Jazz artist Fiona Ross has an extensive repertoire that includes musical director, session musician, composer, choreographer, director, dancer, actor, model, and a passion for educating and training young people. Classically trained, Fiona started her musical journey at the age of two with dance, drama, and singing lessons; piano lessons at age 6 and starring in London’s West End at age 8. By the time she was 14, she was performing throughout London at jazz clubs. At 15, she was a back-up for a rock and roll band called Rocking Willie and the Y-Fronts.

In a recent interview with me, Fiona talks about her current album, future projects, tour plans, and more.

Congratulations on the release of your third album, ‘Black, White and a Little Bit Grey’.  Explain the story or concept and how you came up with it.

Thank you! Well, officially – The new album explores the story of a husband, a wife, and a mistress: a web of emotions, of desires, of regrets, of ecstasy. Situations are not always as clear-cut as they may appear as allegiances shift and betrayals become serpentine – not everything is black and white. I think basically, affairs of the heart are very complicated and although there is a right and a wrong, it’s not always as simple as that when you fall in love with someone. I have had many conversations with people whose partners have had affairs – some people have ‘forgiven’ their partners, some have ended the relationship because of it and judgments are thrown about. For me, what was interesting was going deeper into that – why the affair happened, the impact on everyone – but looking at it from everyone’s point of view. I think everyone is a bit broken in situations like these.

You’ve been the producer on both of your 2017 albums. What made you decide to produce them? How did you feel being a producer for the first time?

Well, with the first album I produced, I just kind of fell into it. I was working with my mixing engineer and he said, so I guess you’re producing this then, and I suddenly, thought that it seemed like I was! With the next album, I made that decision right from the beginning. I like to be in control of my music – but hopefully not in a control freak kind of way! I love each process, from writing on my own, then working with my musicians to recording, mixing and mastering.  I’m still finding my feet as a producer and worked hard on this with my last album. It’s exciting but challenging. I had some real ‘breakthrough’ moments during the last album and I am really looking forward to exploring this side of my work more with the next album.

Explain your production process.

Well, I am a go with the flow type of producer! There were many moments in the studio where things just happened and went in a different direction, which I loved. The recordings in the stairwell were a spur of the moment decision for example. I was just singing through some things on my way downstairs and was suddenly inspired by the acoustics there and just thought we would give recording the ballads on the stairs a go.

I think a key element for me, is trying to work with the lyrical content of the songs and ensure this matches the production. So for example, with one of my songs ‘So Cold’ I wanted my vocals to sound quite bare and not too warm to support the lyrics – but in contrast, I wanted the rest of my musicians to sound warm to counteract it.

Two of the ballads off the album, ‘Mistress’ and ‘I Broke The Rules’ were recorded in a stairwell. Explain how it was done and any challenges or advantages it presented.

That was so much fun! But yes, a bit of a challenge. As it was a public stairwell, there was no soundproofing and no way of really stopping people coming up and down the stairs – we had to keep waiting and then just hoping no one would come up the stairs while we were recording. The noise from outside was quite loud at times – police cars and a helicopter at some points and you can hear some background noise quite clearly at one point, but I kind of liked that as it showed it really was a live vocal take. We had to find some really, really long cables to reach from the plug sockets to the laptop – there were no sockets in the stairwell and I’m pretty sure we broke some health and safety rules along the way, ha. But it was so much fun to work out the right mic placement, but under the pressure of doing it quite quickly – and it was something none of us had done before – it was exciting. The first time I sang the song there, we all looked at each other afterward, and I said ‘does it work?’ and Gibbi Bettini, my amazing engineer, just looked at me, smiled and said ‘yep’. Ha, it was a bit of a moment actually.

You have said in another interview that singing in the stairwell made your vocals feel less restricted and freer. That said, have you considered recording future ballads in similar environments? Why or why not?

Yes, I will definitely be exploring this further with my next album. I have a photo shoot in a church soon and I am going to sing a little while I’m there and explore the acoustics. I definitely feel a kind of freedom with my vocals in some environments that is different to the studio. And I much prefer doing live vocal takes, so yes, I will be doing more of this!

 Your latest album is the second one you released in 2017. Explain how you write so prolifically.

It has been a little crazy, ha! But I spent a lot of my career working and writing for other people so I really haven’t spent much time writing my own material, just for me.  So I have lots of ideas at the moment and I am just going with the flow. I’m sure it won’t always be the case! I’ve just started working on my next album, so I just want to keep writing while there is so much going on in my head, as I am aware that it won’t always be the case.

Tell us about the behind the scenes photography book about the Black, White and a Little Bit of Grey album you planned in tandem with the album’s release.  How did the idea for this project come about? What role did you play in its production? Is the book available yet and where?

I think this all came about from a combination of things really. I love photography and the power of a photo to tell a story, so this has always been an interest of mine and I also receive a lot of feedback from people about how much they love the behind the scenes photos that I post. This combined with the need for a continual social media presence for marketing, actually allowed me to explore this further but with pleasure!

I truly love working with the amazing people I work with, so it is a real joy for me to document this and show them off! Unfortunately, this hasn’t been completed yet. I have all the photography but haven’t got a publishing date yet.

Your father loved traditional jazz, your mother loved opera. Explain how you chose to pursue a music career in jazz and not opera.

I didn’t have a defining moment, I just kind of fell into Jazz. Although I am classically trained, I have been surrounded by a whole variety of music all of my life but I can look at it now and see that I certainly identify with what I consider Jazz to be. I never wanted to be an opera singer, ha, that was my Mum – she wanted me to be the next Julie Andrews, so a mix of classical and something else. I am not one for following musical rules.

 What other genres besides jazz would you be interested in exploring as an artist?

I love all genres really and although I generally sit under the heading of Jazz, my writing explores many different genres within that – soul, blues, ‘indie’, latin, funk  – I just write whatever I am feeling at the time, so it could be anything. Some of my acoustic material, is not really Jazz at all. My next album will be funkier for sure.

You were head of the British Academy of New Music where you trained artists such as Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, and Jesse Glynne. What made you decide to leave and pursue a career as a solo artist?

I became very unhappy with the need to make money while in an educational environment, from a business perspective. I worked in education to genuinely try to help people succeed, achieve and to find the confidence and strength to do whatever they wanted to do – not to make a profit. Of course, I understand the business needs and funding cuts etc, but this was just not what I wanted to do. I was also working in a very white, male-dominated environment. So it just felt like the right time to pursue my own work and although I have been working in the industry all my life, I had never actually pursued my career as an artist in my own right. It just felt right.

 You have said Prince was a huge inspiration to you. Explain how he has inspired you in your songwriting.

Oh, my goodness, Prince. Wow. Where to start, ha. He just has everything. His incredible musicianship, his performances, his energy, drive, the variety of his writing, production – he is a pure genius. You can tell that music was literally running through his veins.

 How are you planning to step up your game with live streaming, Twitter, and YouTube?

Well, I shall be rehearsing and gigging a lot this year, so my plan is to live stream a lot of rehearsals and gigs, which hopefully people will enjoy. I will also be recording my next album at some point this year, and I am going to try and think about how I can film this too. I have always taken lots of photos but not so much filming. I have some photos shoots lined up in some amazing locations, so will do some filming of those too.

 I heard in a past interview how you were surprised that a poor quality video of you performing at a club (without your knowledge), got more views on YouTube than a planned one. Why did it surprise you? What are your thoughts on such videos being posted to an artist’s social media account?

Well, initially it surprised me that people preferred the behind the scenes video to the main music video, but I do realise now that people love the behind the scenes stories, so I can go with that! But posting videos without permission? Well, it’s terrifying but……at the end of the day, if my performances aren’t good enough to post, then I shouldn’t be out there performing!  It can be a shame if the quality is poor and therefore maybe the sound is not so good, but nothing you can do about that! I have nothing to hide, so I don’t really have a big problem with it – it’s just the way the industry is now and we have to get on board with it.

You said you always have a camera on hand to take photos for your social media accounts. What do you like to photograph — for example, Working in the studio? Your band? Candid/ Posed shots?

I love it all! I am much happier posting photos of the people I work with than photos of me. I love trying to capture the honesty and energy of the situation – so whether this us having a giggle in rehearsal – of which we have many – or a more serious moment.

 What has been your favorite photo shoot for an album or favorite video shoot and why? 

I have had many amazing photos shoots, but to be honest, it is completely out of my comfort zone. I am naturally introverted and just don’t like the attention – of all the things I have to do, I think photos shoots are my least favourite thing. My favourite one, was when we were having a rehearsal, and my photographer took shots while we were all just doing our thing. I just forgot he was there and carried on. I think they are my best photos. But I have had some wonderful photos shoots and work with amazing people – and we always have fun!

 How do you think women in Indie music can be supported more? What are the biggest challenges for women in Indie music?

Huge questions. Ha.

When I tell people I am a musician, they presume I am a singer – and yes, I am and very proud of it, but I am also other things and it saddens me that the stereotype is still that women in the music industry are mostly all singers. I spent some time talking with Karrie Keyes – Pearl Jams monitor engineer – about how we can involve more young girls in the tech side of music and we had a fascinating conversation about the lack of female role models for young girls.

I think times are changing, slowly, but changing nonetheless. This has always been a male-dominated industry and it should be an equal industry. What you are doing is amazing – we need more of this!!

What advice would you give to women wanting to pursue or currently pursuing a career in music?

Be smart. Know your craft from every angle. Know the business. Be the best you can possibly be. Pursue it relentlessly or it will never happen. It is incredibly hard and crazy, but if it is what you want to do, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t – just be amazing.

What are your tour plans for this year?

Just busy booking in gigs for the year. So far London, Sweden, and New Orleans. I am also planning France, Germany, and Italy.

What new projects do you have planned for this year?

Getting out there and gigging is the main focus, I have a video shoot in Helsinki in March and I shall be working on my next album, which I hope to get out this year, so busy!

Thank you, Fiona, for the opportunity to interview you!

Thank you so much!!

Follow Fiona Ross on social media:

Twitter:  @fifross

Instagram:  fifi_ross 

Facebook:  fionarossmusic

Check out Fiona’s YouTube channel:  Fiona Ross