Feature: Jessica Braithwaite – Feel This Way
Nine network presenter Jessica Braithwaite has taken on influencers and mummy bloggers
with the release of her first music video. The song Feel This Way debuted in the top 200 iTunes Australia charts. But instead of making a serious music video, Jessica decided to fake it.
“We faked the whole thing, I want to remind people how easy it is to fake things online. So
much of what we see on social media simply isn’t real”, said Jessica.
No one is spared in the funny, irreverent clip – from the travel blogger, the wellness guru,
the fitness fanatic and of course – the mummy bloggers.
“They’re the profiles we’re all used to seeing in our feeds. But in this clip, I question how
much of what we see is actually real”.
To drive the point home, Jessica faked an entire concert for thousands of people when
shooting the video.
“There were actually only 6 people in the crowd the whole time, and one of them was my
mum, who kept complaining about her sore knees. Coachella it was not.”
Jessica tackles themes of social media, anxiety and the pressure we can feel to live up to
the unrealistic images portrayed on social media. “I just want to have a laugh with everyone
about how ridiculous things have become, with so many people trying to pretend they have
perfect lives on Instagram.”
“When I first became a mum, I cried every day for three weeks and many days didn’t even
make it out of my pyjamas. Yet on Instagram I’d see all these ‘perfect’ mums doing baking
afternoons in pristine kitchens, or peacefully breastfeeding their newborns in fields of
flowers”.
“It took me a while to realise the whole idea of a perfect mum is just an illusion. It feels
great to pull back the veil on motherhood in the clip”.
“At the end of the day – the message in the chorus of the song is clear: ‘We don’t have to
feel this way’. I really mean that when I sing it. Who are we all trying to impress anyway?”
Jessica Braithwaite is a familiar face to audiences on the Nine Network, having reported for
prime time news, The Today Show and Afternoon Chatroom. But some may not know she’s also an avid muso, singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Her debut solo single Feel This Way was recorded in Hollywood with producer Stuart
Brawley (Michael Jackson, Cher, The Rolling Stones).
Jessica has since signed to Australian music house Origin Music – home of Gotye, Megan
Washington and Lior.
Jessica will be co-hosting this year’s AIR awards alongside Dylan Lewis. Tune in this Thursday at 8pm Adelaide time.
