Today we’d like to introduce you to Pls Pls Me (Jessie + Jimi). Them and their team share their story with us below:
Jessie Torrisi and Jimi Fish of Pls Pls Me met in the spring of 2015 through a mutual friend, fellow Texan and pop songstress Sydney Wright. Jessie and Sydney were living together at the time and Sydney was getting ready for a big show which she’d recruited Jimi to sing for. So Jessie would wake up, make her coffee and check email with Jimi’s voice wafting in from the next room.
Jimi started coming to see Jessie’s band — helping sell merch and soon singing background too. Once Jimi joined, dancing while discovering new bands and drinking whiskey at shows became fun again.
On New Years Day 2016, after a mutually lonely night, they wrote their first song together. During the next three months, over extravagant home-cooked meals and after work hangs at the house Jessie had just bought off of Caesar Chavez, they wrote seven songs. They wrote about sex, love, anguish, and longing — all from a queer perspective.
They knew the songs were different and better than anything they’d written alone. They found kindred spirits in one another, but soon their partnership was tested. Later that year, Jessie moved to NYC for a career opportunity at a social justice organization. With full intentions of finishing what they started, Jessie invited Jimi to her Brooklyn studio to record the songs they’d written back in Austin. Jimi would visit that studio five times over the course of a year. He jumped on to a tour Jessie did going through Texas — and after a few sold-out shows decided to just stay in the van and take the plunge, moving to New York.
They quickly decided to become a duo and see how far they could push their sound just the two of them. Several years later, they started QUEER MF in Austin, TX to showcase and create space for queer artists. They’re taking this community highlight on the road this summer. Following their 2021 single “Water Torture”, an anthem about surviving Trump, Pls Pls Me is slated to release their Sophomore EP.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We kept writing through quarantine even though our process would change drastically. No longer in the same room, we took to sharing playlists and writing over phone and zoom. Staying inspired during a world pandemic wasn’t easy, but with enough persistence and planning, our body of work keeps growing! Now, with the mass closure of venues around the country, we must be even more strategic in how we engage with music fans. How do we stay active on local and national platforms? Keeping close tabs on our mental health while staying receptive to all these outside factors can be really difficult, but with patience and vigilance we’ve found there is still more dream to chase.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Queer indie electro pop — www.plsplsme.nyc
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Make something you can fall in love with. The world is full of talent and you are part of it. Believe in yourself. Challenge yourself to create something that would wow you if you were in the audience.
Surround yourself with people that inspire you to be your best. Create a space you feel content in when no one else is around.
Contact Info:
- Email: wildcurlsmusic@gmail.com
- Website: www.plsplsme.nyc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plspls.me/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlsPlsMeNYC/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlsPlsMeNYC
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/YouPleasePleaseMe
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/plsplsme
Image Credits
All photos credited to Jason Leavy
