Tiril Jackson: Refining Her Soulful Sound

Hailing from Senja, Norway, Tiril Jackson has traveled across the Atlantic to refine her soulful sound at Berklee College of Music. As a singer, instrumentalist, and producer, Tiril has her hands in every aspect of her creative process, but also enjoys the collaborative nature of music making. She often works with other musicians, particularly for live performances, allowing her to captivate her audience with her silky vocals and flair for fashion. Combine that with emotionally honest lyrics, and you’re left with raw, authentic music that connects with listeners on a deeply personal level. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tiril for a podcast interview back in July, two months prior to the release of her first EP, WHO ARE YOU? Today, I’m excited to share with you our second on record conversation where we discuss her inspirations, growth, and aspirations for the future. 

Where does your love and passion for music come from?

I think music, for me, is a way of expressing myself when I’m lacking in words. So often if I’m feeling something really strongly about something, and I can’t really get it out with just words to someone, or just don’t have anyone to direct the message to, I use music to express myself and my thoughts. I think that’s where my main passion is. Also, I just love the collaboration when people enjoy playing together and playing off each other and the joy that sparks for me.

Can you talk about how your heritage and where you’re from contributes to the way you approach making music? Whether that’s your sound, influences, or anything like that.

Yeah, I think my heritage definitely plays a part in that but it ‘s kind of still something I’m trying to figure out. I’m from Norway, so we have folk music from there which I haven’t really used that much of in my music, but, growing up, I had a lot of influences from American artists like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, but also local Norwegian artists. I think a lot of my music is just like a melting pot of everything I like within the genres I listen to or from my 2 cultures. I’m half American, half Norwegian, so I think I draw a little bit from both cultures without really specifically thinking about what I’m doing. I just kind of take a little bit of everything that I like and then put that into my music.

For someone who is unfamiliar with your music, if you were to describe it to them, how would you do so?

I don’t love genres, but I know we’re supposed to label ourselves. I do a lot of soul influenced, jazz, R&B, experimental stuff. It’s emotional. I want my music, or I’m hoping that my music is thought provoking. So even if you maybe don’t agree with whatever I’m saying or you can’t really feel that exact emotion, it’s something that can spark up a conversation, or a thought. I’m very honest in my lyrics, so when people listen, maybe they can relate to what I’m saying and find comfort in that. That’s kind of not describing my music, but in a way it is, because music is about emotion.

You recently released an EP called WHO ARE YOU? back in September. Can you talk about the process of releasing that EP, what it means to you, and some of your favorite moments, either in creating it or in the finished product?

Hmm! I think that EP was a big learning process for me and kind of a big release for me emotionally. The lyrics were about family relations and emotions that I’ve had over the last 3 or 4 years before I released that record. I went through a lot in that period where I realized a lot of new things about my family and about myself, so the process was kind of heavy just because of what the music is about, but it was also very freeing to be able to deal with my emotions in this way. So in a way I released it for myself and let it take on a life of its own from there.

I think my favorite moments were the general process of just seeing songs grow from the beginning, where I played them on keyboard or sang them, to the end. It was crazy to take these ideas that I had in my head and work with people to transform them into something real. To have the final songs sound exactly like what I first heard in my head was amazing.

How has being in America, or particularly being at Berklee, helped you grow as an artist and musician?

I think being at Berklee has helped me a lot just by giving me the opportunity to push myself into things. A lot of times I’ve thought that I can’t do things until I’m ready, but I’ve realized that you kind of just have to do it while being terrified. Even if you’re not sure what you’re doing, do it anyway. I think I pushed myself in that way after coming to Berklee, and I’ve grown in that way where I’m just doing things now. I have a goal, and I’m just gonna do it either way. 

Berklee also has helped me because there’s so many things I’m learning here. We have like 10 classes a semester, so I’ve learned a lot of new skills. I’m able to do more complex things, but I’ve also gotten a lot better at the simple things and feel more equipped to do what I’m setting out to do.

I like how you incorporate your personal style and fashion sense into your content. How does that kind of expression through the way you dress relate and correlate with your expression through music?

That’s a good question. I’ve always liked clothes and paid attention to my personal style. I’ve also been a dancer before, so I was always interested in how clothes play a part in performance. I think my style has also evolved a lot with my music; they’ve kind of grown together. Honestly, I just like clothes, so I will be doing stuff with clothes. I want to look cool on stage and wear interesting things because that inspires me even more with everything I do. That’s how they coexist. Because I like it, I do it. I’m not really trying to dress a certain way to match my music, I just dress how I like to dress and then it comes together.

You authentically express yourself through music, and you authentically express yourself through your dress. They’re different, and you’re not necessarily thinking about how they relate to each other, but they relate to each other because they’re both authentic.

Yes.

It all comes together. To conclude, I’d like you to paint us a picture of what success looks like to Tiril Jackson. What is your vision for yourself as you move forward in developing your career?

I feel like this changes every day, but I have a very high bar for what success looks like for me. I have so many things I want to accomplish: I want to tour; I want people to come to my shows specifically to see me; I want to have a name in the industry; I want to do clothes; I want to make earrings; I want to do everything related to artistry. I’ve been really into visuals lately, so I think success for me is like staying creative in different ways. I want to be on stage and make the music I want to make and make money from it, because that’s important too. I want to work hard, but I don’t want to ruin myself for this. I want to be happy in my career.