"When you are fortunate enough to grow up somewhere that beautiful, when you move around the world, it makes you really appreciate what you had growing up..."
Nerina Pallot is a Brit Award and Ivor Novello-nominated singer songwriter who comes from Jersey.
"When I was growing up, I would sit in my room in the winter with my guitar and look out to the sea and write songs. I often close my eyes writing songs and remember that time; it was very inspiring when I was younger."
Nerina has released four albums, including the gold selling Fires in 2006. She has also written songs for other artists, among them Kylie Minogue's single 'Better Than Today.'
"Jersey’s such a small community and everyone has been incredibly supportive to me going off and doing things on an international stage. I always like to talk about where I’ve come from – I think it’s important that people know it’s not just about Bergerac and potatoes!"
Like so many of the people who form Jersey's diverse artistic community, Nerina finds constant inspiration and creative space on the Island.
"There’s a beautiful melancholy about the Island and I quite like that. I like the feeling of having the Island to myself and I like going for walks on the beach when there’s literally four people and their dog.”
"For me, songwriting and making music is about expressing human emotion and connecting. The thing I like in other people’s music is emotion, but set in a space – music that’s evocative of a place and time."
For a musician like Nerina, the sounds of the Island are as captivating as the landscape.
"Nature is the most amazing orchestra. I love the summer when the birdsong starts up. When I'm home in Jersey and I’m listening to the seagulls and birds and the sound of the sea, or listening to the crickets in the grass, it's like a tapestry of sound. You can just lie there and take it all in."
As an Islander, Nerina is proud of the Jersey traditions and sense of community that fostered her musical success.
"The Jersey Eisteddfod is a very old tradition, a great celebration of the arts. It’s a very big deal for a lot of children on the Island and it was the focus of my year, every November.”
"It was formative for me; it was a very community based thing. I did lots of musical things in school and in our local church and all those things conspired to make me become a musician."
Although she now lives in London with her own family and performs all over the world, Jersey is still very much a creative centre for Nerina Pallot.
"When I come back to the Island I feel like I sort of breathe out, and everything will be OK again. I’m sure everybody says that about home, but I think it is something that’s special about Jersey."
www.nerinapallot.com