We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessie Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessie, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Sheer tenacity, ironwill, the inability to listen to the words ‘no’ or ‘you can’t’ and the love of the damn craft. Going to talk about that first: I love music. I love playing drums. I love transcribing. I love working out really complicated drum parts whether that’s a groove I transcribed or from gig material (theater / jazz / etc) and getting it to cook. I love shedding even when gigs are slow. I do not mind getting up early to practice regularly or when need be. I love the work/ the doing so much. The second half of my answer re iron will / tenacity / fuck the word ‘no’: When I have factually proven that I can do what I’m attempting to do and I’m denied for no real reason other than gatekeeping, it only makes me go harder. My other superpower is being incredibly crafty with how I move and do business. If I need to speak to someone professionally, I contact them on my own, I don’t comment on social media posts most of the time. (I haven’t been on the feeds for ig / fb in over two years, smartest thing I ever did) I post on social media rarely, it’s all calculated. If I’m not speaking to you personally, you have no idea what’s going on with me privately. My private life is no one’s business. I also realized in the last two years how much I’m not valued personally or professionally the way I should be and my way of dealing with that is working my ass off with my head down and my mouth shut. No one has to like me but I force them to respect me with only putting professional next level work out in the world (on the gig / whatever it may be) and minding my own business. No one has anything on you if you aren’t busy being a mouth piece on socials. So many people are validation hungry, insecure and in this business for the wrong reasons. When I began playing drums professionally I remember saying to myself “I don’t care if anyone knows who I am”. I still don’t. If you’re really about it, you aren’t talking about it, you’re just doing the work and the work speaks for you. One of my favorite sayings along these lines:
“Don’t screw with me, you won’t win”.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I jumped into this whole game in my teens after hearing Tony Williams on Seven Steps to Heaven with Miles Davis at 17 years old and saying ” I want to do that ” after having been a flute player from age 10 to 18. I went to Arizona State University to learn how to play the drums, that’s why I went to college. Another part of my journey was that I wasn’t sure I was going to get to be a professional drummer so I became a music journalist interning for the Village Voice at age 20 and then writing for freelance publications all over the country regularly till 2009.

My sophomore year I was asked to leave the jazz program at Arizona State University due to being told I wasn’t good enough to be there and I said ‘Cool, I’m not leaving so what are we doing” and I was able to get a B.A. in Music (Drum set / Percussion / Jazz Studies) and I then took lessons and played in ensembles every semester. I did mallets, small group, big band, the whole deal, I did everything and by the time I got out I was 25 years old and playing jazz gigs in restaurants / weddings, the requisite church gig on Sunday mornings that everyone in Phoenix played the morning after their Saturday night gigs.

After three years of gigging heavy, substitute teaching and teaching drum lessons one night a week at a store I had had enough and applied to graduate programs. I applied to SUNY Purchase twice, they didn’t take me, Brooklyn College’s Performance and Interactive Media Arts MFA program did. I moved back to New York for real (from there / born there / back and forth there my whole life) in 2009, played my first off off broadway show that same month and began grad school. I’ve been lucky enough to be a paid working musician in the theater, jazz and other scenes here since 2009 and to continue to. I also jumped into dj-ing at the Ace Hotel New York and was doing that for a few years, just to be able to curate and share my deep love of music (and deep cuts of music:) with the world. In 2016 I also put together my Robert Glasper / Mark Guiliana inspired jazz group Linetilter and I take that out when I feel like it with a killer crew of world class players.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
McNally Jackson Bookstore: all locations are amazing, my favorite is the one in Soho.

Elmo Restaurant: my go to almost always in Chelsea, fantastic cocktails / varied food menu / not crazy expensive and fabulous vibe.

The Library: Favorite dive bar in the East Village.

Washington Square Park: hang, people watch, take a nap on the lawn:)

Chelsea Piers: in the summer, take a book and some ice coffee and go sit near the water:)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: fabulous in house collection and they always bring in incredible exhibits.

Nublu: what’s new what’s next in the underground jazz scene here in the city, programming is always next level and Questlove has been known to show up for Producer Mondays.

The Richardson: Fantastic cocktail lounge in Brooklyn, I used to spend time there when I had a practice space in Brooklyn.

House of Yes: If you want to go dance, blow off some steam and either work a look or go casual, this is the spot, Great dj’s every night / mix of electronica and r&b depending on the night.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Dedicating this interview to Dr. Mark Sunkett (rip), Dom Moio, David Grubbs and my vip circle chosen family. All of them are the reason I can do this. If you don’t have a circle of people around you who either have one or more of the following: a) concrete solid character, b) are at the level you want to be at professionally / have worked in that world / done that work, c) see what you bring to the table regardless of how the industry may be treating you, you won’t survive. This industry is nasty and there never really was but since June 2020 onward, the idea of community is now bullshit. Everyone is ‘me me me / mine mine mine’ and helping anyone get to where they’re going doesn’t happen. You fight, you claw, you are professional, polite and classy af and you win on your own. That’s the deal. Grateful af for my vip circle fam, they are incredible humans with their heads on straight and they keep me off the proverbial ledge when I get jerked around with professionally (and personally) and remind me I’m the real thing and that I conduct myself like the real thing all the time and to just keep going.

Website: www.jessiemnelson.com

Instagram: @jessie.m.nelson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessienelsonux/

Twitter: @deeperbeats

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jessienelsondrums

Image Credits
Darrel Dillon

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