JORDYN JACKSON & SHAWN FISHER INTERVIEW!

On August 3rd, 2011.

Jordyn Jackson and Shawn Fisher (front-man for “Son Of A Bad Man”) will be performing together at the Florida Theatre for the “Uncommon Music for a Common Cause” charity. All proceeds will go to “Art with a Heart in Healthcare”, a program that uses art experiences to enhance the healing process and joy to patients and families in crisis.

This is the 5th Annual Uncommon Music event, and 2nd in a row of which I have seen Jordyn perform. Last year, she did some jazz covers and one original song entitled, “Time Alone”, which was mentioned in my previous post about her. This year, she and Shawn will be performing original songs that they have co-written together, with music backed by Johnny Flood, Justin Mandell, and Chicos Lobos (of “Strings Of Fire”).

I was fortunate enough, thanks to a mutual friend (Alison Russel), to sit down and interview the singers for monzsense to get to know them better on a personal level. Questions were thought of at random which made for a fun fresh interview. Here are their answers:

Where is your favorite place in the world to be?
Jordyn Jackson: Bordighera, Italy
Shawn Fisher: New York City

Who, other than family members, is the closest person to you?
JJ: Shawn.
SF: Jordyn.
(of course!)

What charity is MOST important to you? (if they could only choose one)
JJ: Clean water.
(Jordyn has done a lot for this cause, on her birthday, she asked instead of gifts, to please donate to mycharitywater.org, an organization with a simple goal: to provide clean drinking water to everyone on the planet)
SF: Farm Aid.
(this is a non-profit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land. You can find out more about Farm Aid at www.farmaid.org)

*Side Note: After they gave me their answers, I started to talk about a charity that I have been involved in and would like to continue to promote the support in called “Take the Walk” (more info at www.takethewalk.net), and as I was explaining to Jordyn what it was, Shawn nodded over to her and said “Yeah, Hanson does that!” Which made me giggle like a little school girl, because it brought us to our next question…

What do you think of Hanson?
JJ: I like them, I listened to them when I was younger.
SF: (laughing and leaning back in his chair) That is one of my favorite bands.

*Shawn and Jordyn went on to tell me that when they first started dating, they had watched the “Strong Enough To Break” documentary (about how Hanson struggled for over a year to release another album with their record company, before opening up their own independent record label “3CG Records” and releasing their 3rd studio album, “Underneath”). Jordyn said she had to take notes because Shawn was going to quiz on her on it. I laughed and this became the best interview ever! Moving on…

Where are your favorite stores to shop:
JJ: Century 21 in NYC, Betsy Johnson, It’s Eclectic (locally owned Jacksonville store).
SF: Crazy Dave’s in Orange Park (another local store) and Clothing Warehouse.

When you were younger, was there anything else you wanted to be other than a singer?
JJ: A choreographer or interior designer.
SF: I wanted to be lawyer!

Since working with each other, has it changed your style of performing?
SF: Yes, being in a rock band, you just play loud and hard, but with Jordyn, it’s made me tone it down and pay attention to what I’m playing. I focus more on notes, harmonies, and chords.
JJ: Very much, he’s so energetic and inspiring, I draw from his energy, and it’s helped a lot with song writing, I no longer sing only cover songs.

How did you two meet?
JJ: Our mutual friend, Amanda Amaru, took Shawn to see Uncommon Music last year…we thought we should hang out, get to know each other, and just went from there.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, and only had 5 items with you, other than food and water, what would they be? (this one really stumped Jordyn, she took some time to think of her 5 items, and tried to narrow it down by asking me how long she’d be stuck on this island and such, it was quite funny, she took it almost too seriously, Shawn, on the other hand, threw his answers out fast)
SF: Sony Walkman, batteries, the new Bon-Iber album, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and my guitar.
JJ: Guitar, Shawn, deck of cards, pro-biotics, and pillow.
(if this was for only a week)

What are your hobbies other than the obvious?
SF: Reading, Iphone Photography, and Thrifting.
JJ: Interior design, Ultra Amature Photography, Make Up Artistry, Lyric and Poetry Writing, and Traveling.
(after the interview was over, Jordyn was talking to someone about cooking, and then realized that it was one of her biggest hobbies, she later asked me if she could change her answer, take away all the answers and just say “cooking”, but I decided to just add it on…)

Who was your first celebrity crush, if you had one?
SF: The Pink Ranger.
JJ: Devon Sawa.

What’s your favorite season and why?
SF: Fall, because it just is.
JJ: Fall and Spring because of the clothing season.

How would you describe JORDYN in three words?
JJ: Forgiving, passionate, dreamer.
SF: My better half.

How would you describe SHAWN in three words?
JJ: Kind-hearted, talented, unconditional lover.
SF: Calm yet ecstatic.

What was your most embarrassing moment…EVER?
SF: In kindergarten, our bathroom was inside our classroom, and my enemy came and opened the door while I was inside it, pooping.
JJ: I fell off the stage while dancing in front of my entire 7th and 8th grade class.

What is an important message you would like to send out to readers of monzsense and listeners of your music, or followers of your tweets…(LOL, I just added in that last one, I didn’t actually ask them that)?
JJ: If you have a dream, don’t ever lose sight of it or let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. And always make time for the ones you love.

Shawn jokingly said “forget your dreams and don’t call your friends or family” after hearing what Jordyn’s answer was, but then answered,

SF: Stay true to yourself.

After all of this was over, my nerves had calmed down, for some reason, I was extremely nervous to do this interview, I couldn’t tell you why, but at the end it was a great experience for me and I can’t help but smile every time I think about it. It just always makes me so happy when an artist/musician is so supportive of others, and being that monzsense is so important to me, it’s nice to know that they support it.

NOW… By the time you read this, it will be time for you to get ready and go out to see them play for Uncommon Music for A Common Cause at the Florida Theatre. GO! It’ll be fun!!! Show starts at 7pm!!!

Or…it might be too late. Sorry, I waited until the very last minute to post this interview/blog, but even if the event is over, it was still fun getting to know them, right? Haha.