Froglady enters the room wearing a dark blue sweater with a rainbow icon on the front. Today her makeup is “neutral” meaning she drew on dozens of faux freckles, inverted black triangles below her eyes, and dusted bright, pink blush on her nose and cheeks. This took her about 10 minutes. When she does a more intricate look, it can take her anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. Her colorful makeup is the focus of her Instagram account: neon flowers, multi-colored eyebrows, or tiny clowns holding balloons on her cheeks. Her account, @froglady444, has over 75,000 followers.
Froglady has been dressing in unconventional clothing and makeup since she was 14 years old. As she sits down, earrings shaped like disembodied clown heads dangle from her ears, their bright red lips stretched in a smile. “Every chance I get, I want to look like I do on my account because that’s just normal to me, ” she says, running her hands through her rainbow-colored hair.
So who exactly is Froglady? Her name is Jess Girillo (pronounced “Jah-rill-oh”) and she’s a 19 year old, first-year student attending Parsons for fine arts, but primarily, she’s a singer-songwriter. She’s hoping to transfer to The School of Jazz so she can focus more on vocal performance. She chose the name Froglady due to her love of frogs, which dates back to her early childhood. She grew up on Long Island where she took vocal lessons outside of school. She’s a Capricorn, her celebrity crush is Matthew Gray Gubler, and her favorite singers are Bladee, Mary J. Blige, and Trippie Redd.
In November 2018, she released “Love Games,” her debut EP, which is available on Spotify and Apple Music. Her sound is dark pop—featuring eerie bass, electric tones, and her deep voice, which drips with pain and intensity. Her music serves as an outlet for her emotions and “Love Games” is her artistic expression of the heartbreak she faced in a relationship earlier this school year.
She’s been writing music “for a fucking long time,” ever since she was around 15, she said. Sometimes she’ll force herself to sit down and write a song, but she believes her best music comes naturally in the moment. Girillo recorded “Love Games” at Loeb Hall in the dorm room of her producer, Roy Raviv. Whenever Girillo felt inspired, she and Raviv would pause what they were doing to go make a song. “We always say that we’re like musical soulmates, we just get each other,” she said. He’d play her a beat and she would freestyle, coming up with lyrics influenced by emotion. Currently, she’s trying to expand the themes of her music from heartbreak to experimenting with talking about her mental health and non-romantic experiences.
Having a large Instagram following has contributed to her musical success. Many of her followers who are inspired by her eccentric looks also support her by listening to her music. “This is me expressing myself, and coping with my anxiety, and just being who I am and not giving a fuck, so for other people to be like, ‘You make me happy when I see your pictures,’ it feels good,” said Girillo.
Doing her makeup and documenting it on Instagram serves as an outlet for her anxiety, she said. The process grounds her. Girillo also uses other creative outlets to cope with stress, such as painting and drawing, and she journals every day in order to release emotion and reflect on her life. Some people may find her many unsmiling Instagram photos intimidating, but in person, her “goofy smile” is an insecurity that she’s working to overcome, which is why she doesn’t smile as much on Instagram. “It’s really easy to be your worst critic, but you have to learn to stop looking at yourself and just do what feels right to you,” she said.
One of her favorite places to hang out around campus is the UC cafeteria. She enjoys interacting with the people she isn’t able to see on a regular basis. “She does have a really big heart. She’s really caring,” said Rob Mousavi, who is a first-year student at Lang, majoring in Literary Studies, and one of her closest friends. “One thing I admire about her artistic side is her aesthetic. I think it’s a very interesting exploration of the cute, kind of vintage, 90s, color schemes of children’s toys,” said Mousavi.
Girillo hopes to be doing live performances soon and is currently working on new music.
“I don’t care who you are, if you’re passionate about something, you just need to try, because that’s what sets you apart from other people: the passion that you have for something,” said Girillo.