Samara Jane, winner of WGLT's inaugural Highway 309 Studio Sessions Contest, recently performed her award-winning song “Fine” and two others at the WGLT studios. There was a nice little crowd there too — a very Tiny Desk vibe. You can watch a video recap of Samara's performance below:
Samara's video entry was chosen by WGLT's panel of judges from 20 submissions, all from Illinois State University student musicians. CEFCU sponsored the contest, which awarded Samara a $1,000 prize and the chance to record the live studio session.
In this lightly edited interview, the ISU senior speaks with WGLT's Jon Norton about winning the contest, why she chose music therapy as a major, and of course about her winning song.
WGLT: Did you write “Fine” for the contest?
Jane: No. I actually had written that song a few weeks before the contest. Because I knew if I tried to force something, it wouldn't end up feeling like my best work. So it really was a pretty new song.
I suppose I'm fine. Hey, it turns out there's something I'm good at. It's faking that I feel fine.
— Samara Jane from “Fine”
'It turns out there's something I'm good at. It's faking that I feel fine.'
I think my brain has convinced me that I'm not very good at things that I enjoy. I think that's where that line came from, like, “Oh, hey, see, look, you are good at something."
You've written a number of songs, performed a number of songs, you recorded a number of songs. But why this one for the contest? You must be especially proud of this one.
I am proud of it. And I also wanted to be authentic. In our society, we are taught to be like, “How are you?” “Oh, I'm good, how are you?" as a default. I feel like it's a very human thing to be tired of trying to be fine all the time. I don't know, I want it to be real.
Another song that you played at our live studio sessions is an original song, I'm assuming:
Feeling my feelings doesn't mean I'm losing my mind.
— Samara Jane from “Feeling my Feelings”
There's another lyric that really jumped out at me.
Yes, a lot of times my emotions feel really intense. So then when I am feeling my feelings, it's like, “Wait, is there something wrong?” Whereas feeling feelings is kind of what we're supposed to do.
I think it's really interesting, in your entry, you mentioned that you wanted to be a music therapist one day, but it sounds like some of these songs I'm hearing ... you're trying to heal yourself already.
I think that helping others and healing on my own can happen simultaneously. As humans, we're going to go through things, and we aren't perfect. And I think as a music therapist, this could be a way to remind clients that I wouldn't share my exact experiences, but it would remind them that I'm still a human.
A lot of the times, writing my own music is easier to communicate what I'm truly feeling than just speaking. That's why I've leaned towards songwriting.
I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit.
All right.
You brought your mom along with you, she's sitting right next to you. Mom, (Barb) it looks like you have something that you want to say.
Samara wrote a song (“He Lived”) that was really special a couple of years ago. Her grandfather passed away. She wrote a song in a day or two that she played and sang at his funeral, and it was an extremely powerful tribute to him and his life. The really cool thing was watching our family and the way it enabled people to surface their emotions. Her 30-plus-year-old big boy cousins were sobbing as they were working through the loss of the grandfather who had been a real, a really big influence on their lives.
When I think of all the songs she's done, it's one of the most special ones to me, and a tribute to her authenticity, and her way of using music to process emotions. And honestly, I think that's why she'll be a great music therapist. Helping others use music to process their emotions.
Samara Jane, thanks for joining us on WGLT.
Yes, thanks for having me.
