Features : Growing Up Gives Jessie Vickery Inspiration For ‘Growth Spurts’

Canadian singer/song-writer Jessie Vickery used her recent ascent into adulthood as inspiration for her new six-single EP called “Growth Spurts.”

Vickery said two of the songs on the EP, the title track and “Like a Baby” encapsulate where she’s at in her life now.

“The last two years have been about growing up as a person and moving out of my parents home for probably and hopefully the last time,” Vickery said. “It’s just a lot of change so I talk about missing my mom and how my friends are all moving away and the first line is how it feels like we’re always just catching up. It seems every single time it’s not just hanging out anymore for fun like we did as a kid, it’s always let’s have a quick catchup so it talks about change and growing into a full adult.”

Vickery grew up in a musical family in the Canadian twin cities of Kitchner Waterloo in the part of Ontario that lies between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario.

She started singing very young, playing the role of Annie in the musical of the same name in elementary school and performing in a high school show choir that won the prestigious Show Choir Canada contest. 

By the age of 12 she began writing her own lyrical and instrumental pieces, only to continue to learn and grow her sound into what it is today.

“My uncle was in a rock band in 2020 and he said, you need to do something with your music, let’s do this,” Vickery said. “He found a producer to help me and what I write and I finally got into a studio in early 2020, which was unfortunate because it was directly before the pandemic. I put out my first song and it was literally a month before the pandemic hit. In the first few months of the pandemic when we were all stuck at home, I had another friend who was just a few streets down from me, but we would work together through sending files back and forth, then we finally got the chance to get together and finish my next song called ‘Blond Hair’ in early summer 2020 but I wasn't able to do any I've performances until early this year.”

She worked with other producers and put out a series of singles in 2020 and 2021, then recently signed with Sonar Records and began working with their lead producer Adrian “The AI” Irvine on the songs leading to “Growth Spurts” her first solo EP.

“Adrian is amazing, he’s my No. 1 producer, he knows exactly what I’m thinking for a song before I even have to really say it and he is incredible,” Vickery said. “I used to write a lot about love but recently it’s been all about growing up, moving to Toronto and music and supporting myself out here and being independent.”

One of Vickery’s favorite tracks on the EP is “Like a Baby,” a song about missing those who she was leaving as she struck out on her own.

“All of them are personal songs but “Like a Baby” is the most personal,” Vickery said. “I missed my mom and my sister in it, I wrote it in my room one day and I had two lines in the chorus in my head and the rest of the song kind of came out of me in about an hour. I was playing as I usually do with my guitar in my room so it always comes out a lot softer and quieter that way.”

Vickery said the title track, “Growth Spurts,” sort of pairs with “Like a Baby” to talk about growing up and moving out into the adult world. 

Other songs like “Home for the Summer” and “Understand” hold the message about moving on from a specific person and how that changes some of the things she holds precious from her childhood.

“‘Understand’ is also a more powerful song, I would say my first real ballad-type song,” Vickery said. “I tried to push my vocal range in that one and I think it gives a powerful message. It’s talking about change and moving on from a specific person and feeling like you can't come back to the same place, it’s never going to be the same again because of that specific person. 

“The whole EP I would say in generally is about life and change but that one specifically I wrote when I was moving on from someone and I think it’s particularly relatable.”

Vickery’s sound is unique, pulling influence from modern artists such as Clairo, Lennon Stella, Phoebe Bridgers, Holly Humberstone and Julia Michaels. She isn’t afraid to push her boundaries and experiment with sounds outside her comfort zone.

She said she’s recently released music videos for “22 Now” and is working on a video for “Growth Spurts” and some of the other singles on the EP.

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