KAELEY JADE AN ARTIST YOU NEED TO KNOW

A local self-represented singer/actress here in Edmonton. Kaeley Jade released her first EP “Years Ago” May 22nd. The folk-pop star has written music for films like No Apology (2020) and has been performing live online during quarantine through Facebook live. She is going to take the community by storm! This award-winning Metis artist, Kaeley Jade, is a multidisciplinary performer who brings theatre and other disciplines into her work.

The Birth of Kaeley Jade.

I’ve been performing my whole life, growing up, my mom would always play music in the house, and we would dance. We had a karaoke machine (the kind you can plug into the TV) with the handheld microphone things – that actually helped me to learn how to read, in some ways.

I started to perform pretty early at 4 or 5, I was in the church choir, I was the little one doing “Jesus loves me.” So I started this journey pretty early, I wouldn’t say I was professionally singing at the age of nine. Still, I began booking venues and started singing all around Alberta.

Why venture into acting?

I’ve always been that kid who put on a show for my family. I took a musical theatre class when I was 8, and since then, I was interested in both. In high school, it really changed my perspective a lot of what theatre could be. In grade 12, I started directing a lot, and I wrote my first play. When it came time to pick a school I was looking into the options, and I looked into music programs, but when a saw the BFA acting program, I thought, “that’s it, that’s the one.”

How do you play with music and theatre?

I find everything really feeds into each other, especially in my writing. It’s mostly in my writing because I also do visual art, I often draw from my own experiences. There are certain ways where things pull from each other, and I feel musicality is one of my strongest assets as an artist in all areas. Drawing from that and bringing it into all disciplines is something that drives me forward.

What’s your sound?

How did you choose folk and Indie and country to express your music?

It’s funny I never saw myself as a country artist, but since this EP came out it just seems like there have been so many people that are like, “Country!” and I’m like, “What?”. I think finding a genre for myself has been a very strange journey because there’s definitely been a kind of “folk-pop” realm where you can really bounce both ways. At the time, a lot of it comes from I’ve been listening to when I’m writing and stuff. I’ll take inspiration from different artists in different ways, like, for instance, I had kind of like a drum line from an Imagine Dragons song or like some certain imagery from Hozier. I think the bottom line it’s my voice, but now I use my voice, and the genres that I choose to express myself with my music are something a little bit fluid. I don’t think Kaeley Jade has a specific sound, there’s a commonality within everything – I’m definitely open to moving between things a little bit.

What was it like finding your sound?

I’ve got a lot more since doing the acting program. I was kind of really struggling a little bit at the beginning with losing what I thought was “my voice.” I’ve kind of learned that in acting, you can manipulate your voice to do whatever you want for the characters. I was kind of taught at a young age that your “speaking voice” is your “singing voice.” I don’t know how much truth there really is to that or technique-wise, but that’s kind of what I’ve been dealing with – like the way you speak is, how you say, sort of the foundation.

Years Ago EP Debut.

May 22nd 2020

How was it having to debut your first EP live online?

It was cool, and I’m not gonna lie. It was not how I wanted to debut it just with everything going on, but like it was a great alternative. Still, it’s also nice to sit down with people and have people interacting with me while I am performing. You get the energy when playing live, and you get the feedback and the noise. Still, you don’t actually get to see what people think or want to say to you unless they wait around after your performance to say “hey good job” that in itself was pretty cool. It was nice to share that with everybody especially having so many friends that were there that made it really special. And hopefully, in the fall, be able to have around two and probably get to the live show.

What’s the exposure been like?

I feel that everyone goes on their own journey, and like the way that I kinda went about getting my recording is, I thought I was getting to the point where more people wanted to listen to my music and to book me for larger events (you can only do so much when you don’t of your own music put forward). It really got to the point where I was like, I can’t really continue on this trajectory without coming up with my own music to bring to the market. Last summer, I finally recorded my EP “Years Ago,” and I feel like a lot of it is luck too. The Now Radio exposure happened because someone had requested it – and the station really liked it. They reached out to me and added me to their regular rotation. My distribution has mainly been working with my producers – it’s kind of crazy. I never realized how much work it takes in the industry to get people to review it. It is a lot of emails.

What’s your favourite song on your EP?

My favourite song on my EP is “bittersweet.” That was such a transitional period in my life. I was in my first year of university, and I just got out of my first real relationship, that one always struck a chord with my little heart.

Elijah was written for a film correct, how was the writing experience like writing for a movie?

That was also a very personal song, and I had written it before the movie. I ended up being a day player for this one film (working as an actor). Still, the producer of the film ended up watching one of my shows. He was like, “Hey, I really like your music do you have anything that you might wanna put in a movie.” I was like, “oh cool,” and yeah, it ended stemming from something completely different, and now it’s the end credits of this film.

To Be a Signed or Unsigned Artist. 

What was it like looking for industries to help you?

Because I’m an unsigned artist, it gave me a lot of control – which was really nice, especially being a young woman. It’s important, especially as an unsigned artist, to find a team that will listen to your ideas. Make sure that they like your product and the art that you’re bringing forward – this is your art. Labels sometimes might have more control over what you do. I’m lucky that I get to carve my own path.

 Do you intend to continue being self-represented or signing with a label, and what does that process look like?

Yeah, that is something I have been thinking about a lot in the last couple of weeks. There are so many benefits of having a label, especially financially, and with getting your music exposure, that’s like a huge bonus. So I am still thinking about it cause there are definitely pros and cons right now. I am cool with being unsigned, but in the future, to elevate my career, I would like to work with a label.

What’s Next.

It sounds like you really grew up following music and finding your passion, if you could give advice on some struggles that you’ve had doing that and things that you have overcome?

I was very fortunate my family has been nothing but supportive for me throughout this whole journey, believing in what I am doing. I know that some can’t say the same, but there have definitely been people who have doubted what I am capable of. I wouldn’t say that spite is a powerful motivator. Still, I find like sometimes just doing things despite saying and thinking about you. My intelligence is my soft spot when people doubt my intelligence, that is a soft spot for me. The respect for it isn’t there from people who are in the sciences, engineers. However, I say stay true to who you are because that has brought me forward despite what people might say about me or my capability. It is important to stay authentic, and staying yourself is the best advice I could give anyone else.

So where do you see yourself now and where do you see this progressing in five years?

I think of living in both worlds of acting and music in five years, I think the nice thing about have multiple facets in an artistic career is that when one thing does not work out, you can turn to the other thing” I find that been my whole process through my entire life especially with self-expression. For example, I can’t really articulate one thing in this way, let’s try something else, so in my career, I think these two art forms will really serve me and fuel me as a person who is working with both of them. I still have some theatre gigs coming in. A film I am doing so I would love to carry all of my career forward. Still, obviously, if something needs more attention like right now, music has been really on my mind, just releasing an EP and, I hoping to do more recording in the fall. It’s kind of interesting how timelines work when some things are going forward more. I am going to follow that until it no longer serves me. I am going to reroute and go for a different path and keep moving forward in all areas.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KAELEY JADE

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