Check Out Zoey & The Bell Jars’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoey & The Bell Jars.

Hi Zoey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Music has always been apart of my life since the age of four, but professionally speaking I was scouted by a Nashville, TN music producer right before I turned 16. At that time I was posting covers on Instagram and about to embark on an eight year journey under a different artist name: Zoey G. Somewhere within those eight years, between graduating high school and college in my home state of Colorado, I had experienced enough record-material experiences that my prior name would no longer fit. While the move to Los Angeles, CA was on the books since high school, it did not happen until the summer of 2024 due to COVID-19. Those years, and the drive through the desert from Colorado to Los Angeles, birthed Zoey & The Bell Jars.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
At times yes, other times no. Personally as a producer and songwriter, my greatest ally is the ability to emotionally tap into lived experiences; for many years in my professional career, I was completely unable to due to the experiences that inspired Zoey & The Bell Jars. The debut project I’m currently working on, “Keep it Simple Stupid,” explores one of those experiences that happened during the initial success and subsequent loss of emotion while under my prior artist name. I was outed at the age of seventeen and view the journey of my sexuality like a bell jar, or a snow globe, that explores the scope of how my ability to love as a Lesbian has been historically difficult. To reach success at the ages of 16-18, while losing my greatest ally/friend in music, emotion, was devastating. I had entered a drought, and felt like a desert exile. Zoey & The Bell Jars is a reckoning of reclamation; the journey out of the desert.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a singer, songwriter and music producer known for telling the stories that unfortunately many of us experience, but never talk about outside of the confines of bedroom walls in a rock/pop format. My ability to transform experiences that often result in silence, oppression and harm, such as the darker realities of Queer love and hatred towards minoritized communities, is what I am most proud of and sets me apart from others. If I can be the figure that my younger self needed when desperately looking for someone who had a semblance of representation in my Queer experience, that is success to me as I know I wasn’t the only child in America searching for that too. While I came from a small, rural town in Northern Colorado, the bravery it took to come out the other end in Los Angeles with the continued intention to help others through music is what I would imagine it would feel like to win a Grammy.

What matters most to you?
Honesty and community through Music. In our current world it’s extremely difficult to know what’s true or not, and I believe honesty is the core foundation of any community. My goal in music has always been to foster community and that’s extremely difficult when being dishonest to anyone who may come across your work. I told myself years ago while under Zoey G that I would not return to music until I was able to tell the truth about being outed as it is a very delicate story that deserves honest representation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://zoeyandthebelljars.substack.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoeyandthebelljars/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxVc1NP3tto
• Other: https://www.liinks.co/zoey.and.the.bell.jars

Image Credits
Arturo Qurioga and Dylan Kim