Page 239 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book

11 August 2020
Talking Heads: Jess Gillam

Interviewed by Ben Hogwood
Jess Gillam’s bright tones will be familiar to many a BBC Radio 3 listener, both as a
saxophonist and a regular broadcaster with her program This Classical Life. Often (rightly!)
referred to as a breath of fresh air, the Cumbrian-born musician has recently moved to
London and is on to the second chapter of her album-making career with Decca. When we
talk Kentish Town, where she lives, has just emerged from lockdown. As she confesses, “It’s
all a bit weird!”
Gillam’s progression from the wide open, wild spaces of Cumbria to the cramped streets of
North London is a striking one. “I lived in Manchester for three years, and then moved to
London,” she says. “It was a big shock, a completely different atmosphere. London never
stops and that is quite difficult to adapt to sometimes. Culturally the difference is
unbelievable. Cumbria has incredible landscapes and scenery, really lovely people, and a
really strong sense of community, but there is nowhere near as much culture and things
going on as London.”