Q&A: Coming Home With Yasmine Gill
FINDING HOME WITHIN YOURSELF — rather than somewhere external can be difficult. It’s the final boss of one’s self-love journey. It means being so comfortable within yourself, that no place or no one brings the same serenity. The fulfilling process of achieving this is the theme of UK-based Yasmine Gill’s latest single “If Coming Home Was Easy”.
Released on September 12, the single showcases Gill’s adoration for jazz. Her sultry vocals are accompanied by soft piano that reminds listeners of the evening. It remains gentle from the first second to the final, and it sonically reflects the message.
The song is about missing yourself, slowly finding your way back to being your own friend, and realizing that your peace is closer than you may think.
Gill sings, “Dare I say I might have needed myself this time? / Dare I say that I have always been here inside?”
Read our conversation with Gill below all about “If Coming Home Was Easy”.
LUNA: You started your career in 2015 performing around Montreal and Toronto. Then, you moved to London. How did the move affect your creativity?
GILL: I moved to London in 2020 and immediately the jazz scene took me by surprise. The sheer talent within the jazz community was so inspiring. Since music is easy to access, I find that I’ve become very creative in that I’m driven to write a lot and to write outside my comfort zone of specific genres.
LUNA: Similarly, “If Coming Home Was Easy” is about longing for home and the stability home brings. Does environment have an impact on how you make music?
GILL: Absolutely. The physical environment that I’m in can impact what I write and how much I write. Over the years, I’ve noticed that I usually write best when I’m alone in my room, just keys and vocals. I think it's simply because it’s where I am most comfortable. This can also happen in studio sessions, but I think that my room is often the best environment for me to make my tracks.
LUNA: You describe the process of writing the song as one that “allowed [you] to come to terms with the fact that the most secure form of home can be found within oneself.” Is songwriting usually a cathartic tool for you?
GILL: Songwriting in many ways can be like journaling, so it is absolutely cathartic. Whether you need to process something or let something go, it's one of the purest and most beautiful forms to tackle life’s hardships and heaviest moments.
LUNA: This idea of home within oneself, I find myself being able to better access that calm with the help of my favorite music. Do you have any favorite artists that make you feel more like yourself?
GILL: I’d say artists that make me feel closer to family are Norah Jones, Diana Krall, or Marc Anthony. I listen to Aguas de Marco from Antonio Carlos Jobim a lot when I need a bit of comfort and familiarity. All these artists played avidly in my childhood home. But I would say that music that makes me feel most confident and myself would be listening to tracks from Snoh Aalegra, Lianne La Havas, or Naomi Sharon. I’ve been obsessed with “Celestial” by Naomi Sharon — it makes me feel calm and at peace with everything. I also find that it carries this quiet but empowering nature for women which I love.
LUNA: The If Coming Home Was Easy EP will come two years after your last EP, Feel. What is one new technique, experience, or sound that you’re presenting now which you’ve learned over the past two years?
GILL: I’d say the newest sound I’ve cultivated and nurtured over the last few years would be jazz. Jazz has always been a part of my life. Growing up, my dad would play it during the evenings. Over the course of my time in London, I’ve rekindled my love for the genre because I’ve been inspired by London’s incredibly talented jazz community, jazz clubs, and cabaret shows, some of which I’ve had the pleasure of taking part in.
As an artist, there’s sometimes a pressure to remain faithful to one sound but I found that during this period in my career, jazz was speaking to me more than anything. I think that’s the beauty of music — we’re human and rarely married to one sound. We’re nuanced and multifaceted, and it is in our nature to dip in and out of interests, and in and out of music genres.
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