Conversations with Judy Blank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Blank.

Hi Judy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
Music has had a hypnotizing effect on me ever since I was very little. There are pictures of me as a six-year-old at a wedding, sitting in front of the stage where the wedding band was playing, looking up to the musicians and being absolutely mesmerized by their skills. That curiosity never left me. As I got older, I was increasingly fascinated by the way certain songs, specific words and melodies combined, seemed to hit me right in the feels. I started taking piano classes when I was 13 and immediately started writing songs. Up until that point, I was convinced I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. But the more chords I learned, and the more I honed in on writing down my feelings and turning them into snippets of songs, the more I realized my dream just got a little more specific: I wanted to become a songwriter. My parents weren’t sure that wasn’t a real job, haha. As the years passed, I started playing tiny little shows wherever people would let me play my songs (and basically wherever my moped would take me). I dropped out of college in the first year and wanted to become a writer even more. I kept writing, playing, and releasing music, but I never felt like it got me very far. It wasn’t until I took some time off and traveled to the United States, that I picked up playing the guitar and started playing random shows in bars in New York and coffee houses in New Orleans. It had been my lifelong dream to come to Nashville, and when I was 21, the friends I’d made in Louisiana took me to Music City for a week-long trip.

I’ll forever be grateful for that. We hit all the open mics in town, from Café Coco and Douglas Corner to the Bluebird Café. I was hooked. Started making friends. A year later, I returned to the city with literally all the money I had and recorded an album at Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Studios. I had absolutely nothing to lose and just wanted to make something I could be proud of. When I came back to the Netherlands, I signed my first proper record deal, and when the album came out I didn’t know what happened. The first single, ”Mary Jane”, became an instant hit, ”1995” got discovered by Elton John, and ”Tangled Up In You” has recently reached over 10 million streams on Spotify. The next year I debuted at SXSW, and was the first Dutch artist to ever play Americanafest, and I’ve kind of been living my dream ever since. Nashville has become my second home, I’ve made incredible friends over the years and I gladly travel back and forth between the Netherlands and Music City.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Unfortunately, the long and winding road of being an artist (read: a person) in modern society is not always smooth.

The highs are extremely high, while the lows are incredibly low. I’ve dealt with a lot of stress trying to keep my act together and trying to constantly be the best version of myself, while not letting anybody down. Little did I know that the only one I was actually letting down was myself. The pressure of always having to be your perfect self in the limelight can be suffocating. For the longest time, I felt like I could never live up to the expectations, even though I was doing many incredible things at the time. I just didn’t see it and felt like I was always two steps behind everyone else. I was comparing myself to others constantly, especially women, and suffered from eating disorders, extremely low self-esteem, and serious anxiety. It may sound crazy, but if it weren’t for the pandemic, I honestly don’t know where I’d be now. I finally had time to sit down, do nothing and reflect on life. Be a person. Live life like a ‘normal’ human being. It was painful but necessary. I had to face the feelings I’d been running away from since I recorded that album, and had to do a lot of work (read: therapy) to return back to my ”original” mental state when I first came to Nashville: Carefree, fearless, and with nothing to lose.

I knew it was inevitable I was going to work through my feelings through songwriting, too. The songs I’ve put out so far have always been little portals to channel my feelings. This past Spring, I released ”Saddies”, my most personal and vulnerable EP so far. I’ve received so many kind messages after releasing it. It’s honestly been pretty incredible. Learning that I was not the only one struggling with their mental health was such a weird relief! There’s so much power in vulnerability; I genuinely hope I can keep writing songs that people can recognize themselves in, to let them know they’re not alone.

Thank goodness, after my breakdown, everything changed. I finally learned how to say ‘no’, how to prioritize, and how to have fun on a basic human level again. I found out that I really like going to theme parks, and going to the movies by myself. I love reading books and doing dorky things with my family. How am I supposed to make other people happy with my music if I’m not happy myself? No show, album, or hit single is more important than that.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my ”peak days” after the album release, you may have heard my song ”Mary Jane” being played on Lightning 100, or ”Tangled Up In You” while sipping an oat milk latte in your favorite coffee shop. I’ve played many shows, opening for artists like Wilco, Susto, The Wood Brothers, and Langhorne Slim in the past few years. I’ve always been most excited about performing and working on my own music, but during the pandemic, I also learned I really enjoy writing songs for other artists. I’ll always keep writing weird indie folk tunes for my solo project, but recently I’ve discovered I can channel my creativity in multiple ways by writing songs for artists in completely different genres. I’m currently writing a lot of songs for Dutch and Belgian pop artists, the most famous one being my friend Duncan Laurence, whose song ‘Arcade’ was in the Billboard top 100 for weeks.

Writing with him and his LA partner & collaborator Jordan Garfield really brings out the best in me as a pop writer. I just spent a week in Sweden working on their songs. I also really enjoyed writing songs with Nashville-based artist and actor Jake Etheridge, with whom I wrote ”I Could Do Better”. Tomorrow, I’m writing with my friend Fleur, who’s the face of a 60s revival eye-pop band and sings in French. We’ll meet in my studio, a living room-type space in a forest, where most artists feel right at home the second they walk in. For my own songs, I usually prefer keeping things a little more private. And when I’m stuck, I’ll send my two-minute voice memo demo over to Patrick Damphier, one of my favorite writers and producers in Nashville. We’ll go back and forth until we’re both happy.

I feel lucky for getting to explore my creativity with so many different musicians. I used to think that I only ”mattered” if I had success with my solo project. Now I know that I matter whatever I do and that there’s so much joy in helping out others, too. The minute you let go of comparing yourself to others, you’ll realize there’s so much to learn from each other, and so much fun to be had in the meantime. That being said; the past two years also gave me the opportunity to record a very different new album, and I’m stoked about it. That’s what 2023 is gonna be all about!

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Scary question… I’m a little weary of where social media will go. There’s so much time and effort that goes into trying to stay relevant on TikTok, or even on Spotify, and honestly: I’d rather not do it at all. Even just keeping up my Instagram steals hours and hours away from my life. I don’t want my eyes to be glued to my phone screen constantly, but the reality is: that’s what you need to do these days to keep your music career alive. I try as best as I can, and I’m not gonna hate, but it was never my dream to be a ‘content creator’.

I sometimes think of Bob Dylan and imagine him being young now, and being on TikTok, haha. I doubt anyone would know who he is because he probably wouldn’t give a f*ck. We’re living in an interesting time of decreasingly short attention spans and lives that are lived mostly online, which is saddening to me. The only thing I can do myself is keep playing shows, bringing real people together in real rooms, and making them feel real things. Fingers crossed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.judyblank.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judyblankmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judyblankmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/judyblankmusic
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@judyblankmusic 

Image Credits
Jantina Talsma