Musical therapy? Perhaps.

"When I was 14 or 15, I was feeling dark and lost," confesses singer-songwriter BANKS. "I didn't know how to express my emotions."

Things changed when she received a keyboard as a gift. "One note at a time, these melodies released the beast," BANKS says. "I felt I could exhale; it was a fluid process."

That said, Jillian Banks says she wrote songs for 10 years before she told anyone. Not long ago, BANKS was cutting her teeth at open-mic nights in far-flung areas of Los Angeles where she wouldn't bump into friends and neighbors. Now, BANKS counts London's O2 Arena among the venues she's played. Last week, she played a sold-out show at First Avenue; while in town, she stopped at The Current to play some songs and to chat with Mark Wheat.

Although her album, Goddess, is a layered and atmospheric experience, BANKS prefers more stripped-down, moody and minimal arrangements on tour. Either way, with BANKS, what you hear is what you get. "This is me at my purest form," she says. "These songs are me, unfiltered."

Listen to the full interview as BANKS describes her evolution as an artist, her process of selecting a manager, her reluctance about social media and her soccer-related collaboration with UNICEF.

Songs Performed

"Alibi"
"Brain"
"Beggin' for Thread"
All songs off the album, Goddess, out now on Harvest Records.

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