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One morning in Venice Beach, sitting alone on the couch of a place she was crashing at, Jenny was just drinking whiskey by herself when suddenly it all came pouring out from her head. Initially a poem, the words soon became the lyrics to a touching single: "Morning Bottle".
Jennifer Moxham (also known as Jenny JAM) is an actress, singer, dancer, model, and traveler, known for LA to Vegas (2018), To Trend on Twitter (2018) and Payback Season (2012), as well as her song mentioned above. Her life journey hasn’t been the smoothest ride, having dealt with everything from fake friends to drinking problems. In this exclusive interview with The Teen Magazine, she’ll be sharing her story and her advice to you, our readers.
“Morning Bottle” features intimate and personal lyrics, telling you all about Jenny’s struggles with morning drinking and dealing with the people around her. “The music is inspired by the terrible people I had met in LA, and my abusive relationship which had ultimately led me to drink excessively and have nowhere to live,” she explained.
Not solely about morning drinking, the emotional song has a deep message for its listeners as well. “The song is about morning drinking but my message is that no matter what happens to you; (in my case - the people, the drink, my ex) –they can’t take who you are away from you. Hence the lyrics in the chorus ‘You can’t take that away from me’” Jenny said.
“Always stay true to yourself and believe in you.
This is something people don’t do enough. If you follow this one rule, then you will rise out of the ashes no matter what happens.”
You’re taken along into Jenny’s story in the music video, where you can witness her personal struggles in the form of enthralling visuals. It started off with a scene of Jenny lying down on top of the sand in a desert, her flowy white dress contrasting the warm light cascading her figure.
The next few scenes depict her in her bedroom, where she wakes up in the early morning, opening a fresh new bottle of a drink. Soon, we see her pushing open the curtains of a window.
“I wrote, produced and directed the music video myself. It all came to me in the shower one day, haha!” she said. The music video features several locations where all the events in the video’s story take place. “I also had amazing co-director; David Bertolami who is a very talented videographer and editor. We shot the video over 3 days over 6 locations: Venice Beach, Abbott Kinney – Venice, Lotus Motel in Inglewood, Garçons de café wine bar in Downtown, Skid Row streets, and the desert in Twenty Nine Palms.” she continued.
Jenny desired that the video captures the lyrics of the song as well. “I wanted the music video to reflect the lyrics of the song; to really tell the story about all the fake, flakey people I have met since I’ve lived in LA. I also wanted the music video to portray my living situation; living out a suitcase, no place of my own, drinking to get through my struggles. The desert and the open road was my happy place. Being in such a beautiful deserted location gave me a sense of freedom and power, hence why I wanted that to feature heavily throughout the video to those lyrics; ‘You can’t take that away from me.’” she explained.
As for the creative process and the making of the video, Jenny expressed that she loved all the time spent into doing it. “I enjoyed every minute of filming it,” she said. “I had the most amazing crew, who I have since done my second music video with (to be released soon!) I was just overwhelmed by the amount of support I got from friends on the shoot. I, of course, loved shooting in the desert as this is my happy place.”
In addition to the deep lyrics and the captivating visuals for the music video, the music in the song is equally powerful. Jenny’s deep and bold vocals accentuated the harmonious and rhythmic melody. With such a strong and unusual musical theme, her greatest musical influences must be individuals who own the same unapologetically unique power that she possesses. When asked about it, it was proven to be true.
“I got asked this question on a radio interview the other day. I would say, Freddie Mercury – he exerts energy, confidence, and talent. He really gave every performance 1000%.
An excellent entertainer who will never be replaced. I also love Amy Winehouse – her real lyrics, her unique style- a true artist.” She also named famous names in the jazz scene. “There are also the greats who influenced me with their musical talents like Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, and Ray Charles. I listened to these people heavily when I was doing jazz gigs around London.”
Aside from music, Jenny is also known for a lot of other things, all related to performing arts. She found her passion to perform from a very young age. “I always knew I wanted to perform, ever since I was about 3! I find it a form of release and a way of expressing myself, whilst also getting to understand people (mainly through acting different characters)” she said.
“I studied Drama, Dance, and Music at High School and went onto University where I did Drama and French. I attended Drama School when I was 16 and did a year’s course at Italia Conti. I got my first dancing job on TV through Italia Conti but was never good enough to keep that up full time. Modeling I fell into and really enjoyed it for a few years. I was cast in London and LA Fashion week also got to sing for members of the Dubai Royal Family at Dubai Fashion Week.”
However, she does have her personal favorites among everything that she’s done. “My main passions lie in film and music, however. Film I got into from doing background work believe it or not! They tell you not to do that in Drama school but I definitely made contacts doing that. Singing, I have been very lucky with the people I have met. I feel that the industry is not just about talent but very much about who you know.”
Just like all of us, Jenny has goals she’d like to achieve and dreams for the coming future. “I would, of course, like to be in the UK charts and also get a juicy interesting role in a film. I would love to play the psycho or just something complex and challenging! I often get cast in comedic roles.” she said. Not only personal dreams, she longs to be able to help others through her art.
“I would love to be able to motivate people through my music on a large scale. I tend to write dark lyrics based on my life but there is always a positive message behind it all. I want to let people know that no matter what you go through, everything is temporary and there will always be better things to come.”
Jenny is truly a multitalented individual. She is a polyglot, a person who speaks several languages. A source claimed that she speaks fluent French and German, as well as basic Italian. But, it turns out that Jenny isn’t too fluent in German, but knows enough to have a little conversation, but she can’t talk to you about complex topics in German, like politics!
“My high school was actually a language school so they were incredible at teaching languages,” she said. If you’re currently learning or wishing to learn a foreign language and wondering how to get better, Jenny has a piece of advice for you! “I think there is a very structured way of learning the language in the beginning. Once you learn the super important verbs (to go, to be, to do, to have) and all their forms ( I go, you go, she goes, we go, etc), a few adjectives and nouns, you are on your way! Then listen to music in the languages, watch films with and without subtitles and visit the countries and force yourself to speak it!”
An adventurous person at heart, Jenny has a penchant for travel. Unexpectedly, she wishes to visit Iran one day. “I would love to go to Iran, despite what the TV in America says (you can’t always listen to that!) It is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. I love Persian food and the music and culture fascinate me.”
Not just Iran, Jenny hasn’t visited South America as well and would love to see it one day. “I've also never gone to South America and would love to travel around there and experience the people, food and historical sites. I’d then hop over to the Antarctic while in Argentina! Why not?!”
Acting is one of Jenny’s greatest passions. She looks up to other people in the industry and greatly appreciates their works. When asked about her role model in acting, she answered, “Any strong women on screen.
I think it’s really important to have more female protagonists, as through the short history of film – it’s predominantly been men. I love Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence. I’m always motivated by their work. I also think Joaquin Phoenix is incredible, who doesn’t?!”
“My hobbies have become my work in all honesty,” she said. Wouldn’t it be such a dream to make your hobby into your job? That’s what Jenny is doing. “I used to write music as a hobby, now this has become my work, which I am very happy with,” she said.
Furthermore, Jenny also tries to keep herself in shape and makes it a hobby. “I go to the gym/hike but this is also necessary to keep in shape! I guess my spare time involves spending time with friends and going to the beach. I am looking to get back into kickboxing, however. I started kick-boxing as part of my training for an audition for Kick-[censored] 2 and loved it! I just need to find the time!”
A typical day does not exist in Jenny’s life, as she has a very dynamic, routine-free life. But here’s what she’s been up to recently:
“I try and go to the gym at least every other day. I am in the studio usually a couple of times a week. I then get film auditions which sometimes I have to learn pages of scripts at a drop of a hat.
I have to always be writing music. I am also constantly working on social media, promoting my music, or running to catch a plane for a meeting somewhere. This week, for example, I am going to be finishing the final edits to my second music video with my cinematographer. Then in the last week, I’ve been in Vegas for a radio interview and recorded at Capitol Records with an amazing artist.”
If you take a look at photographs of Jenny, you can’t help but notice how stylish she is. She always looks put together with a consistent aesthetic. “I definitely think to be in London; one of the fashion capitals of the world and having very creative friends, along with modeling has developed my style. I am also very lucky to have some friends who are amazing designers,” she explains.
Jenny is someone that you can look up to. She’s managed to get through difficult times in her life, prevailing over all the troublesome times. One thing that she’d like us to remember is the importance of believing in yourself and your worth as a person. “Always stay true to yourself and believe in you.
This is something people don’t do enough. If you follow this one rule, then you will rise out of the ashes no matter what happens,” she advised. “Always stay true to yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be what you want to be.
There will always be negative people trying to pull you down. It doesn’t matter what they think. Self-belief is the most important thing. Those people will want to know you when you are doing what you love and they aren’t.”
