'Hercules and Love Affairs' live show. Then we just toured and toured for most of the year together. We would get together when we were off tour and back in New York. We all are natural collaborators, so it was natural for us to keep working together and just experiment and see what happened.

Andrew Raposo: Morgan and I have played and worked together for over 10 years now. We met Nomi through the 'Hercules' connection and we were all playing together and we wanted to get that back.

What are your musical influences?

NR: We all have very different experiences that kind of affects the sound of it. I like old soul singers, a lot of hip-hop -- that's where I come from.

AR: We're influenced a lot by hip, soul, R&B, and horror films. I also come from a punk rocker, indie background.

Morgan Wiley: Disco.

How did you come up with your band name?

NR: We had a name that another band already had. So we spent a lot of time figuring out what we should use. We were talking about movies we love, then we mentioned 'Logan's Run,' and we were just reading through the storyline of that movie. One of the main characters is named Jessica 6 that rebelled against whatever kind of community they were convincing people to live in.

AR: The post-apocalyptic community doesn't allow people to live past 30. She actually thinks that it's better to live a fuller life that to live with soul. But, I like the whole "dead 30 thing" because I just turned 30. I like the idea that there are things for an artist to break while they are young.

What's in your festival survival kit?

MW: Condoms, booze and a lot of pills. I also bring a lot of personal lubricant. That's really in my daily tool kit.

NR: Wet wipes and eyelashes.

MW: A lot of penicillin.

I understand that the New York fashion designer Catherine Holstein was inspired to create a collection of clothes inspired by your music. In fact, this was even featured in Elle magazine last year. How did that occur?

NR: She reached out and she wanted to really collaborate on something. She took a style from what she was doing at the time. She came and I performed in [the dress]. It was really fun.

AR: We did a thing with Chanel, too.

What's the craziest thing you have ever experienced while on tour?

In Istanbul, when we were leaving the venue, we had all these men following us. They had bodyguards for us. When we are there, they treat us like princes and princesses.

Is your music really popular in Istanbul?

NR: They really like us there. They want what people don't have.

AR: There's a trendsetting bunch there. They have people that are very vibrant. It's really cool, actually. I've never seen anything like that, even here in New York -- the community of artists there and the support they give each other. They throw big parties and spend a lot of money on each other.

MW: Didn't we set a hotel on fire there?

AR: Yes, that's true.

NR: Yes, the guy [the promoter of the event] that hooked me up with the room there said, "I have to sell four paintings to make up for that fire."

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