Sarah Jane has been a popular face on Youtube for a few years now and her brilliant acoustic takes on classics from bands such as System Of A Down, Nirvana, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilly Peppers and more have won her thousands of followers and a confidence in front of a camera that is definitely proving handy in these tough times of socially distanced gigs and a constant quest for social media engagement. She had it all already.
Her new album Tainted Timeline is a labour of love, with brilliant tunes all recorded by Sarah in her home studio, naming her main influences as Nirvana, Radiohead, Deftones, Hole, Tired Lion and Bully, Sarah has combined the love for those bands with her own style and what came out of it is an album that clearly highlights her talent as a songwriter. Tainted Timeline is out this Friday 23rd October.
The songs touch poignant topics, take her single ‘Control’ for example, a song that touches on how easily religion and people in power can control everything and how it can restrict out freedom. The video for the song, filmed by Ben Shores and edited by Sarah, captures images of nature which represents freedom whilst Sarah sings of being controlled.
Hi Sarah, thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions, we found your latest track ‘Control’ on Musosoup but we actually bumped on your Youtube channel a while back and we listened to all your brilliant takes on some rock’s classics! It was great to have a preview of your new album and we are very pleased to be chatting with you about your music.
To start with, please tell us a bit more about your musical journey, when and how you started getting involved with music?
I grew up around music as my dad is a musician so it’s always been around it. I started playing piano at a young age and I started getting singing lesson a bit later on but I’ve always been really interested in music. My dad is in an 80’s cover band & he used to test songs by playing them around me and if I danced to it, he would add it to his set list.
What was the first music you bought/downloaded?
I don’t really remember but it was probably some pop album like Taylor Swift hahaha But the first ‘alternative’ album that I bought on CD was Hole’s ‘Live Through This’ along with Nirvana’s ‘Bleach’ album.
What was your favourite artist/band as a child?
I used to be OBSESSED with Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus as a kid & I branched over to Taylor Swift and I somehow started listening to Nirvana when I was around 14. I know it’s pretty random and unexpected hahaha
First song you learnt how to play?
It was probably a Taylor Swift song (so embarrassing).
What are your main influences now? Is there a particular artist or an album that inspired you more than others?
My main influences keep changing as I’ve started exploring different genres over the past few years whilst writing the album. I still love grunge but I’ve been getting really into bands such as Radiohead, Fugazi & Porcupine Tree. I think Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’ has been a huge influence on me as well as Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’. ‘Tainted Timeline’ really takes from my old influences (Nirvana, Hole, Deftones etc.) as well as my new influences to create a fusion of the two I guess, well, at least I hope it does!
Tell us a bit more about your album ‘Tainted Timeline’. How did it come about and tell us if the creative process has been different from your debut album? FYI our favourite songs on the album are Suffocate, Bully and Rest.
Suffocate is my favourite as well!! I actually started the writing process for this album before my debut album ‘Absence’ was released. I started planning it in September 2019 but over time I ended up adding new songs to the track list. The majority of the songs were written during a really tough time for me so I feel like the songs are way more personal than usual. The creative process with writing the album was really different as I wrote & recorded everything myself. I started off with just acoustic guitar & vocals and I would build it up from that. Usually recording is done the opposite way but it’s hard when you play every instrument yourself haha
Is there a song on the album that you feel more attached to and (if so) why?
I feel like ‘Cross Contaminate’ is the song I feel most attached to probably because when I wrote it, it just came out so naturally. It was a reflection of my life as I had just come back from some time away & it was hard to get back into the rhythm of real life. The first time I listened to the whole finished album back to front, it was the song that made me tear up so I guess that’s also a sign that it’s a song I’m really attached to.
Did you get much involved with live streamings during these past few months? For an artist like you, with your great experience in engaging fans online, have the past few months of mostly online streamings felt much different from your usual way of communicating with your audience? Did you feel already comfortable and in a way a bit advantaged on this matter?
Yeah I have just started getting into doing livestreams! I used to get so nervous & I did a live performance for a festival a couple months back and it was definitely a hard thing for me to do. I get super anxious when things a live and especially when I have to talk to a camera haha I think I’m not 100% comfortable talking to a camera but recently I started doing casual instagram & youtube live streams and I find them really fun now. It think it’s a really good way of engaging with your audience & getting to know them especially in these times where you can’t really tour! I’m planning on starting a twitch channel soon to get more involved with it!
This is something we ask pretty much everyone we know, not just during the interviews…
we are massive lovers of movie soundtracks, what is your favourite movie soundtrack? And what existing movie would you like to recreate (or even just curate) a new soundtrack for?
I’m not a huge movie person, I’m more of a TV show watcher so I can’t really think of any movie soundtracks. But… I have been watching ‘Better call Saul’ recently & the theme song for that is pretty catchy haha!
Free question – please ask yourself a question that you have always wanted to get asked. Could be a question about your future plans, or a statement or just a story you’d like to share with us and our readers.
What are your future plans?
I’m already working on another solo music release, I just have so much music I want to put out!
Before we let you go, can you recommend a couple of great new bands/artists you are into at the moment? Any new artists we should be aware of here in the UK?
I’m really into the band Hands off Gretel & I think they’re from the UK, but I really look up to Lauren Tate. I think she’s such an amazing artist. I’m also a really big fan of an Aussie band called ‘Tired Lion’, I’ve been following them for a while now & I love everything they put out.
Thanks so much for your time and looking forward to hearing more music from you.
Follow Sarah Jane at the links below:
Website: https://sarahjanemusic.com.au
Store: https://chambersiterecords.com.au
Bandcamp: https://sarahjanemusic.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sarahjanemusic
Instagram: https://instagram.com/sarahmusicjane
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahmusicjane
Youtube: https://youtube.com/sarahjanemusic
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