Jen Janet is an exciting performer who is currently expanding her artistic resume.
You may be familiar with her name, as she is the lead vocalist of alternative rock band Blind Revision. However, 2017 brings a new side to Jen as she embarks on a solo project, experimenting with a refreshing dance-pop vibe.
On March 6, Jen will release her debut solo EP Dangerous, which sees her delving into the world of catchy pop music. A woman of many talents, we’re certain that you will instantly fall in love with her tracks such as ‘Can’t Breathe’ and ‘Moonlit Dancefloor’.
We recently caught up with Jen to chat about her new solo venture, her forthcoming EP, life on the road and Blind Revision. Check it out below!
Congratulations on your solo EP, Dangerous! How would you describe your solo sound?
It’s got a lot of dance club vibes to it. I want people to have fun and get moving!
We’re loving your EP, however, your solo sound is very different to your band Blind Revision’s sound. What made you want to go down the pop route?
I am still part of Blind Revision and we will actually be releasing new material soon. My band is more alternative rock/metal, which is definitely different from pop music. Ultimately I wanted to illustrate my musical range. In the music business, it’s very helpful if you are able to write in different genres, and it shows you can adapt and be versatile. It allows you to work with many different people. This pop EP is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I just felt that it wasn’t the right time until now. With this EP, I just want people to have fun.
Who inspires your new pop sound?
I’m inspired by anything I hear or see, and I listen to a lot of different genres of music. I think that a lot of musicians limit themselves by listening to just one type of music- but that ultimately hurts you in the end. I think doing that hinders your creativity. For that reason, I’m inspired by a wide variety of artists, like Coheed and Cambria, Lady Gaga, Deadmau5, The Pretty Reckless, Paramore, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Tesseract, Lana Del Rey etc. I could go on and on.
Which is your favourite song off the EP and why? We love ‘Can’t Breathe’!
It’s always changing. Right now I’m listening to ‘Dangerous’ a lot, because I think it’s a very fun song. I’m really satisfied with how it came out. ‘Can’t Breathe’ is a fun one too. I think ‘In Bloom’ is the one that stands out because it’s really a piano ballad and doesn’t have the same dance vibe as the other songs. Although I wanted people to listen for the purpose of having fun, I also wanted to showcase a serious song that is also relatable. I think a lot of people can relate to having toxic friendships or relationships at some point. That song was definitely my favorite for a while.
Do you have a specific songwriting process, or does it vary with every song?
It varies with each song. I carry a small notebook with me sometimes, and other times I’ll write ideas or lyrics in my phone. You never know when you’ll have to write something down!
Sometimes I start with lyrics and I write the music after, but other times I’ll hear music in my head and come up with lyrics later. For pop songs, I’ll usually put it all together in a computer program so I have an idea of what beats or instrumental sounds I want.
What is your favourite lyric from your EP, or from any song that you’ve written?
I think the lyrics from ‘In Bloom’ are very personal, so they definitely come to mind. Toward the end there’s a lyric, “You made me selfish, you made me tender. You made me honest, you made me better.” That may sound confusing, but relationships are definitely complicated. I think many people have gone through situations where they love and hate someone at the same time. It’s similar to that feeling.
How does it feel to have sole control of your musical direction during this solo project?
It feels awesome! It’s freeing, but it also makes me a little nervous because if I make any mistakes, I know it’s completely my fault. I’m usually not indecisive either, but it was tough to figure out which songs I wanted to release at the same time. I’ve written a lot of different types of music, so this was unlike anything I’ve ever released before. I also have a lot of music that has been written, but never recorded. So it was more about organizing all of that, and figuring out which direction I wanted to go in.
What would you like to achieve with your solo career?
I’d love to be more involved in music licensing for TV and film. Creating original music for TV shows or movies is also something I’m interested in. I don’t usually like doing the same thing over and over, so working on different projects sounds great to me. I’d also like to focus on reaching more of an international audience via the internet. I think that brings many opportunities, and it’s wonderful that people can connect so easily from different parts of the world.
Touring is a key part of being an artist – what’s your favourite thing about performing live?
The crowds! Having an open-minded group of people genuinely listen to you is an amazing feeling. Not every audience is the same- every artist has played bad shows before where they have been ignored. Luckily, I’ve been playing some wonderful shows the past year. It’s just a crazy feeling to know that someone paid money to see you get up on a stage and sing words at them. For some reason, that’s still a mind blowing concept to me and I’ve been performing since I was four. It’s especially fun when the audience sings your lyrics back at you- that’s definitely my favorite. It’s like, wow, you actually care what I have to say. If you want to impress a band or an artist, learn their lyrics and get up front where they can see you singing along. It makes us SO happy.
As well as your solo EP, you’re still busy with Blind Revision. What can we expect from the band this year?
We are releasing our second EP this spring, and it’s a concept EP about psychological issues. There are five songs and each represents a different “demon” that many people have to deal with at some point in their lives. Some examples include anxiety and addiction. Each song also represents one of the five lobes of the brain. There’s a lot of symbolism in the lyrics, and I’m very excited for it to be released. After the spring, we are also going to work on a music video for it, so that will be very exciting. Right now we are in the middle of planning an east coast spring tour. If you live on the east coast of the U.S. feel free to check out Blind Revision’s social media pages to stay up to date with the cities we’ll be going to. It’s looking like it will be a productive year!
Thank you to Jen for her time!
Dangerous will be released on March 6 – look out for our review coming soon!
Love Jen Janet as much as we do? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix
FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Rebecca Wicks
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