Both of my parents were traveling jazz musicians. All our neighbors were New York artists, finding refuge there amid the rising rents and influx of wealthy tech people taking over the city. Music reaches back as far as we can see on both sides of my family. My grandfather on my mother’s side was a vibraphone player and my grandmother was a supper club singer.

As a teen, I found my home in the East Village. I used to sit at Union Square and talk to the street performers I’d meet there. Card magicians, jugglers and travelers became my closest friends (I spent some time as a juggler on the street as well before finding my calling as a songwriter). When I started playing guitar, my friends would sit on the steps of Search and Destroy on St Mark’s Place and work out covers to play for tips. It was never really considered for anyone that I’d do anything other than music, including myself. It never occurred to me to rebel at all. At the same time, I didn’t assume I’d be a professional musician, but it was never a question whether or not I was a musician for love.

I didn’t get skilled at one instrument until I was older, because I was running around, jumping from instrument to instrument. I’m really lucky, because music was very accessible to me.

Suit Pence, Bracelets & earrings Erickson Beamon, Sunglasses Le Specs, Shoes Jimmy Choo.

Would you say your musical education came from your parents?

I wouldn’t let anybody show me anything. I’m pretty self-taught in everything. I wish that I had spent more time learning how to read music or music theory. My ears were really good as a kid. That was my party trick, that I could play back anything. But, because my ears were so good, it made me neglect the other side of that education. Because my ears are so good, I can’t read music. Your ears can’t discern everything. Being able to read music would allow me to express myself more completely.

What spurred the leap into music professionally?

I started writing as a stress management tool, and people responded to those songs immediately. I still don’t consider myself to be a working musician, even though I obviously am. I’m at the mercy of public demand. I’ll always be doing music for the sake of love.

I do know now that I’ve evolved into a professional musician, because if I need to write, I’m able to sit down and create a song. The process used to be dependent on my emotional state. If you go to a restaurant and ask for a dish, and the chef tells you, “No, I’m not in the mood,” maybe that person is not a chef. I’ve figured out how to produce material and work even if I don’t necessarily feel like it.

Suit, shirt, & tie are vintage, Earrings & bracelets Erickson Beamon, Shoes by G.H. Bass.

In what sort of headspace do you find you do your best writing?

I’d like to experiment with writing from a headier, more intellectual place, but I do write from an emotional seed. I get hit with these phrases often, that come from feelings that are too big for me to express in a safe way, so the safe way is songwriting. I think frustration is a really big motivator for me. I’ve always been very focused on fairness, so if I think something is not fair, I often want to write a song about it. I write a lot about insecurity as a woman. I have many women that come up to me, having responded to that. It’s cool to see these more complicated feelings resonate widely.

Does recognition of and resonation with your music by a wider audience encourage you to expand your discography’s messaging?

I write to exercise these feelings I have, though I draw inspiration from artists like Elliot Smith. To me, his writing is a diary. It may seem like a purging of negativity, but once it’s externalized, it’s like medicine for people who are experiencing a similar thing. The idea of writing with a message I find distasteful, because I don’t need to preach to anyone and I don’t need to be preached to.

I don’t have an overarching agenda. I write and sing from my heart and have a wide array of feelings/ things that inspire me. I would never wish to inflict my personal beliefs on someone just because they are mine. I only hope to open a window into my own perspective and that’s usually the kind of songwriting I’m interested in.

I wrote a song called “Trouble Breathing” that I close my set with about climate change. It was written when the wildfire smoke blew into New York, from the perspective of animalistic fear that I experienced. I like to focus on how honest a song is. Otherwise, I don’t see the point.

Suit is vintage, Shirt Pence, Earrings Lele Sadoughi, Bracelets & rings are stylist’s own, Tie is vintage, Shoes are stylist’s own.

How has your sound taken shape?

The first album was an extensive process. I was very much figuring out what I wanted to sound like, and to a certain degree, I’ll always be in that discovery process. I was very hands-on with the mixing and recording, and played most of the instruments on the album. Not at all to discredit the other musicians involved, because they were great. For me, it was a crash course in finding my musical identity, so it was important for me to be playing the instruments. My bandmates are Vern Woodhead on harmonium, bass and backup vox, Robin Pahlman on guitar, Bloody Rich Hutchins on drums, and Tree Palmedo on trumpet.

Initially, I went in and recorded guitar and vocals— we were planning an acoustic album. Pretty quickly, I realized that was not what I wanted to do. So, we went to Hobo Sound in Brooklyn and recorded with James Frazee. He’s a real wizard.

Tell us about your experience covering the legendary Velvet Underground. How did you make “All Tomorrow’s Parties” your own?

My label was putting out a compilation album called New New York Continuity Vol. 1. Eugene from GogolBordello called me and said, “Grace, I’m looking at the track list and seeing you’re not on this album,” and I said “I know that Eugene.” He asked how I would feel about recording a Velvet Underground song. They needed it in three days. I said, “Absolutely, no problem!”

I had already been thinking about doing “All Tomorrow’s Parties”. I’ve always loved that song. I called my drummer, Rich Hutchins, and we got to work immediately, recording the track at his house. I’d been wading in the spaghetti western direction — I can’t help it, it’s delicious for me. I was playing around with a James Bond-esque riff that had no place in the song. We had so much fun defining guitars and dismantling that track. There’s a lot of texture there. Thurston Moore then got a hold of our finished piece and loved it so much he sent us two beautiful tracks of noise guitar to include. It was fantastic and perfect. I now get to say I have a song that Thurston Moore was featured on.

Suit Pence, Shirt 83 Minhle, Earrings Erickson Beamon, Tie is vintage, Sunglasses Shady Spex, Shoes are stylist’s own.

You’re widely referred to as an alternative or indie artist. Is there any way you’d like to broaden or specify that designation?

I think that alternative or indie is a blanket term for anything that isn’t quite hard enough to be rock and isn’t quite soft enough to be folk. In that sense, I do think that’s an appropriate place to put me. My favorite music is heavy, whether that’s heavy content or heavy-sounding. I like strong flavors, so I like to think my music has a lot of strong flavors in it. That’s the only reason I wouldn’t want that label, as it implies palatability.

I’m learning, growing, and showing up—for the art, for my family, and for the kid in me who always dreamed of standing on stage, sharing something real.

Suit & trench are vintage, Shirt is stylist’s own, vintage Choker & bracelets,  vintage Shoes Giuseppe Zanotti.

Where is music taking you next?

This year has been crazy for me. I toured with Gogol Bordello again, which was amazing. That’s always a really special experience, because those guys really are my family. It’s crazy being on the road with my favorite people. We took a red-eye flight from our last show with Gogol Bordello to open for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Beacon Theater. It’s a really bright future that I do not take for granted. I’ve been lucky enough to meet my artistic role models and discuss collaborations. I’m also talking about recording another album pretty soon. I have all of these new songs I’m really crazy about. It’s some of my best writing.