Jessie Powell is best known as the frontwoman of British metal band Dream State but her journey in music stretches far beyond her current spotlight. From her early days in Aurora to her present role at the forefront of modern British metal, she’s experienced the industry across two distinct eras, witnessing firsthand how it has evolved behind the scenes. Entering the scene as a young woman nearly 20 years ago, Jessie navigated a landscape that looked rather different to today’s, particularly within metal. That perspective now shapes everything she does. Through her work with Jessie Powell Music, she channels her experience into mentoring musicians, sharing not just her craft as a vocalist, but a hard-earned understanding of the industry itself.
You've had quite an extensive career in music already, but not everyone will know to what extent, so firstly, where did your journey with music start?
Honestly, my grandparents used to host quite iconic Friday night talent shows in the living room, and all the cousins came, all the family friends came, it was a pretty lit Friday night. I just have very strong memories of like Bacardi flowing, dances being danced, songs being sung, and since I can remember, I've always had a microphone, honestly, from as young as like three years old. We're a Catholic family, so we went to church very regularly, and in church, you sing, and I was invited in the choir from quite a young age, very young, actually. So yeah, talent show with the family and being from a church background, I've sang in church or just sang in a choir, or sang hymns from as early as like four, till my teens, and that’s where it came from, really.
Are any of your family musical? Did you inherit these musical genes from someone in the family?
Well, I have been really blessed to have grown up with my grandparents, and my Nan's from Belize, and my grandfather's from Egypt. So the music that I grew up to was varied, you know, because one day we'll be winding and grinding to some Belizean music, and then my grandfather was massively into country western, and he still does love it. Anything from artists such as like Johnny Cash, Sinatra, Pavarotti. And my mum, driving to school, would play all the greats like Whitney, Mariah, even a bit of Ricky Martin. So I really have always had such a variety of music around me, and I wasn't massively academic in terms of like, I wouldn't sit in a maths class and thrive, but I think it was quite apparent from quite a young age, that if you put me on a stage, or you taught me a song, I would give that all of my energy and attention. Generally your parents push you to do what is natural for you, and so I was very much in stage schools, musicals… I was always in pantomimes, or like productions from really young, actually. I used to take time out of school to rehearse for things, which probably worked better for everybody, because no one got distracted. I was thriving. And it was just a happier life really, rather than not finding the more academic stuff like Maths as easy as like, learning a song and singing it in five or six different octaves.
So you're in Dream State now, but this isn't the only band that you've been in. Previously, you were in Aurora. Was there anything before that, before we talk about that?
Yeah there were many. I was in a band called Never Says The Storm, I was in a band called Taylor Bay. I was in multiple different college projects, just jamming in the practice rooms, getting your mates to come watch you on a lunch break in a practice room in college. It was quite like a hardcore vibe, but I was more pop punky vibes really.
It sounds like, even before you started your music career, you were used to being on stage and performing. Did it feel natural to start performing in bands like this?
I haven't always had this confident stage presence. There's many videos and photos of me in my earlier career, in my early teens, very much like standing behind amps. You know, when singing, but with my back to people or videos of me as a teen, when I go to do the screaming, I'd be hiding behind the monitor, or a big amp, and it wasn't until I started watching bands… I've always watched high energy, crazy artists, and always been really inspired by them, but it was one time I was playing with Feed the Rhino, and I’d watched them loads and loads and loads growing up. I got a slot to open for them in Aurora, and I remember the lead singer just saying, “Jess, just go out there and just show them who you are. Don't hold back, just show them.” That really inspired me, and I was really inspired by Feed the Rhino and their energy anyway, but I remember just taking on board what was said, and I went out and was very much my high energy self. We actually got signed off that first gig, so I realised very quickly that the more I give, the more I connect, and I'm quite passionate about connecting with people. So as time went on, and the years went by, and my experience grew, I got more confident and confident, but I'd be completely lying if I said I went out there in my teens and was doing what I'm doing now. I think confidence has come with practice and life experience.
Definitely, and you did some modelling around that time as well?
Yeah, I say that very lightly, but I somehow was in multiple magazines and calendars and covers, with no management, no representation… I got spotted at a festival when I was like 16, and they said at the time that I was a bit too young right now, because there was a massive magazine back in the day called Front. I have massive respect to all my girls out there who do nudity shoots and I've got a lot of friends who are sex workers and who proudly do that type of modelling, but that just wasn't something that I did, but I still managed to get multiple features in this quite prominent lads mag, and I kept my clothes on, mainly! And from that, I’ve been on the cover of Total Tattoo, Skin Deep, Skin Shots, which is crazy. Yeah, it's very crazy but I do say model lightly, but my husband always reminds me that you are an internationally published model. So yes, you are a model. I think where a lot of the girls I’d met had a manager, whereas I just rock up to London and somehow get these jobs.
The fact that you could do that yourself and get those jobs without management is an achievement and definitely secures your role as a model, as well as a musician, an artist, definitely.
Back in the day, Ali, when I was in bands, it was few and far between that you'd see other women in the scene. Don't get me wrong, you would see big dogs like Halestrom. You know, you’d have Marmozets or Rolo Tomassi in the press, but someone like me trying to get some kind of press, it wasn't like now where you've got lots of different tier magazines and podcasters wanting to interview everybody. It just wasn't like that. So, the sort of entrepreneur in me saw an opportunity, that if I go and do this shoot, I'm going to get a four page spread where they're going to interview me, so I can talk about my band. And one of the magazines I did, which is still a very prominent magazine internationally called Total Tattoo Magazine, they actually hired out Koko London for me to do my shoot, my cover, and they let me, as the cover picture, hold a mic. So, again, I was very young, but still knew that they wanted me to be on the cover of a magazine meaning I could promote my band, so I’m going to do it. Koko is still on my bucket list to play, and I just think it's mental that I've actually shot there on that stage as a model, decades ago, and one day when I do play it, it's going to feel really crazy that young girl who did it to get publicity for her band paid off. So fingers crossed we can get to Koko level.
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
No doubt that that will happen. Do you think your confidence or experience of modelling transferred into your stage performance, or was it that perhaps performing with the bands already actually helped with your confidence in modelling?
I don't know, really. Other than using the opportunity to talk about the band, I would say being a bit more confident for a promo picture, you know, confidently and pose, I kind of did like to keep the two quite separate. I wouldn't put myself down as like a sexy performer or anything like that. I'm quite a tomboy, you know, makeup free most of the time, kind of “plain Jane” kind of vibe, and I'm okay with that. So I don't think a lot transferred other than perhaps having that confidence when it came to being photographed. Apparently, I'm quite a fun woman to shoot, so I think maybe the modelling has helped that, but it's so long ago since I modelled.
Okay, so you got signed with Aurora. How was that experience being in a signed band?
I mean, it was a whirlwind. We still didn't have a manager, we still didn't have a booking agent, that was all predominantly myself. Like I say, we played this gig opening for Feed the Rhino, and they were on In at the Deep End, who at the time had just had bands like Gallows, Architect, Sylosis. It was a very well respected label at that time, and they took on Feed the Rhino. Then the guy, Mark, after we played just asked “who's your manager?” And I said, we didn’'t have one. He asked who our booking agent was and I said, we don't have one, and he guessed from that we didn’t have a label. I said no, and he gave me a card. We had been working on an EP anyway, and he said he wanted to hear the EP. So I sent everything over and I think literally the following Friday, we were all sat in Nando's and we'd signed with him. We just decided to release the EP. We were kids, our youngest member was like 16. We just decided to go for it. We thought we'd release this EP through In at the Deep End, and very quickly, it felt like it went from being just something fun with my mates to something quite serious, you know. So pressure certainly built. I wrote a song called Pressure in Aurora, probably based on that whirlwind opportunity. I do just wish that we'd had a manager and a booking agent because I think if we'd had a full team, I would have been really interested to see where Aurora could have gone. I tried for years to get that band back together but everyone was just in very different places and had other things going on, but I also think everything happened exactly how it was supposed to. The opportunity there and the experience being signed was really exciting, and it taught me a lot about how things work, what's good and what's not. So it's really helped me with my knowledge to pass on. It was a privilege, really, to have played that gig and had that opportunity present itself.
It sounds like Aurora was your professional introduction to the music industry?
Yeah, I guess so. I had a band before that called Never Says The Storm. We did play gigs. I played with Marmozets in that band. So we played gigs, but again, in terms of booking shows and things like that it was us again, but I think Aurora was the one where we got a bit more oomph.
You were in Aurora around 14, 15 years ago now. The music industry at that point and the music industry now, are quite different. When you think back to that time, especially as a woman in the alternative rock and metal scene, how does it differ from today?
Well, it's bloody nice to see more women in the green room, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, again, when I was playing shows back in Aurora, you'd have Becca [Bottomley, Marmozets] there, or maybe Eva Spence. That was it, really. That is honestly all I saw. There was a very famous photographer at the time who still is very well respected called Marianne Harris, who was one of the only women I saw taking photos. We connected quite deeply in my youth, because I think we respected each other as women, and I very much looked up to her, looking at this woman in the pit, doing all this cool stuff, and that that was so rare for me to see that. She really did take me under her wing with opportunities and put my name in rooms that I wouldn't have got to, again, because there really were few and far between of us, and I think she saw something in me and thought I was very talented. So it's changed massively. It's such a breath of fresh air now. I remember playing Burn It Down one summer, which I really hope we get to go back there. Burn It Down is one of my favourite festivals. The location is amazing. The staff and the way it's done is just incredible, and I got to DJ one year at the festival, on a boat party, which was crazy, but just going into their green room, and having what felt like an equal number of women to men ratio. It was the first time I'd walked into a backstage place and I could see Lake Malice, As Everything Unfolds… I could list all these bands that I love and respect and be like, “hey, girls,” and I just went over to other girl fronted bands that I didn’t know, like, "hi, I'm Jessie”, you know, I just made sure I said hello to all the girls, because 15 years ago, I'd often get confused to be like the girlfriend or maybe a member of the bar staff or something. So to actually be in environments now where you're surrounded by such incredible, talented, strong women, just feels really, really special.
Personally it's still not where it needs to be. I think you still look at many festivals, many lineups, and there's just not enough women on it, but from where it was, it is massively improving. You see so many more women really dominating scenes. I mean you just had Nova Twins win a MOBO award. How special is that? I know for a fact that rock music comes from black culture. I have black family, my nan's from Belize. We grew up listening to certain types of music that had heavy guitar elements in it, and to see that Nova Twins representing black women in rock music and winning an award so prestigious is just iconic, and it's needed. More of that is needed. It's a breath of fresh air, and long may it continue to grow and we see more and more women dominate the scene. However, I don't want girls to be playing because they need to fill a statistic for a spreadsheet for the council to give them the money. I want girls to be picked because their music is good. The idea of people having to fill a quota to have us… There are many promoters I know who actively will pick a girl fronted band, if that's what you need to call it, because they actually like the band, and that's important, but I don't like the idea of five or six bands being on a bill because they needed to meet a quota. And I've heard about this, and that can feel quite disheartening, because actually if you put some of the girl fronted bands alongside some of the bands that get really high slots, they're light years better. So let it be about the talent rather than filling a quota. That's really important for me.
Absolutely. Your vocal style is something worth mentioning as you span such a large range vocally, from really melodic, beautiful sounds to the really heavy extreme sounds on the other end of the spectrum. How did you develop that versatility and particularly with the more extreme, harsher techniques that you obviously do so well… how did that come into your singing?
I will say thank God for opera, thank God for all that church singing. That's given me some real good stamina. I also have a lot to thank for like Kerrang! TV, seeing the likes of Linkin Park or Evanescence on my TV as like a 12, 13 year old kid watching these people. I remember Amy Lee from Evanescence coming on the screen singing this like opera style thing and then this guy came on and gave the heavier vocals of, “wake me up” and she carried on singing and I used to sing along. I remember one of my family members saying I did both parts really well, and you know, it feels very natural. Then when Linkin Park came on, I think that's when I really started doing like my fry because I could just do it. I just copied Chester. I remember he did one, I think it must have been Numb that came on the telly and once I'd learnt it, I could literally do the same sound as Chester. A couple of summers ago, I was invited to be part of a Linkin Park tribute act and looking back at that opportunity, I'm so grateful. I do wish we'd have had a practice but I'd had an operation a few weeks beforehand for my womb, so looking back now, there's a couple of things that maybe I shouldn't have said yes to for that reason, but I’d love that opportunity again, massively, because I really find that tone very natural. So the choir gave me the stamina, Linkin Park, realising I can sound like him. And then I think it was like the death metal era of Bring Me The Horizon when Olly released Pray for Plagues. I just remember copying it, standing there and there's a section where it goes into really deep guttural, and I was just doing it. Again, finding it quite easy to go from like the low, the mid, the high, and so I think bands like Linkin Park, Evanescence and Bring Me would be three very solid contenders as to why I sound how I sound. Also Limp Bizkit having that kind of like hardcore-rap kind of style, you know. The punkier element is another example of an influence for me. I think those four bands growing up were such, something I listened to like daily. Then as I got older, I started listening to bands like Memphis Mayfire, Of Mice and Men, August Burns Red… all these different American metalcore, deathcore bands that I just like. I just remember listening to all these different genres and just being like, I want to do this. So yeah, there's so many reasons why I sing how I sing, but I honestly put it down to like just being in an environment where I was exposed to so many different types of like rock, just loving all of it. Like I'd love to front like a hardcore punk band, but I'd also love to front like more of a pop band. There's so many genres I'd love to do. So I just blend it into like one, and Dream State is the most perfect blend for me. I have a lot of control in terms of, you know, I write the melodies in terms of vocally and the words. So I can do a hardcore voice here, and I can do a fry there. I can do a guttural. You know, there's so much I can do to showcase it.
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
Despite being self-taught with singing, have you had any formal training at all for the heavier vocals at all? Is there a safe technique to it all?
I've never had any scream training ever. I think a couple of years ago, there was an offer from a lady called Melissa Cross from the Zen of Screaming. She is like the top dog of it, you know. So I did attend a summer rock shop for like an hour with her and she was really complimentary about my vocal range, but other than that I have never had any. I think I've got one of these types of brains where I can just create lots of different noises. So I feel I'd be quite good on the radio, or like with animated character type vocals, because I can do lots of different voices. When I was a kid, my Mum would get me to sing Whitney and M People and Celine, you know, and I’d sing them, and I could sound quite close to them. And again, with Linkin Park, if you told me to sing ‘Numb', I come out quite close to sounding like Chester. So it feels like a natural ability to change my vocals, and I think because I had so much choir practice from a very young age, quite consistently, that has built up an awful lot of stamina and strength in my vocal cords.
Everyone who knows me, knows I'm a talker and I actually also put it down to how much I can chat, chat, chat, which has built a stamina and a tolerance and a strength too. So you know, people might think it's a curse, but I think it's a blessing. I'm not saying I'm never going to have vocal training, because maybe one day I will. As a singing teacher, I think it's important to keep growing and learning, but I've not currently had any formal professional training to create the noises that I do. It was just a case of copying people I heard and realising that I could make that sound, so I’d try going deeper, going higher. I think I'm very, very fortunate that it feels like it's something that's come quite naturally to me.
And on the topic of Linkin Park, a couple of years ago you took part in the 1000 Lights event which was brilliant, but that must have been quite a thing for you being a fan of Linkin Park and Chester, to be able to be a part of that with a number of other great musicians on stage. How did it feel to do that?
It was great. I’d just toured with Bethany from As December Falls, so to have her there on stage with me was amazing. I was stood in front of Bullet for my Valentine so to have like, Padge and Jamie behind me while I'm singing was mental. And then from that, I became a mental health ambassador for Uprawr Mental Health Foundation and I feel really privileged to be part of that. And then off the back of that incredible event, I was then asked by The Linkin Park Experience tribute band to go out and do a couple of shows for them because their singer couldn’t be there. Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. For someone who has literally grown up listening to Chester, and feeling really connected with him, like lyrically and vocally, I just feel what an honour. If they ever did another event, I'd love to be part of it again, and like I said earlier, if I could ever do perform with The Linkin Park Experience again, even if it's just the Emily stuff now, you know, I would love to. I went up and did Emptiness Machine with them a few times and I'd happily go for that era. I think Emily is someone who is super important now to the scene. I think she has definitely encouraged and influenced the next generation of people now, you know. I’ve got a lot of girls coming to singing lessons in their 40s being like, “I want to sound like Emily.” So it's really inspiring, and I really wish her a really successful career. She deserves it.
Now going back to Dream State, the band initially formed in 2014 and you joined them in 2022. Did it feel a bit daunting to come into a band that was already established for that length of time and having to make your own mark on it?
Obviously I was such a bag of nerves, but when I started doing my research on exactly who they were and everything, learning a bit more, one thing I think that made me joining easier is they'd actually had quite a big hiatus for a number of years anyway. So I think that almost helped because it's not like they just released a brand new song that I had to be up against. There was a number of years where they were radio silent. So that kind of did help because when it came back, people were aware, they'd already had a public announcement that Charlotte had left and Reese had left. So I think people just thought the band had finished but the original member, Aled, had put 10 years into that band, so he wasn’t ready to end it. So coming in as the new girl was so scary and naturally I got absolutely ripped to pieces by a lot of keyboard warriors. Some of those keyboard warriors have actually now completely turned a corner and are huge fans of the Dream State we are now. Some have actually come to see me live with every intention to tell me I wasn't Charlotte, but then actually they've watched me and been like, that was amazing, and they've told me that they came to just be a hater. I've been really shocked that people have told me to my face “I really didn't want to be here but my friends dragged me along, and I didn't think you were going to be any good, but you're actually really good.” So, I’ve learned to get really thick skin.
I stopped watching YouTube comments because that really broke me. I'd spent so much time, almost a year behind the scenes in 2022, getting Dream State ready with the lads to release to the world, and we dropped “Taunt Me” and it went off. There was such a buzz. I don't know if viral is the right word, but it felt like there was certainly a hum and a buzz about it, and because I do have a slightly heavier vocal than the previous singer, I do think I have actually brought on a lot of new fans. I bumped into an old friend last weekend who actually works for our booking agency Echelon. His name's Murph. He's been in the scene forever and he actually said something really sweet to me. He said “you know, you should be really proud of what you've done in Dream State and where you've taken that band because you’ve elevated it, you’ve brought in like a new sound, and to be a replacement is so difficult. What you've achieved is incredible.” And I was really taken aback by that because that was just really kind for a guy to say. It's been a journey, but I really feel like now I'm two EPs in, I'm like nine tours down, multiple festivals ticked off, I don't feel like the new girl anymore. I feel like I've really earned my stripes. People think sometimes we're quiet and I have people in the industry say, oh, you're really quiet right now, but what they don't see is what everything goes on in the background. I can't go back to a corporate job because I need to be really flexible for Dream State and I'm prepared to be, and that's a hit on your financial income and everything else. So it was definitely daunting but I feel like now when we release something or I'm going out on tour, I feel really confident in who I am and what I bring to the table. And those that support me shout and clap loud and proud, you know?
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
That's really great to hear, and you're definitely a solid part of Dreamstate now.
Oh yeah, I wear the merch every day, and I think I post about my band almost every day. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. When I put music to bed a few years back, I really thought it was over for me. So to have come back and performed at Download Festivals, Slam Dunk, 2000Trees, you name them, I've been there. Play a castle and an arena with Funeral for a Friend and be asked directly by the band… excuse me, what? I just think even if that's all I achieve with Dream State, I think that is something to show the grandkids for sure.
There's definitely going to be more, but you're absolutely right. There are some serious achievements on that list already in the last three or so years, which realistically isn’t even that long really.
Yeah, it’s been four years on paper, but we've only been gigging for the last three and a half roughly? Three years of being relentless. When I put it all down on paper and I do often write what we've done, just to remind myself because sometimes I can be guilty of thinking about what I'm not doing rather than what I have done already, and realistically that is more than some people have done in 10 years trying to build a band, so I’m very grateful. I don't take any moment of this opportunity for granted.
Do you feel differently about being in a band now? Over time and with more life experience and such, do you feel like you're enjoying it more now this time round?
Absolutely. I look back and I remember how much I wanted to be, like, the next Paramore. I wanted to be a heavy Paramore. That was always my dream, to be like Hayley Williams vocally, but heavy, you know? Bands like I Wrestled a Bear Once and stuff like that were really cool to me. I really wanted to showcase a death metal side but I look back now, and I'm actually really, really grateful that everything I wanted did not happen in my teens. I think emotionally, mentally. Now I'm married, I own my house, there's so many things that make me feel so stable now, whereas when I was in my teens, looking at going on tour for five, six weeks in a bus or whatever, I don't think teenage me would have coped as well as I do now. People only see the show, right? They don't see the hours you spend in a van. Like, on our upcoming tour in two weeks, I'm going to be sleeping in what's called a mini sleeper. So, it's effectively a van with bunks in the back. I've always slept either in a bus or had a very budget hotel or a cheap Airbnb or someone's floor. So, effectively, I'm going to spend the next four or five weeks in a van with six blokes. So, mentally, that is really hard, even if they're your bestest friends, if you spend that much time with anybody… People’s mental health starts to go or, you know, as a woman, my hormones change. So, I have to be quite vocal with people if I can feel that I'm getting quite agitated, I have to say, just give me a minute because I am going to snap, but it's never that deep, and they are really good, actually. They've all got girlfriends and they get it, and actually, some of the members are really sweet. You know, they really do check in on me. But yeah, what I'm trying to say is young me would not have coped with what I'm dealing with now, and knowing I get to come home to my dog and my husband and my family and my house and my business, that is like a really motivating thing to keep me going. It's like I'm going home. Life outside of Dream State is blessed, so, it's knowing I get to get home to that goodness keeps me quite sane, even if it feels really hard.
As you’ve mentioned, you’re very close as a band, but obviously being the only woman can have its challenges particularly in certain situations. As we've said, physiologically, we are different, and you have been open about your struggles with endometriosis over the years. How does that affect your experience of, I suppose more so, playing shows and touring?
Honestly there's people like Alyx Holcombe who have had, my God, it sounds like hell on earth going through her body, and from an outsider looking in, she’s killing it, everything she's doing, but she's got all these struggles. So, I feel in a way, and I'm not trying to diminish my issues, but I feel like mine are not as heavy as that, but they're still there. I still have had to have operations and have things removed, and the pain on my time of month is just unbelievable. When I came off the stage at Download, I was in so much agony, so much pain, constantly on different medication all the time, which there's some videos of me from a couple of summers ago, and I'm so swollen, so bloated, and a lot of it is like the medication. So it is hard and I've had to be really open and honest with my band who have been amazing, but I have had to be really open and honest, and I do have to remind people sometimes, you know, there’s been many a time where the band will go out, we're in Europe, and they'll go out exploring or clubbing or drinking or whatever they want to do, and I'll be like, I'm going to put my pyjamas on, put a pizza in the oven, get some microwave popcorn, sit in a ball and just ride through this. They're really fine with it, but it is hard, and I get nervous, you know. That isn't just like coming on a period, that is like debilitating pain. That is literally me sitting in a bus, maybe dosing up or just trying to get through the pain that I'm going through. I know that millions of people suffer, so it's almost nice to feel not alone with it, but it's still difficult, I get through it.
I think when you're so passionate about doing something you love, it's amazing what us women can get through, you know? I know women out there that are pregnant and playing, or had a baby and still played not long after. So, you know, our bodies are amazing. So it’s nice to not feel the pain when your adrenaline's so high, but it's the come down after. It's the come down of the adrenaline and then everything just hits me like a train. I guess a blessing about having a mini sleeper is if I'm in a lot of pain, once I played, I could like, shower, go and put my pyjamas on and I could go and like, foetal position it in the van until we leave and I probably will have to do that for about a week.
The pain itself and the effect it has on our bodies takes not only a physical toll but also a mental toll, so, for example, going back to the Download performance, how do you get through something like that when you were feeling so unwell?
I've got goosebumps talking about it. I feel quite emotional because I really don't take this opportunity for granted, right? This is all I have wanted since I was really young. So if I'm getting opportunities to play Download or go and play like Resurrection Fest, nothing is going to stop me. If I have to be on my knees playing, I'm going to play the show. That's just how I am. I was raised by really strong women who are fighters, so I think that's played a massive part in it, and I just let myself feel after.
Now Dream State are a DIY band. For anyone who doesn't know, what does being a DIY independent band involve?
It means everything, Ali. It means you do everything haha. So for many, many, many years, Dream State had no booking agent, no manager, no label, nothing, and so that means everything you see that we've done, like playing Takedown for the first time, playing 2000Trees, all these things that we were doing were done through the band. So every bit of admin, every bit of video, everything, it means you do everything, you arrange everything. When you're DIY, you don't have a team. Certain bands, if they're on certain management or certain labels, everything's interconnected. They'll get a lot of opportunities because their manager knows the booking agent or something like that, you know, it’s very interconnected. So when you're DIY, you don't have that luxury. Every EP we've released, self-released, it didn't have loads of people pushing that. It just had us, and we didn't have this big fancy team, like sending it to people. We have PR, we're with Good As Gold, but again, when you don't have funding, you don't have lots of opportunity to have a lot of press because you don't have the money. So it means doing everything, but I would highly encourage it, especially for young, new bands, unless someone is going to come along and offer you or prove that they can give you things that you can't get yourself, I would highly encourage any up and coming band for the first five years, if you can, stay independent. Unless the record deal is with like Samarian and you're being offered like Future History, I would say do it yourself. I've done it myself for decades. You know, there's lots of people like myself that provide band consultancy packages to help people. How do you do X, Y, and Z? And it’s just approach. If you see a festival you want to play, approach it. You know, we've been lucky, you know, Dream State had a platform pre-me, so when the ‘go live' went boom, naturally everyone wanted a piece of the new Dream State, which was amazing. It was so unfortunate because before I became part of Dream State, they had like the best manager, the best label, they had such a strong team. Let's say those people had stayed on board. I wonder where we'd have been now. I think we would have toured the world, I really do, but I'm really starting to believe and feel that everything happens how it's supposed to. We have very recently signed to our very, as this lineup, we've just signed to 1182 for management. They've had bands like Imminence. They’ve got like Elwood Stray, and that feels really exciting for us because a lot of the admin, a lot of the stuff that we’ve been doing, gets handed over to someone else now.
For me personally, what I liked about 1182 is that they really want to build the cake before they take a slice. They were as passionate about Dream State as we are, and that felt really exciting. We’ve had many managers approach us. We always had our eyes set on certain people, but after many, many years of just not getting that, and having conversations with multiple managers, and it just not feeling quite right for us, we decided that we had nothing to lost and to bite the bullet. We're four years in, stronger than ever. Imagine now what might happen if we've got someone that can take away the admin bit, and it means I can do more writing. We’ll still have to be involved because when you have a manager, it doesn't mean everything gets done for you, that’s not happening, and I think any manager that is sitting down with a band really echoes that, you know, they’re not here to do everything for you. They still need you, but being able to network in places perhaps that I can’t, or communicate with certain people that I can't, or have negotiations with people to a more advanced level than I can do, or the boys can do. So it's really exciting. After four years of graft and 20-odd years in the business, to say I finally now have a manager feels really, really exciting. So let's see what happens. We can only be optimistic that this is going to be a positive step, and only time will tell, but I've got a good feeling about it.
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
Well congrats on that, and it’ll certainly be exciting to see what happens for you. There’s obviously pros and cons to having a manager and being DIY, and of course there’s a lot to learn when you're DIY, but I suppose if you're thrown into the deep end with it, you get the best learning experience of the business?
Absolutely. I'm not just trying to plug my business here but for example, there are multiple bands that are doing well in the industry that work with me. I don't have the capacity to be a manager, but I offer a band consultancy package. Whether someone might be releasing a band, releasing a track, wanting to have a strategic business plan… I've actually been approached by multiple management companies to ask me to work for their roster, but right now I'm really happy just being in Dream State and giving that all my time and energy. There has been one band in my whole life that I approached wanting to manage them, but at that time it wasn't right, but who's to say down the line, maybe that's what I'll go into. Currently I offer a band consultancy package where you can just have a one-off hour with me or a bulk of like four sessions, and you basically just get to pick my brains with everything you want to know, and people that have been using it have seen massive reward. You know, I can't promise anything, but I know for a fact that people who have done certain things that I've encouraged have seen results that have been really positive for their band.
That's brilliant, but as you say you can’t promise success from it, as action needs to be taken with the knowledge you’ve passed on to make things happen.
Exactly. I can tell you what to do, but if you're not going to do it, then you're not going to see the benefit, and ultimately I can't be held responsible for the algorithm or something. So I think I would again massively echo if it feels right, especially new bands, just enjoy being in a band because I feel like once a team comes in things change. For me, Dream State's a business anyway, it always has been, but I think as the team grows and things like that, it becomes more apparent that actually this is a business, this is a job. So I would highly advise people to have fun and enjoy being in a band while they can before it gets really serious.
Do you see yourself and the band as a brand as well?
I think you have to be, yeah. Any person who is serious about this being their career… it doesn't have to be, but for me, yeah, it's a business, right? So you want to see growth, you want to have a clear message about what your band stands for. What does it mean to be in Dream State? You want to have all those things really clear. So yeah, it is a brand, but I try and make sure that I'm still having fun with all the writing and stuff like that because I think if you focus too much on it being a brand, you know, it takes the fun out of it a bit. I don't just want it always to be like business, business, business. I want to make sure that the songs we're doing are still good, I still feel passionate about performing, and I have spoken to people that are much bigger than me who said they just got to a certain level and it was not fun anymore. What my biggest fear would be, and I echo this, maybe that's why we haven’t gone with anyone up until this point. I'm really strong minded about not losing my identity and not losing who I am as a person. So when you can't mould or manipulate someone into being something else, that can be difficult because sometimes when you are in a band and there's a big team, not in all instances, but I have heard about people just losing their voice, they're told what is going to happen and that's non-negotiable because you've signed the contract and they own the rights to your brand. So yeah, I just encourage anyone who's signing anything to have it reviewed by a legal professional so you understand clearly what you're signing away.
Of course, that’s an important part of the business. It’d be great to touch upon Jessie Powell Music as you've touched upon it a little bit already, but for anyone who doesn't, what is Jessie Powell Music and when did you start it?
I am officially two years live with it this May, which is not very far away now. Just to give you the backstory, I started getting a lot of messages asking if I teach screaming or singing, or whether I’d DJ at an event or from DIY bands asking for advice. I come from a very corporate background, predominantly in sales, so I’ve got that sort of mindset, that entrepreneurial brain, and I just started looking at all these different things that were being asked of me and firstly I started doing like vocal features, and and once it hit that I got paid for that, I started doing more and then it got to a point where I was thought this actually needs to become a business now. An actual business. So I set my rates at what I thought was appropriate, but I had multiple people in the industry telling me I was massively undercharging, which I was really shocked about. So in like in two years, my prices have gone up three times due to demand and learning what to charge. You know, I thought what I was charging to begin with was very reasonable, but then when you have to start paying your taxes and everything else and you buy different equipment and everything else, I realised actually, no, and people pay it.
I got made redundant from my corporate job and I was devastated because they'd been so flexible when Dream State came around. They let me take unpaid time and my client was really supportive to let me pursue my dream. I think they could see it wasn't just me playing in a pub every Saturday to like 20 people, so I went for it. I got made redundant and I just sort of took that as a sign that maybe I should go for this. So I had this really lovely girl called Rosie Cannon who happened to reach out to me on Instagram, offered to build me a website, so she did and she's amazing. If anyone wants to have her link, message me and I'll send it. She's amazing. And so I had a website and I went live, and it has been probably like 85% of my week that’s taken up on Jessie Powell Music now. I do have a part-time office job as a sales and marketing manager and I do occasionally walk dogs. So I spin a lot of plates to pay my mortgage and my bills, but Jessie Powell Music is my main job at the moment, which is crazy because I can be anywhere in the world and do a lesson on my phone, and there's lots of bands I've written for, ghostwriting, and there's lots of features I've been on that haven't even come out yet. So if you'd have told me four years ago, one day you're going to own your own company in music and you're going to be doing okay and you're going to be on all these European tours with Dream State, I would never have believed it. So this chapter of my life feels like one I'm going to remember for the rest of my life.
Do you get a lot of Dream State fans coming to you for lessons?
Sometimes that can be the case, yeah. There are definitely some fans that have joined, but actually a very large volume of my client base is people that are currently in bands. Bands that I've been on the same lineup as, bands that are up and coming. So fans are actually a very small portion of my business. My biggest booking comes from people who are either performing artists or who are about to be in a band, or just wanted to take up a new hobby for themselves. One gentleman who’s going through quite a lot in his life at the moment, just wanted to have something for himself each week, a hobby, and he actually sings in multiple choirs and things, so actually a large volume of it is people that are wanting to upskill their talent.
On that, it seems likely that the act of singing is actually very therapeutic.
Definitely. I do have certain clients who come to me as part of their therapy where they've been highly encouraged to use music as a way of healing, and actually I'm even considering taking a sort of qualification for this because of the certain clientele that I have. One of my clients is actually a therapist and when I mentioned some of the things that I've come head to head with since being a teacher, she suggested considering doing a Level One in mental health and counselling so that I can ensure these things are being handled in the right way.
Absolutely. That’s one of the amazing things about music, the way it can be so healing for people, whether that’s merely listening to it or taking part in it in some way.
Music has been my medicine the last four years. Honestly, having this opportunity to the scale I do and singing most days with clients… I think anyone who knows me properly as a person, will say that this journey has been really transformative of my own personal healing journey. I feel like it's definitely healing this chapter of my life for sure.
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
Understandably. Now you’re very good with your fans and your community. From an outsider's perspective, it’s clear to see you really put the time and effort in to connect with your fans, but why have you felt that it's been so important for you to put that time and effort into meeting the people at the gigs or reply to their messages?
I think it comes down to just feeling so grateful and privileged to be in the position I am, that if someone's going to go out their way to send me a full page essay on Instagram about how I've inspired them that day or how connected they feel to my music, why would I not reply? I am that girl that will play a gig and then stand there for over an hour meeting a queue of people, and I can't believe that I'm stood in a queue for an hour having photos and signing and having hellos with quite emotional people. There's no feeling like it personally. For me, I have an opportunity here to make a difference, so it’s important that I do. When I was a young girl, I was always met with such positivity and kindness to anyone I met that I admired, and that stayed with me. I just love the thought of people all around the world meeting me and leaving feeling like that encounter that we had was really special to them. And it's really special to me. One day I'm going to look back at this chapter of my life, hopefully with a beautiful family and think, how blessed was that?
You know, the reason I am how I am is because this is honestly all I've wanted to do for so long, and I just don't take it for granted. I'm not saying that people that don’t do, because there gets to a point where you can't be out with the fans every night, and there will be a point one day where I'm highly encouraged by my team to not do this after every show because you know, I’ll have to get through 30 shows and it's not good for my health. Like I will catch the flu on this tour because I go out to the fans every night, but I'm like I can, so I will. But even the boys now have started to say maybe don't go out every night, or maybe we look at doing meet and greets where you can do it before the show, but like, I do understand from a health benefit one day it might work out better to do something separately so that I've not played a show for an hour then go out into the people and hug and kiss like hundreds of people and then wonder why I get like a strain of COVID. This won't last forever. I mean I could be wrong. I could be doing it when I'm 60 but how many 60 year old women do you know that are still relevant and popular?
If anyone's going to, it's going to be you, and we need to see more older women keep pushing with their music.
True. Stevie Nicks is still going strong, and Tina Turner was still giving it what she could when she could. I mean, I'd love to, and I want to be that woman that plays pregnant. I want to be that woman that plays with a crop top on at Download, going low, letting the boys know that us strong women can do it all. I made it really clear to the band that one day I will have a family when my time is right, and I have every intention of staying in Dream State. The only way I'll leave is if they kick me out. I've got so many friends who are doing what I'm doing and they've had a baby. Of course every birth is different, but they have their baby, and when the time is right, they get back on it. I don't see why I couldn't take time out to birth a child, heal, and then go and slay a festival. I just don't see why I can't do both. Men get the privilege of having their children side stage and their wife standing there holding it. If my husband's happy to do that and bring out the baby for me for a photo, watch me. Marmozets just toured in February, and Becca, their vocalist, has just announced to the world she's pregnant. So when they play with Biffy Clyro in the summer, she's going to be heavily pregnant, and I just think that's so special. I want that to be a clear message to anyone doing this, that we can do both. And we will.
Absolutely. So thinking about life with Dream State and Jessie Powell Music, have you found it easy or difficult to balance these different sides of your life?
You know something, and I mean this sincerely, it feels such a privilege to be in this position as in like, I'm busy, right? But everyone's got commitments. Everyone's got jobs, family, everyone. So I just try and wake up each day and feel like this is everything you ever wanted. Enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, there are days where I really struggle, but I've kind of got into a really good routine. I walk my dogs, I try and hit the gym when I can. I really try and plan out my days. Sometimes I'm teaching singing as early as 9am. Sometimes I'll finish working about 8.30pm. That's quite a long day, but I make sure I go for an evening walk with my husband where I leave my phone at home and we just hold hands and go on a walk. So I make sure I do little things to stay super grounded and connected to my family. I always go home like once a week where I can and spend time with my grandparents. Might be running some errands or just having a cup of tea with my family. Making sure I balance everything is really important. It is hard, but what isn't hard, you know? I think being organised and just really reminding myself that this is what I’ve always wanted really helps sort of ease the load a little bit, because it can be difficult. There are some times where I feel like I need to book a few days off. Where I used to work corporate Monday to Friday I'd have the weekend off. Doing Jessie Powell all week, then my part-time job, then some dog walking and then I've got gigs all weekend or whatever… I might get to like, five or six weeks in a row and realise I haven't actually had a day off. I've got a tour coming up in a couple of weeks, so the few days before tour starts, I've booked nobody in because I need to pack, I need to go and see my family. Whereas a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have done that. I'd have worked through to being picked up. So yeah, I'm learning. It's a learning curve. I probably still could be better, but you know, anything worth having is going to make you sweat a little bit. So in order to grow the business and grow the band, I do need to put a bit of effort and work in right now.
One thing I'm still not used to, and I say this to my husband quite a bit. One thing I'm still not used to, and you’ll be able to relate, is not having that paycheck every month. You know, for years, I had a corporate job and sometimes I get bonuses that I'd work towards. So to go from that to now it's like, “okay, I've sent out seven invoices and three have paid.” It's like, I keep feeling like I go through that panic of like, “oh my God, I've got nothing in!” and then all of a sudden, within a day of saying that, I get a drop of work, but it's like constantly. I'll tell you what, for people with anxiety, I don't know why we're self-employed haha. It's like a rollercoaster of emotion, but I think it's good to keep on your toes like that. I think when people start to become comfortable and like, feel like it’s just going to be fine, that can make you a bit complacent. I think the only way you're going to grow is if you keep pushing.
There is something special about being self-employed though, despite the rollercoaster of emotion.
Absolutely. I’m really excited to see where Dream State goes and where this company goes, you know? I’ve been invited into colleges and schools to do talks which is so exciting, so I wonder what’s all that going to look like in five years? Am I going to be someone that's recognised to have done a lot for the community, for the up and coming? Or, you know, I would really aspire to be someone that has prestigious vocal care. I'm endorsed by VocalZone with the band and separately to Jessie Powell Music, and I don't take that for granted. I think that's an honour that they have recognised my talents and the way I am passionate about vocal care. So let's see what happens for both of us.
Absolutely, it’s really exciting. We’ve talked about so much so to end things, with the music industry as it stands, right now, if you could change one thing about it, what would be most important for you to see changing at the moment?
Good question. I think sometimes what I don't like is that often opportunities will arise, but then you'll hear that someone else gets it because their manager is besties with the label, or there's a lot of this interconnection that I was saying at the start of the interview that can almost feel a little bit unfair. I'm not being jaded when I say that. I mean, it's just that it's like an opportunity gets presented to, say, us, but then because so-and-so x, y, z is connected somehow, it gets taken and put somewhere else. That can feel really frustrating because it's like, how are the little people, and I know I'm not bottom of the barrel, but I'm certainly not top of the chain. How are people like us supposed to take that next step up if other things, things that would benefit us, keep getting given somewhere else because of the connections? And I don't know how I'd change that or whether maybe that is just nature of the beast, and perhaps someone more experienced than me in the industry would tell me to “suck it up, sweetie” type thing. It still doesn't feel right, and I still feel like that if that could, be less of a thing and it just went more off ticket sales or, the band just being good enough, that would be nice... Like, I feel like Dream State have worked really hard to grow year on year, and you get told that you have to keep growing. So, you do that. We've gone from selling out 100 cap rooms to 250 cap rooms. Now, that might not sound like so many, but we can go to London and do over 300 tickets. We can go to Wales and sell out 300 people, Birmingham the same. If you tally that up over 10 dates, that's a lot of tickets. So, I wish people would take into account more stuff like that rather than, you know “well, his best friend is her boyfriend's sister's brother.” So, sometimes that can feel a bit frustrating but that's just one of the top things that comes in my head.
Jessie Powell, Dream State, 2026 © Alia Thomas | Please do not use without permission. www.aliathomas.com
It’s interesting you say that because that can be quite a universal stalling block, in many industries I’d say. We all know the well known phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
Yeah, and that'll be something that's happening forever. Maybe my kids will be privileged because I know X, Y, and Z. Maybe I decide to make a home, a family band, and they'll go into the stratosphere because I know X, Y, and Z. Maybe that will pay off for me. The nepotism will be very strong haha. No, honestly, I have to be mindful because someone once called me jaded and it's not sat well with me because that's not it. I'm not resentful. I'm not angry. I am just aware and feel like it's perhaps slightly unfair, but it’s the nature of the beast, I'm afraid.
So if you were to give some words of wisdom to women who are looking to get into the music industry, what would like to say to them to encourage and inspire them to go for their goals?
A couple of things, actually. I get every student to give me a bit of a quote or something that resonates with them, and one of my youngest students, Max, told me a quote that's really stuck with me. It was ‘believe in yourself and you're already halfway there.’ He's a very young guy, and he said that, and I was just thought that's so powerful. And my advice to anybody, whether you're going to be a photographer, the lights, the sound, anything, just be yourself. I don't think there's any room to be somebody else because they're taken. So just be yourself. I show up unapologetically me. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. The world would be quite boring if we all got along, so just be yourself. Believe in the fact that you're already halfway there, and be grateful. Gratitude is massive for me. It's very easy to get caught up in what you don't have and what you're not doing, but I think, for example, if you're a brand new artist and you've released a video, you're playing a show, you have a hundred followers and are doing some promos this weekend… be super grateful for that. If that's what you want to do, you want to be in a band, that to me sounds like you're in a band. So you've ticked that. And if you put a hundred people in a room, that's a lot of people. So use gratitude, even when you don't feel like you're where you want to be. And I feel like for me personally, the more grateful I am for where I am, the easier the ride feels, because it is going to be a bumpy ride, and I think people are deluded if they think it won't be.
An enormous thank you to Jessie for taking the time to be part of UNMUTED, and for sharing so much about the industry as she has known it. It’s without a doubt an incredibly insightful conversation for anyone who is early on in their career or purely interested in knowing what it takes to be a musician and hearing a bit more about the industry itself.
If you’re interested in learning more about Jessie and her band Dream State, here are some links to follow their story:
@jessiedreamstate
@dreamstateuk
The band are also about to embark on a 3 week tour with Solance and Written By Wolves across Europe and the UK, but not before appearing at Collision Fest this coming Saturday in Bedford.
If there’s anyone you’d like to hear from in particular, let me know! Drop a comment down here or send me an email with some suggestions through the contact page.
Thank you so much as always for following UNMUTED.