Review Fix Exclusive: Jackie Venson Talks Future And More

Review Fix chats with Austin-based singer and guitarist Jackie Venson, who discusses her goals for the rest of 2017, creative process and what she has to do in order to make her dreams in music come true. Detailing her origin in the industry as well and getting the talented musician to really open up, Review Fix gets an inside look at the up and coming musician.

Review Fix: How’d you get involved in music?

Jackie Venson: I always had music in my house growing up, my father was a professional musician. However it all began when my mother signed me up for piano lessons. I just never stopped. Eventually, after 13 years of classical piano, I found myself in a slump where I didn’t want to play piano anymore but also wanted to keep playing music somehow. This is what led me to picking up a new instrument. It was like I was renewing my vows with music.

Review Fix: Who influences your sound the most?

Venson: Growing up listening to my father and my brother rubbed off on me pretty intensely. Playing classical music also had a huge influence on my musicality and my ability to focus when I practice. When it comes to other artists honestly I can’t choose just one, I’m influenced by whatever strikes me the most at the time. At one point it was Stevie Wonder, at another point it was Disney, later on it was Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse. It changes all the time. I listen to so many different genres of muscle I really can’t track it and I honestly don’t believe it can or should be tracked. Music is a language and one does not listen to only a few voices but several in their daily lives.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Venson: It all begins with sitting down to practice guitar. I start to practice and other things just come out, before I know it it’s been 4 hours and I have a few new songs in the pipeline. Sometimes I’ll be hanging out somewhere else and a melody will float into my head and I record it. I always record everything, I have recordings where you can barely hear what I’m singing because of airplane noise in the background. I am just open at all times and it leads me to great songs.

Review Fix: What makes your new work special?

Venson: The songwriting, the arrangements, the performances by the band and the dynamics. I find that a lot of modern music is severely lacking dynamics. Also these songs are very unique to me yet familiar at the same time.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you before?

Venson: A plethora of genres revolving around soul and blues

Review Fix: Bottom line, why should someone buy your music?

Venson: It’s unique, it’s refreshing, it’s powerful, and you ain’t gonna find anything out there that sounds like it.

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of the year?

Venson: Bigger and better things but most importantly growth in my craft and skill. I also hope to get my music out on a wider platform.

Review Fix: What do you feel you have to do to make your dreams in music come true?

Venson: Work my arse off and stay creative in my approaches.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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