A few months before the pandemic turned the world upside down, pop star Jillian Rose Banks was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disorder. There is never a good time for such news. But if there is a “worst” time, it is surely immediately preceding a once-in-a-century public health emergency.
“It was scary because I didn’t know what was going on,” the singer, known professionally as Banks, says over Zoom from Los Angeles as she counts down to the April 8th release of her fourth album, Serpentina (named after her childhood love for coiled serpent motifs in art and jewellery). “It’s always kind of scary to find out that there’s something… I don’t want to say wrong… [with you].”
Compromised immunity was merely the beginning of her woes. She was going through a painful break-up. And that emotional turmoil was matched by physical trauma. While preparing to tour her 2019 record, III, Banks had sustained a spinal fracture. The pain was severe; steroid shots to her vocal chords were required to get through shows. Meanwhile, the depression she’d experienced on and off since adolescence had returned.
Under lockdown in LA, she was unravelling. Touring had left her body shattered. And after that storm, the eerie calm that left her alone with her fears and insecurities was nearly as challenging. The auto-immune diagnosis – she has a condition known as Hashimoto’s disease – was, she feels, partly a consequence of all these pressures.
'My cortisol levels were wild. I think a lot of performers have adrenal fatigue. I definitely had that'
“Auto-immune stuff is not all from stress, obviously. You need to have certain genes and whatever: x,y and z. Stress, though, really triggers that stuff. And I was just so unbelievably… my cortisol levels were wild. I think a lot of performers have adrenal fatigue. I definitely had that. Your body’s not meant to have so much of that. And I learned a lot for sure. It was difficult.”
Banks (33) speaks in a upticky Southern California accent (she was born in Orange County and grew up in an upmarket suburb in the San Fernando Valley). However, she is an intense conversationalist, delving into subjects such as mental health and career pressure with unflinching honesty and vulnerability. This is a reflection of the figure she presents on record, where her expressive voice, by turns melodramatic and languid, fuses with emo-fuelled goth pop.
If melodramatic/languid singing paired with emo-fuelled goth pop chimes a bell, perhaps it is because it is the formula by which artists such as Halsey and, especially, Billie Eilish have conquered the charts. Banks, though, got there first, her debut album, Goddess, having come out in 2014.
The suggestion has since been made that she was a major influence on Halsey and Eilish. Without calling out anyone by name, does she think she was ahead of the curve? “People ask me that a lot and I always feel kind of, like, awkward,” she says. “It’s a weird question to respond to. But that’s for somebody else to say, not me.”
Fascinating spell
Whatever about her impact on Eilish, Banks is worth cherishing in her own right. Baroque and visceral, her music casts a fascinating spell. That brimstone kick is dialled all the way up on her recent single, The Devil. In the video, Banks plays a terrifying figure in red PVC who drives too fast, floats above her sports car and smears herself all over the windscreen – none of which are recommended under the latest road safety guidelines.
Striking imagery is paired with hellish lyrics. “Way down I go,” she sings. “Got a one-way ticket and the devil waiting/Call from down low.”
The Devil came to her in lockdown when she was at her lowest. Banks had decided that if she was to continue in music, she needed a new strategy. In particular, to be more assertive.
“It came out of me feeling that, in order to overcome certain things, you can’t be polite and sweet and soft and patient. You have to be strong. And you have to be more powerful than your own demons. And that’s where I got that concept. Well, what’s more powerful: demon or devil? Okay, I’m the f**king devil.”
Banks could be mistaken for someone born for stardom. She has a natural stage presence. Debuting latest single, Holding Back, on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show recently, she led her dancers through a baroque routine that suggested late 1990s Fiona Apple channelling Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. And then there’s that voice, with its acid-bath slow burn and high-octane punch.
But success was in no way pre-ordained. Her breakthrough came when a demo was championed by Apple Music’s Zane Lowe (then with the BBC) in 2013. Before she’d quite processed what was happening, she was booked to support The Weeknd at Radio City Music Hall in New York. That was her very first live concert: at a storied venue with 6,000 people watching.
“Nobody knows what it’s like. It’s such a unique experience and lifestyle.” With Serpentina, she adds, she might finally be getting a handle on the business. “I finally feel like I kind of know what’s going on – with my fourth album.”
Banks is self-releasing the record, having parted from Universal Music Group (where she was signed to the Harvest imprint). One of the motivations for putting out her own music was to have greater control. She’s always called the shots in the studio. On the business side, however, she has occasionally encountered resistance. It hasn’t escaped her attention that this is a familiar experience for women in a male-dominated industry such as music.
‘Gut intuition’
“There’s a long history of women being treated like their opinion doesn’t matter. And a lot of the time – even outside my music and in terms of certain business decisions – I’ve definitely felt that. As I grown I’ve learned more and more to have my voice and to say what I want. And become more sturdy in my own gut intuition and opinions.”
'It's like you win the lottery if you're actually healthy. I always get obsessed with all those weird documentaries about crazy illnesses'
It’s been a heavy conversation but Banks is ultimately upbeat about the future. She has come through the darkness. And having emerged from a challenging period and laid to rest her demons, she is excited to look forward – and share Serpentina with fans.
“It was difficult. [Now] I am so appreciative of my body for being healthy and letting me do what it does,” she says. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s like you win the lottery if you’re actually healthy. I always get obsessed with all those weird documentaries about crazy illnesses. And I’m always like, ‘Jesus, if one tiny little gene goes wrong when you’re in the womb, then you could have some crazy… I don’t know.’ In general, I feel healthy. And I’m grateful for that.”
Serpentina is released April 8th.
