From turning to his guitar in his darkest hours to appearing on American Idol in 2019 and now releasing his first full-length album, Jackson Gillies has always used music as his solace and as a vessel for advocacy. After being diagnosed with a painful skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), Gillies moved to Santa Barbara to seek medical treatment and described it as “a weirdly magical place” because “things just fell into [his] lap” when he moved here.
To celebrate his debut album, High & Low, Gillies is inviting Santa Barbara to join him at the Alcazar Theatre on Friday, April 26, for a night filled with music, starting with an acoustic set, a full run-through of the new record, and an appearance from his Grateful Dead cover band, Jax Plays Dead.
From a young age, Gillies has loved music, being in the spotlight and getting to spread awareness about Type 1 diabetes and HS, both of which he has. He spent the bulk of his childhood on Long Island, appearing in the first of many PSAs for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as a child. That was when he discovered a love of performance: A family friend asked 5-year-old Gillies if he would “want to be in front of the camera and answer some questions,” and he eagerly replied, “Yes. Yes, I would.”
The family moved to Florida, allowing him to exercise outdoors more and better manage his blood sugar, and then when he was diagnosed with HS, they moved to Santa Barbara for the best medical care.
“HS certainly gave me a lot of time to practice in bed and then listen to music,” Gillies said. Despite being plagued with painful skin abscesses, playing music and teaching himself how to produce via YouTube videos provided him with a sense of peace. The hours of free time on top of his work ethic and perfectionism became the building blocks of High & Low.
Following his continued work with the JDRF, Gillies felt it was even more important to use his voice to amplify HS. “When I got diagnosed with HS, it was like, ‘Where’s the … anything?” Gillies asked. “There’s zero [information]. It’s not talked about.”
When Gillies won Santa Barbara’s Teen Star U.S.A. singing contest in 2016, it gave him the platform to fill that missing role of an HS advocate. In 2017, Gillies sparked even more inspiration with his TEDxSantaBarbara Talk “Bringing HS Out of the Dark,” which now has more than a quarter of a million views. “I’ve had doctors tell me it’s not a sexy disease. There’s no pill in it. There’s no money in it. It’s ridiculously important to be talked about,” Gillies said.
In 2019, Gillies appeared on American Idol, where he stole the hearts of Katy Perry and Lionel Richie with his pure voice and inspiring story. Although American Idol was a great opportunity to spread awareness for HS, Gillies said it wasn’t what he expected and left him feeling lost as an artist. Going into the audition with the mindset of wanting to become famous, Gillies “left that show going like, ‘What the fuck was that? Why did I do that? What do I do now?’”
Looking on the bright side, Gillies took that experience as the wake-up call he needed to “learn that purpose does not come from people seeing you.” Not having written many songs of his own, Gillies decided to go to music school in London later in 2019 to hone his songwriting and producing skills in order to adequately use his art to reflect his purpose.
When he arrived at the Institute of Contemporary Musical Performance, his first apartment lease fell through, serendipitously landing him right on Abbey Road, where the rudiments of High & Low came together. “I didn’t go out at all. I kind of just sat in the house and learned how to mix audio like a little nerd,” Gillies said about his time in London.
When music school came to a close earlier than expected, Gillies returned to Santa Barbara as the United Kingdom was shutting down for COVID. Alone in his apartment, Gillies worked tirelessly to write, record, and produce the album. He described the process of an endless cycle of working out, smoking pot, and making music. “I would forget to eat or sleep or clean because I was just dumping myself into it,” Gillies said.
During this process, Gillies’s sense of perfectionism became his best friend and his worst enemy. “For years, I’ve been trying to make some collection of work, and the traditional way of doing that — tracking the instruments individually — caused me to unravel myself because I would just go, ‘I can record that better’ and ‘Maybe I can get a better take,’” Gillies said. In the end, completing this album filled Gillies with an overwhelming sense of pride, which he compared to what he imagines having a child is like.
Gillies’s main source of inspiration for the record is rooted in the pain he’s experienced. “I think the biggest thing that I take away from my music is that you have to have suffering in order to have peace and salvation,” he said. Although his health conditions have been a constant challenge, Gillies is grateful for everything he’s gone through because it makes him not only a better artist, but also a better person.
Influenced by the sounds of Bon Iver and Coldplay, High & Low features chill, atmospheric rhythms with smooth vocals and soulful lyrics. A few of his other musical inspirations include Bob Marley and the Allman Brothers, who inspired him to pick up a guitar in the first place. Growing up with Dead Head parents, Gillies has spent his whole life surrounded by Grateful Dead music and even has his own cover band, Jax Plays Dead. “If I could just play Grateful Dead music for the rest of my life, I’d be happy,” he said.
When the album drops on Friday, “I would highly encourage listening to it in a cozy room with good headphones,” he said “Smoke a little pot, get a little blanket, and listen for the next 30 minutes,” Gillies said. It’s the perfect soundtrack to a relaxing day indoors or a peaceful nature walk.
Join Gillies at the Alcazar Theatre (4916 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria) on Friday, April 26, at 8 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit thealcazar.org.