Empowering womxn and seducing men.
That’s how Jade Rumbelow aka JDA presents her music.
A bold statement that encapsulates JDA approach to music and to performing.
Her new single ‘I Try’, self released at the end of September, is the first single off her upcoming EP scheduled for a November release. The track was produced, written and performed by JDA and talks about “peoples unwarranted opinions of the way I look and live my life”.
Inspired by James Blake’s production style, where less is more, JDA approaches her songwriting from a producer point of view, working on her beats first and then developing the track and the lyrics.
Aiming to release the vulnerability of the listeners, ‘I Try’ is right to the point, encouraging womxn to turn their authenticity into their strength with a song that is a big “f**k you” to all the people who think they have the right to comment on a woman’s body.
With her songs she gained support from BBC Introducing and Reprezent Radio and was shortlisted for the Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent 2020 and even though we all know how that panned out, she didn’t let herself down when the pandemic and the consequent restrictions and struggles kicked off, she immersed herself in her work and the result is what we are hearing now in ‘I Try’ and the forthcoming EP that will be released next month.
In an overcrowded British RnB scene, in our opinion JDA stands out for her productions, “simple” and quite memorable, as well as for her mission. Now let’s leave her own words to tell us more about JDA.
Listen to JDA’s music while you read the interview.
Hi Jade, thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, I really enjoyed your track, your performance is pretty amazing and the sound is so soothing and powerful at the same time. We are very curious to get to know a bit more and I hope this interview will get our readers to listen to your beautiful music, I am sure they’ll thank us!
I’d say let’s start with some background questions to introduce yourself and your musical project.
Tell us a bit more about your musical journey, when and how you started getting involved with music how did you develop your sound?
I have been singing for most of my life- I was the annoying family member who wouldn’t never shut up! Originally, I moved to London as a singer in pursuit of a career in music. Gradually over the years of living here I taught myself how to produce music and this has been pivotal in building my sound. I never felt compelled to write songs at a piano or guitar, but I found creating a beat and building the track behind the song kick-started my songwriting and my music has developed from there.
What was your favourite artist/band as a child?
That’s a tough one as I loved so many artists growing up, Destiny’s child definitely sticks out as a huge childhood favourite – I must have listened to their album Survivor on repeat for years.
What was the first music you bought?
I remember buying Lady Marmalade on tape which was probably so inappropriate haha but it was a great song.
What are your main influences now? Is there a particular artist or an album that inspired you more than others?
I am still a HUGE RnB fan from Sabrina Claudio, to Etta Bond and James Blake. I’ve also been getting into Kojey Radical a lot – I like artists who are truly themselves and bring their own twist to a genre and push the boundaries.
Can you tell us a bit more about your local scene? Any special artists/bands or special places that are worth a mention?
Living in London there are so many talented artists around but my two favourites; Arun and Veda Black, are both highly talented and 100% themselves. They have huge careers ahead of them and I can’t wait for everyone to hear what they have to offer.
Linked to the question above – how is it looking out there? Is there much happening in the live shows front for you? We’ve been to a couple of socially distanced gigs here in London and it was great but we haven’t really been anywhere else yet. Are you doing any socially distanced gig or have you been to any?
I think a lot of artists I know are taking their time with writing as gigging doesn’t seem possible at the moment. I for sure am the same – I’ve been taking this time to perfect my craft, try new sounds and ideas and to write as much as possible. During lockdown I did a great live streamed gig with Ruby Sings
which was so much fun, I hope there are a few more on the horizon. “Empowering womxn and seducing men”. Brilliant description of your sound. What would be your short pitch to any label or companies interested in working with you?
I’m a DIY artist through and through, writing, producing and performing my own material. With songs to empower and relate to I like to build a lasting, meaningful connection with the listener. I want to show younger girls that you can produce your own material and you can take hold of your artistic freedom and be whoever you want to be.
We worked on an online 2-day festival over the summer, it was a brilliant production and the shows were great but chatting to the artists it was very clear that the main issue was about them finding it hard to deliver to a certain standard without any audience present.
What’s your take on live streaming gigs? Do you think it can be a viable alternative for musicians for the time being? Have you been involved in any or are you planning to?
I haven’t had any others, apart from Ruby Sings which I mentioned earlier, but I loved being able to perform again (even if it was to my phone in my empty living room). I really do think they can be a good alternative. Due to the lack of audience I think they’re a great idea to showcase a different side to you, to have a more intimate gig which I’m sure fans would love. I think artists should approach them differently to a normal gig as you know you won’t have the momentum of the audience there, but maybe try and create an intimate performance and really bring it back to basics and create a little vibe.
Do you want to tell us a bit more about your upcoming EP? How did it come about? What influenced the songwriting process?
This project is my ‘quarantine baby’, I had a lot of spare time on my hands as I started working from home so I would write music in between finishing work and starting my evening, I really hit the ground running with the writing and the project was born. I think it is my most honest project to date, lockdown made me face a lot of feelings of anxiety and anger which has inspired the tracks.
This is something we ask pretty much everyone we know, not just during the interviews… we are massive fans of movie soundtracks, what is your favourite movie soundtrack (if any)? And what existing movie would you like to recreate (or even just curate) a new soundtrack for?
I can’t say I watch enough movies to answer that confidently, however I do love a good series. One of my favourite series’ soundtrack is Top Boy especially the last season, that soundtrack was amazing.
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.
You say you want to inspire women to get into music production- do you have any plans to do so?
Last year I set up an organisation call BossBeats which holds events and workshops for women wanting to get into production. We held 12 weeks of classes where women could come and learn from scratch how to produce their own music, we also held an amazing masterclass with the wonderful Joy
Crookes.
Before we let you go, can you recommend a couple of great new bands/artists you are into at the moment? Any local artist we should be aware of?
Absolutely! The two I mentioned before; Veda Black, Arun and also Chew Beats and Hayche Griiim. Deffo ones to watch!
Thanks so much for your time and looking forward to hearing more music from
you.
Follow JDA at the links below:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jda_official_/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2WsiX1Dwxg4z27nMdbWNh1
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/j-d-aa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JDAMUSICOFFICIAL
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