Jillian Banks (known simply as BANKS) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Los Angeles, California, United States. She releases music under Harvest Records, Good Year Recordings, and Iamsound Records. She toured internationally with The Weeknd and was also nominated for the Sound of 2014 award by the BBC and an MTV Brand New Nominee in 2014. On May 3rd, 2014, Banks was labelled as an ‘Artist To Watch’ by Fox Weekly.
Banks started writing songs at the age of 15. She taught herself piano when she received a keyboard from a friend to help her through her parents’ divorce. She says she “felt very alone and helpless. I didn’t know how to express what I was feeling or who to talk to.” Drawing from inspirations like Fiona Apple and Lauryn Hill, Banks focuses on the duality of soulful earthly emotion and ethereal atmospheric sounds. After reaching a large number of listeners on her Soundcloud page, she began working with the label Good Years. Her first official single, called Before I Ever Met You was released in February 2013.
