"I don't play background music, but music that you listen to." Jennifer Terran

I took a couple years of piano starting when I was 8 or 9. At that time I knew I wanted to be able to play and sing. When I was a kid, they called me Jenny the singer, but now I'm just Jennifer. I was inspired by my parents. My mom was a dancer and my dad, a professional trumpet player and a prominent studio musician. He played with everyone from Sinatra to the Beatles plus he worked on a lot of classic television series. One of his first being the "I Love Lucy" show.

Yes, I teach piano too, but I have a very non-traditional approach. I don't emphasize theory too much. I encourage people to make their own discoveries and go to the source of their creativity. The theory is an afterthought, although it can be an important afterthought.

Well, music is. But I do a lot of other things as well. I teach hip-hop dance to all kinds of people in dance studios and health clubs. When I was a kid, I used to get kicked out of the dance classes my mom would take me to. In the case of dance, I seem to make a much better teacher than student. Dance is a lot like music, except with movement. It's one of my creative outlets.

I've had a few breaks from music over the years. Like when I tried to be normal for awhile and went to UCSB. I got my degree in Sociology since that department offered by far the most interesting classes, at least to me. But I knew I was never going to use my degree. I knew I'd go back to music.

Yes, but not in the way you might think it. I'm rich because I keep my music integriteous. It's not about money or some greedy music-executives' agenda. It's about being pure in my expression. So although the independent path is more challenging, I can be happy that I'm making music the way I want to and not have to answer to anyone or deal with anyone's restrictions. But I am open to getting signed if I could find some good people in the industry. And contrary to what seems to be a largely corrupt industry, I'm sure there are some righteous people since good music is being made.

Maybe I'd call it avant-garde pop. It's emotional and personal and sometimes it goes to extremes, like me.

I don't play back-ground music, but music that you listen to. So I like playing in venues that feature music. One time when I was playing at Alex's Cantina in Santa Barbara and I ended up doing an a capella show outside in the alley. I just said, 'Whoever's with me, follow me', and they did. I also do home concerts, which are performances I put on in my home and sometimes friends' homes. They are focused and comfortable. It's the real thing.

Right now, I'm working on another album which will be called The Musician. It's going to be a concept album that will deal with the phenomenon of art, music and the record industry- and the ways in which artists have to deal with an industry focused on money and not art. After that, well, I'm going to be making a lot of records in my life one way or another.