When The Local Answer spoke to Jazzy Heath back in September 2018, she was busy planning a six-month trip to the land of the rising sun.

Having graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a BA (Hons) in Popular Music – she also performed at the ceremony at Cheltenham Racecourse in November – the singer songwriter made the near 6,000-mile trip to Tokyo in January earlier this year.

“When university was over, I knew I wanted to move to a city,” said the 22-year-old.

“I had been a country girl my whole life and I wanted to try something new. I was originally planning on going to London or Manchester, although, I felt like my heart was telling me to go abroad. Admittedly, I didn’t think I would move this far away!”

Born in Bristol but raised on the Isle of Wight, Jazzy came to Cheltenham in 2016 to study.

Her course at university led to opportunities to perform around the country and abroad, while also learning the technical side of things at festivals like Wychwood and 2000Trees.

She continued: “While I was at university, I went to Amsterdam, Prague and Berlin and it gave me a real taste for adventure.

“I’m so grateful to the University of Gloucestershire for broadening my perspective and giving me the opportunities to not only see some amazing new places but to perform there too. I was lucky enough to play in Prague and headline a show in Berlin.”

By the end of her third year the travel bug had well and truly bitten Jazzy, and the decision to take the plunge and move to the other side of the world was made.

Of course music played a big part in the move, and whilst she planned the trip Jazzy lived in a converted old-fashioned ambulance – nicknamed “the Bee Mobile” – in a field in the middle of nowhere, where she produced her upcoming album.

She said: “Living in this isolation gave me the time and inspiration to renovate the Bee Mobile into a place that was not only my home but also my music studio. This was the place that I wrote and produced my entire album.

“I didn’t know it at the time but I was going to wake up every day for the next 6 months, do yoga in the fields, drink too much coffee and spend almost every waking hour after sitting at my desk creating.”

By the time the New Year of 2019 came around, the album was beginning to take shape and the time had come to pack her bags and head off.

“I’m a huge believer in following my gut instinct and that’s what I did for the entire process of moving to Japan,” said Jazzy.

“I simply dived in headfirst, finalising my album, finding a job and then finding a place to live. It took up all of my time and energy so that I didn’t actually have time to think about what I was doing.

“It took me until about a month after I had arrived to actually process that I had just moved to the biggest city in the world with just two suitcases, myself and an unreleased album.”

And six months later Jazzy is living just outside of Tokyo – “The location is great because not only am I just a train journey away from the centre of Tokyo, I’m also a bus journey away from Disney Land,” she added – enjoying all the country has to offer.

It’s not all been plain sailing however, with the change in culture being especially apparent in the music scene.

“It’s all pretty different here compared to England, I feel that it is definitely a lot harder for musicians to break through the mould here,” she explained.

“I guess the main problem I have with it is that most music venues want upfront payments for the venues, music gear and everything around that, then musicians are expected to make a profit with ticket sales, which makes it harder for people to even put on a gig.

“On the other hand, there are loads and loads of open mics all around Tokyo as well as buskers. It’s so great when you get off the train to be met with gorgeous acoustic music being played as you walk through Tokyo.”

Jazzy has recently released the first single from her upcoming album, a ballad-like pop song called ‘Lovesick’.

She explained: “Lovesick is quite a bit darker and more experimental than my previous work. I’ve sampled sounds and kept it as minimal as possible.

“I am usually all about creating huge, thick layers or harmonies and riffs but this track has one melody line, no harmonies, a piano, bass and a few more simple layers.”

The vocals for the song were recorded at Tower Studios in Pershore, with the help of producer Dave Draper.

Eon Graves, Jazzy’s father who is also a singer and songwriter, then helped her finalise the finished song in the Bee Mobile.

The process of writing, recording and producing new music is something Jazzy enjoys, as she explains.

“I’m sure so many musicians will have a similar experience, but for me, writing music is different every time I do it.

“Recently, I’ve started writing songs by sitting at my laptop and messing around with sounds although this was written by sitting at my piano. The bass line came first and then the song seemed to write itself after that.”

“Although saying that, a lot of my songs don’t come from sitting with an instrument. I get inspired by everything and anything; how I feel when I listen to other songs, being sat on trains and busses, listening to the rhythm of sounds of anything from birds, machinery and anything else.

“The only and main recurring theme that I have with music is that my lyrics always come from experience – either I have experienced what I am singing about or I feel strongly or empathetically towards the lyrical theme I am writing about.”

As for her album, it’s all finished, but Jazzy admits she is in no rush to release it.

“I want to do my best and for it to be just right so I am taking my time,” she added. “Sorry to all of my friends and family, who I know are really wanting to hear it!”

For now Jazzy is enjoying her time away – she says she is ready to take some time off to sightsee and go completely “off the grid”, deleting all her social media apps.

But she’s sure a return to her home in the UK won’t be too far away.

She said: “I would really love to come back at the next opportunity I can get. I miss my friends and family and chips and gravy.

“I know if I came back to England right now I would miss so much about Japan; the heat, the culture and of course Disney Land.

“I will definitely be coming back to England to live someday – I just don’t know when. Despite the bad weather, it is my home and I love it, potholes and all.”

For more information on Jazzy and to listen to ‘Lovesick’, visit www.jazzyheathmusic.com