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As they colloquially say, nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and if '90s-era grunge was the platform for your ill-spent youth, then Jessiqa Jones has a dopamine hit you’ll put on repeat. We’ve loved this Pacific North West-based artist vocals since she first debuted, but we LOVE her pivot to a very Seattle sound as found on her latest single "it’s milk, DON’T CRY!’" Wanting to know more about the artistic genius behind this new sound, her love of water, and more, we reached out to help us both figure it out.

OnesToWatch: Who is Jessiqa Jones?  

Jessiqa Jones: I am Jessiqa Jones and Jessiqa Jones is a young lady that’s still trying to figure it all out. 

What is "it’s milk, DON’T CRY!" all about? 

“it’s milk, DON’T CRY!” is a silly new phrasing for the infamous quote “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Funnily enough, I’ve dropped milk jugs and sobbed before but that’s a story for a different day. I wrote this when I was feeling pretty alone, it was a huge transition period of my life and I thought about how hard it can be to self cope growing up. At times, the easiest thing was to minimize the issue head-on and keep going saying basically, ‘it’s only milk, so why cry?’ But minimizing and taking away the importance of feeling and experiencing what makes you uncomfortable or causes pain, will always catch up to you in the end.

Love the live band, who joined you on this smash? 

Yes!! I have always said, I want a live band. It always brings the energy to music like nothing else. Having just pure, raw, connected human joy for music. I thank Benny Reiner who helped me produce this and playing the drums so incredibly, per usual. And Noah Hernandez, who played guitar, just absolutely made the song come alive even more. So so grateful to work with just such amazing musicians. The song would not be what it is without them!

Also, who produced the track?

Super happy to say this is my first release I’ve gotten to produce. I’ve been producing since I was a kid, just because living in Spokane I never thought I would have an opportunity to find any producers here. So I took it into my own hands but never thought I would ever actually release a song I’ve done before. It started with me fully producing it on my own by cutting clips of me playing guitar (not a great guitar player) and just clipping it and editing it enough to get the shoegaze vibe I’ve wanted for so long. I sent it around to many people (knowing it was a super new sound for me) and Benny was the only producer that actually heard me and wanted to help. After that, Benny and I redid the instrumental track just because I’ve always wanted just pure musicians on a song of mine and they made it happen!

We love your grunge-age accents, are you familiar with the “Seattle Sound” of the 90s?   

Of course!! I mean, I’ve lived in Spokane my whole life, which is just the opposite side of Washington from Seattle. I wouldn’t have done this song if I didn’t have a dad that played in a lot of metal and grunge bands during the time of Seattle Sound. Heard many stories and was very much filled with that culture growing up. It’s been absolutely so sick having a bit of my dad’s roots in something I’ve created.

Can we expect more of this style in the future? 

Most definitely, I think I’m too indecisive to stick with one genre, but a hundred percent will see it again. 

Besides this excellent song, what else should we be on the lookout for? 

More music to come. I’m hoping to just keep shoving more and more of my squeaky high-pitched voice in all of your ears until I can’t no longer. Possible debut EP? Possible album? Who knows, guess you’ll just have to keep giving me attention.

What's inspiring you right now outside of music? 

I mean mostly just the people in my life. I feel like I’ve been very fortunate with the safety net I have with them. They’re in everything I do and write. My family and friends are always the most important to me. Coming from a small family and having a small group of friends. It’s hard to find that these days or filter out the bad and I wouldn’t take it for granted for a second the people I’ve come to have. 

Food group or drink best suited to enjoying your work? 

Super generic answer, but coffee. I’m also a barista right now and I just drink coffee always. Water is always the number one though. I’m a great supporter of staying hydrated.

Who are your OnesToWatch? 

Wow, so many. So many inspirations right now, I just went to a Briston Maroney concert in Seattle a few weeks ago and he’s just been such an inspiration of mine, so seeing him was just amazing and super emotional. Anna Bates has just been such a great folk songwriting vibe for me, everyone should listen to her, seriously. Also another band I saw in my hometown recently which was incredible was Anita Velveeta!