Before I properly introduce him I think I need to qualify my own stance and let the reader know that I, Hilary Hughes, am an unabashedly, embarrassingly huge fan of the Boston blues/rock/soul/big-haired/high-voiced/folk powerhouse that is Jesse Dee.  I saw him for the first time a few years ago at Harper’s Ferry when a dear friend of mine attending Mass Art invited me out to see “a friend of a boyfriend’s friend of a friend” who turned out to be Dee, and since then I’ve been spending roughly every other Sunday night dancing like an idiot to the sounds of the Sea Monsters, a side project of a handful of Boston’s most talented singers/songwriters/musicians in which Dee participates.  When I was working as the East Coast Music Editor over at Chicks with Guns, I was handed Dee’s debut album, Bittersweet Batch, to review, and gave it 5 out of 4 stars for Dee’s refreshing sound that continues to evolve while conjuring up images of vibrant, sweaty dance halls (“My Two Feet”; “Alright”) and sullen, heartbroken hole-in-the-wall speakeasys (“Still Here”, “Around Here”) simultaneously.  Dee’s lyrical and compositional prowess aside, his voice is a force to be reckoned with: With a multi-octave range rivaling Stevie Wonder’s, Dee trips over scales and riffs as though his vocal chords were created for that purpose alone.

So, yeah.  Basically, I really, really love Jesse Dee’s music and was pleased to find that Dee is just as humble and gracious as he is talented and driven.  Jessie and I were able to catch up with him over a beer at Atwood’s while he was waiting to check out the Lyle Brewer Trio on a Monday night, and over an hour we picked his brain regarding his residency at the Lizard Lounge this August.  With many of his fellow musician-friends sharing the bill each night of his Lizard stint, Dee’s shows have been intimate in the sense that they’ve included some of the heaviest hitters of Cambridge and Somerville’s jazz/blues/folk/singer/songwriter scene (which, as I note after writing all those forward slashes, has yet to be defined in a single term by the members of it.)  Tonight marks the end of Jesse Dee’s Tuesday Night Residency at the Lizard Lounge, so if you want to dance or simply sit and listen and feed of the energy of this man with a set of pipes singing songs that are wise beyond his years, head down the stairs of 1667 Mass Ave in Cambridge and take a seat.

-Hilary Hughes

OPENING ACT: JESSE DEE AND THE TEAPARTY TEN

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?

Jesse: Honey Bunches of Oats.

Who would you rather punch in the face: Long Duk Dong from “Sixteen Candles”, or Mouth from “The Goonies”?

J: Long Duk Dong, because … honestly, I don’t think Mouth is such a bad guy!  So, yeah.  I’m going with the “Sixteen Candles” guy just because I have Mouth’s back.

If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be?

J: A juicer.  A manual juicer.

You go to bed, wake up, walk into the bathroom to brush your teeth, and you look in the mirror and you realize that you’ve turned into one of Jim Henson’s Muppets overnight.  Which Muppet are you?

J: Bork bork bork! The Swedish Chef.  I think that guy’s awesome.  What’s the dog’s name, Rolf?  I like him, too.  I’d be Rolf wearing the Swedish Chef’s cooking uniform and hat and trying to do a Swedish accent.

Say you have a crazy night, you black out, and you wake up feeling like crap the next morning and you realize… you got a tattoo.  When you were under the influence of SOMEthing.  What’d you get inked?

J: Something really stupid and random, like a pan of lasagna or something on my gut. (Laughs) I’d get TEAPARTY BOSTON across my chest.

Would you rather be a rodeo clown or a sumo wrestler?

J: Rodeo clown.  It’d be more exciting.  And faster too, I’d think.

If you were a particular style of facial hair, what would you be?

J: A neck beard.  Or the hockey helmet!  That’s the one where you can connect your beard to your hair going underneath your ear… that’s a lot of hair.  That’s a very masculine style of facial hair.  You have to be a certain extent of hairy to pull it off.  Or maybe the soul patch.

Because “you got soul”?

J: No.  Because I’m… patchy.

If you were a type of cheese, which cheese would you be?

J: I would have to say that cheese is my favorite food.  I might have to be Muenster cheese.

What’s your favorite word?

J: I don’t think I have a favorite word.

What’s your quintessential “I’M GONNA DANCE AROUND MY APARTMENT IN MY SKIVVIES AND LOVE LIFE!” song?

J: Marvin Gaye’s “Gotta Give It Up.”  That one you can’t resist to move to.

THE MAIN EVENT: THE JESSE DEE TPB INTERVIEW

Hi Jesse! Tell us about yourself.

Jesse: Hello!  I’m from Arlington, born and raised, which is not far from here at all.  I’ve always lived in the area and I went to Mass Art.

Right!  Aren’t you also a painter?

J: Yeah!  I don’t get to paint as much as I’d like to these days because I’m mostly focusing on my music, but here and there I do some design work and some various commissions.  I’m mostly just doing music now.  I’ve been playing in Boston for almost twelve years.  I was writing songs and teaching myself how to play guitar right about around when I was starting college, so I was playing open mics and studying performance in school and I ended up joining up with some guys from Berklee and I toured around the country.  I guess I started out as a solo performer, and I definitely came up in the folk singer/songwriter scene in Somerville and Cambridge.  I started out playing an acoustic guitar, but I picked up electric because it better lent itself to the music I wanted to play.

Yeah, you have a pretty gorgeous Epiphone.

J: Thanks!

How would you describe your creative process?  Let’s put the songwriting and music making of Jesse Dee into words.

J: There’s not a specific method at all: Sometimes there’ll be lyrics written, sometimes it’ll be a general concept of how a song can function, sometimes it’s just music.  A lot of times I find I write from just singing a song to myself and singing a melody in my head, and if I’m still singing it the next day or a couple of days later I’ll write lyrics to it.

Do you collaborate with anyone when you’re writing?  Do you have anyone to bounce ideas off of?

J: For the most part I just write by myself, and I kind of present it to my band and they’ll add their parts to it and we’ll all fine-tune it together just to see what works.  In that sense, it’s been collaboration.

What about Bittersweet Batch? I noticed that you had a lot of guest artists on it.  How was recording that album?

J: It’s been out for almost a year, and recording it was incredible.  It’s something I’m very proud of, and it was a lot of fun to do.  After performing, I love being in the studio and recording and I just felt very lucky to have so many of my friends and peers that I really look up to as musicians come in and add their part to the album.

Did you record Bittersweet Batch in Boston?

J: Yeah, in Allston.  It’s certainly opened a lot of doors that I’d never expected that could’ve been opened after recording it.

In terms of playing live and being in the studio, what do you love about both processes?  How does your music change between the two settings?

J: My approach to recording in the studio would be to capture as much of the live energy as possible.  The pro for the live show is obviously the audience, and the energy that’s created between the performer and the audience and how the two play off each other.  I try not to track vocals or anything; none of those tracks on Bittersweet Batch were more than one or two takes. I’ve never recorded with a live studio audience, so I like to capture a little bit of that energy because I think that’s one of the strengths of my band is the energy we create in a live setting.  I’ll go back and try to utilize the studio for the instrument that it is in order to make the song or the album the best of what it can be.

Are there any songs in your catalog that you feel particularly connected to?

J: Ohhh, I don’t know…

I know it’s kind of like asking you to choose between children.

J: Completely!  Being so connected to the material from the very beginning, it’s very much for me depending on how I might be feeling that night.  I might not want to play a certain song.

What about your side project with Christian McNeill and a whole roster of other musicians, the Sea Monsters?  Do you and Christian collaborate when it comes to writing?

J: We talk about our respective material and the role it could take on in Sea Monsters and I guess the parameters of what it could be, but for the most part of what we do, he does his stuff and I do mine.  That’s how it’s always been, ever since we started the band.

Now, with your Lizard Lounge residency, are you going to play songs from the Sea Monsters?

J: Nope, not necessarily.  I mean, there’s definitely a pretty big overlap, though I’ll play my songs differently with the Sea Monsters.  There’s more attention to detail when I’m playing them myself because we work out arrangements but with the Sea Monsters we don’t really rehearse anything, we just show up every week.  There’s difference in arrangements, but there are certain songs that, like, “Waves”, for example, that’s something that was a concept I was playing with in my head and I more or less wrote the song with the Sea Monsters in mind.

In terms of stuff you’re working on now, are you recording presently?

J: I recorded some stuff a couple of weeks back for a 7” 45 and a couple of songs that’ll be on the next album.  I’m gonna have a Christmas song coming out this year, too.  It’ll be digital and on a Christmas compilation.

Who would you list as your influences?

J: How much time do we have?  I mean, I listen to just about everything and I appreciate a bunch of different things, but mostly older R&B and soul music is the stuff I’m really into.  Sam Cooke is the top for me, as is Etta James.

Opening for Etta James a couple of months ago must’ve been a dream come true, then!

J: It was surreal.  It’s probably something I’ll never forget and I’ll never get sick of talking about it.  I mean, plain and simple: If I had the opportunity to pick anybody in the entire world who’s still alive to play in front of, it would be Etta James.  It was at the House of Blues, which is an incredible room.  It was just a tremendous opportunity for me and the band played great and the crowd received us very well.

In terms of people you would like to collaborate with in the future: Are there any acts in Boston that stick out as artists you’d love to work with?

J: I hope I get the opportunity to collaborate with lots of different people!

Rachael Price mentioned you, when asked a similar question.

J: Oh, that’s good because I was about to say her.  She’s definitely my favorite singer.  I love singing with Rachael.  It’s the best.  So, yeah, hopefully I’ll get to collaborate with her.

Give me some other people that you love billing with in Boston.

J: Well, definitely Lake Street Dive, Tim Gearan is right up there, Dwight and Nicole, Dennis Brennan… It’s definitely a special thing going on here and it has been that way, and I think you can find a really wonderful community here in Boston that you can’t find in other cities at all. The music scene in Boston is fertile here because the community really fosters that creativity.  Talent aside, there’s a kind of a familiar, communal aspect that just really supports that talent even further and contributes to why I think the music scene is great around here.

We have all these great musical conservatories and schools here in Boston, like Berklee and the New England Conservatory of Music.  Do you think these programs contribute to the community you’re describing?

J: A small percentage.  I think that’s just part of it.  I mean, there’s always a new crop of musicians, if you will, which doesn’t hurt at all.  It’s really… I don’t know, I think I tend to separate the Cambridge/Somerville scene from the Boston scene.

How do shows differ for you, between Boston and Cambridge and Somerville?

J: It’s funny sometimes how much of a journey it is for some people to make the trek across the river!  Obviously, Jamaica Plain has some cool stuff going on, as does Allston, but I just like it over here.

We like it over here, too.  So, you’ve toured really extensively this past year…

J: Yeah, I was in Amsterdam in April and then I was all over the place in Europe in June, and then I was in Italy for a week a couple of weeks ago, and then I’m heading back to Europe in September.

Since Bittersweet Batch came out you’ve done a lot of travel.  How does Boston differ from other destinations you’ve played abroad, or even just elsewhere in the States?

J: It’s hard for me to measure in the sense that Boston is where I have the biggest draw for people to come see me, and it’s kind of my hometown, so playing here is different than playing other cities, obviously.

Do you have any cities that stick out for you as places you loved?

J: Amsterdam is one of the greatest cities I’ve ever been to, reputation aside.  (Laughs) It’s just such an amazing city and I got to play an amazing venue there called the Paradiso, which is one of the best venues in Amsterdam.  A distribution deal with a record company based in the Netherlands is what brought me over there, so hopefully I can keep going back.  I was kind of recognized over there from the promotion of the CD and from them hearing my songs on the radio, which is strange enough.  It’s a cool kind of “weird”.  They’re playing your music on the radio, which is cool, you know?  I don’t always like hearing myself, though. (Laughs)  I’ll always be my own worst critic.

Do your songs change much between the record release and then playing your songs live after the album’s been out?

J: I wouldn’t say they do, extensively.  A good amount of them are played differently live and suddenly evolve in various ways, in that setting.  Some of them are arranged differently live, and that could come from listening to them or being like, “Oh!  It would be cool if we did this like this.”  I’ve performed a lot of it solo, so the context in which I’m playing has affected my choice of songs in a set.  A song like “Still Here”, for example: That wouldn’t be a song I’d play often with a band at all.  If it’s a big huge room of people I won’t play that song.

With the Sea Monsters, are you guys going to be recording anytime soon?

J: Maybe at some point.  We don’t have any current plans to.  I love playing with the Sea Monsters and I always have, but it’s very much so a side-project for me and not my top priority.

Yeah, I think that’s the best part of the Sea Monsters, the fact that you all have very different things going on and I think that you all contribute such a positive vibe to the project.

J: It’s nice when you can see a band having fun onstage, you know?  I feel like it translates to the crowd.

How are the songs you’re recording now a departure from the material you’ve released on Bittersweet Batch?

J: I’m not sure it’s a departure so much as an extension, maybe.  It’s very much so rooted in the same ideas as far as the sound and instrumentation of it.  The material is obviously different, and hopefully it’ll be kind of pushing things a little further on the next record.  It’s still at the point where I have more than enough material; it’s just gotta be the right material.  I need to finish up a few songs.  I’ve been working a lot on that.

Favorite venues in Boston: What do you got?

J: The Lizard Lounge is probably my favorite and that’s very much why we’re doing this residency there this month.  I just like playing there!  I did a residency there during the month of June last year, and they were looking to do another one, so I booked out August.  I think I like playing the Lizard Lounge for the same reasons I like seeing a show there.  Just the environment of it being such an intimate setting like that, you’re able to turn it into a listening room if you really want to and play really quiet, or you can play much louder, and I think it’s that the whole crowd is just there about to engulf you.  It’s certainly appreciated more after I’ve played really big stages where there are lots and lots of people but you’re very much removed from the crowd in that setting, you know?  The idea of the energy flowing back and forth between the artist and the audience – I mean, I’m trying to engage the audience and engage individual members of it as much as I possibly can, and the setting at the Lizard Lounge is ideal for that sort of thing.

I feel like the Lizard Lounge is a universal venue in Boston that’s loved by Boston bands and artists who specialize in every genre.  Are there any other venues you fancy?

J: I like Toad, too; I guess it depends on the show.  I’ve played Club Passim a number of times and I’m doing a big show there in November.  The House of Blues is a pretty amazing place to play, though I can’t say I’ve played it regularly.  I’ll be playing there on October 15 opening for Al Green.  I’m really psyched about that.  Atwood’s is a great place to play, too.

How do you feel about the politics existing between club owners and musicians in Boston?

J: It depends on the bar.  We’re all very lucky to have some of these places, especially in Cambridge and Somerville.

Do you feel like these venues that we’ve talked about are especially friendly to musicians?

J: The music itself holds a lot of weight, I think.  That’s not to say that it doesn’t elsewhere, but there are definitely places like that in Boston.

The Boston vs. New York debate is interesting, too, and there are a lot of musicians that you play with that bounce back and forth between the two or that will be moving there soon.  What are your thoughts on playing in both cities?

J: There’s no other place like New York to play.  The energy there is just amazing.  It can be a weird place to play, though, as far as building an audience goes and getting a crowd of people to come out to see you.  I feel like the Boston music community is more distinct than that in New York and I don’t think the community in New York is as supportive.

Do you have any crazy stories for us from your time on tour?  Any big adventures occur abroad for Jesse Dee?  I mean, do you remember Amsterdam?

J: (Laughs) I do remember Amsterdam.  I’m sure there’s been all kinds of stuff.  I stayed up late a few times.