Jesse John Heffernan is a drummer-turned-songwriter, though he insists he first picked up his songwriting skills from his brother, Love/Hate actor Aaron Heffernan.
“He’s been doing a lot of theatre in London recently, but he’s the songwriter of the family really,” says Jesse. “He did a lot of songwriting when he was younger and that kind of sparked me to get into it.”
The family influence doesn’t stop there. To hear Jesse tell it, his family history is intertwined with the history of showbiz in Ireland.
“My mom was one of the first black models in the country, and my dad was a DJ for years,” explains Jesse. “He hosted Anything Goes, which was kind of a mixed variety show. The Blades would play, a lot of Irish bands. So then himself and my uncle Gerald set up a production company, and they had this thing called the Sessions, which was one of the first shows in the Point. They brought folk singers over, like John Prine and Nanci Griffith. Hearing those stories, it was always very inspiring for me.”
Musically, Jesse has experience across various genres, and previously performed in hip hop groups.
“I’d watch these rappers work, and they go into a space that’s so creative in their heads,” he recalls. “You can see the story unfold. So with my solo work I try to tell a story as intricately as I can; I want to keep it interesting for the listener. I’ve spent months on songs, every day finding just the right words for it. All my tracks are very real to me – mostly stories of relationships, finding love and heartbreak and all that kind of stuff everyone goes through.”