Vancouver-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jade Lemac is the sort of artist we all want to be best friends with. With a sound that feels both intimate and anthemic, through her vulnerability and raw lyricism, Lemac delves into all of the emotions we experience, yet are sometimes afraid to express. Her genuine nature and soul-baring storytelling provide comfort and inspiration that we always have access to through her music. It’s her mix of raw honesty and effortlessly cool that landed her a spot on GLAAD’s 20 Under 20 list and earned her a fast-growing fanbase who see themselves in her songs.
Her new EP It’s Always At Night just dropped via Warner Music Canada / East West Records. Earmilk sat down with Lemac to talk about late-night emotions, finding truth in music, and what it means to stay unapologetically yourself.
So you just finished a tour with Maren Morris. What were some of the highlights?
The biggest highlight was just meeting her (Maren Morris) team and making those connections. Her, her team, and her band were so nice. I made some great friends. There was one other fellow Canadian, her lead guitarist, Erica, who's so awesome, and they were just all so sweet and welcoming. As an opener, it can be really scary, so that made the tour just that much better.
Were there any cities or crowds that particularly stood out?
Yeah. Wilmington City was cool. That was the only place where we did two nights at the same place. It was really cool because there was an outdoor venue, and it was on a lake, and there were alligators, and as a Canadian, I'm not used to that. So that was super cool.
Wait, they were just roaming around?
I know! We saw a baby gator. His name is like Skippy or something. So cute.
I'm not used to that. But it was really fun. The main cities were also awesome. New York was so cool. That venue was beautiful. Nashville, that was my first time in Nashville, so that was awesome. Atlanta to end it off was so awesome. They were so loud, which was great.
You had mentioned in a previous interview that you get a bit nervous before getting on stage. Do you feel like now that you’ve done your first big tour, you're more at ease?
100% yeah. Going into this tour, I was nervous; I didn't know what to expect. The first few shows, I was 100% nervous, but as time went on, I was also watching Marin’s set, and I learned a lot. I learned how to be more confident on stage. The more I did it, the more it became routine, which made me a lot more confident and just a lot calmer and at ease before going on stage. This was my first big tour. It was my first experience to really be able to perform so many days in a row and have so many shows so close together. Once you do enough new shows, it becomes routine, so by the end of it, I was definitely feeling the difference. I was excited to get on stage.
You also played Lollapalooza. What was that like? Being a massive festival and all..
Yeah, it was so cool and such an amazing experience. It was my first US festival, and that being Lollapalooza, of course, it's insane. Just being in that environment was so cool because we don't really have anything like that specifically in Canada. I was so hyped up the whole time, and it was just so cool to be able to watch other artists after my set. One of my favorite memories of this year, for sure..
If you were to put on your own festival, what would your stacked lineup be? Who are the three headliners?
I really need to see Labyrinth live. I think Labyrinth would be so crazy. I know this isn't very festival-like, but I'm just putting this out there because she doesn't really perform, but Adele. So we're going to go Labyrinth, Adele, Rihanna as my dream festival lineup.
I can’t even make this up, but my best friend who's going through a breakup right now texted me last night, “I can't sleep,” while I was literally listening to Sleeping with the Lights On. I was immediately reminded of the power of music and its relatability. Do you ever get nervous in the process of writing, about being so vulnerable, or if a person is going to know you wrote about them?
I feel like yeah, there are definitely times where I'm like, “ooh should I say this or should I not?” But for the most part, when lyrics come so naturally to me, I just feel like they're right, you know what I mean? I'm a Pisces, so I feel like I find it really easy to write about those vulnerable things sometimes. With most of my songs, I also use a lot of my imagination in a way, so it's not specifically every single line is true to what I've experienced. I've never been super scared of being like, oh, will they know what's about them, because sometimes I'll also make it so maybe they don't know what's about them, you know?
A lot of your songs cover various emotions, and I love it because that is the human experience. Are you just like, I'm going to write whatever I write and people are gonna take it or leave it kind of thing?
Yeah. Totally. I love to explore, and I'm still not 100% sure what my exact sound is. I feel like when it comes to my songwriting kind of stuff, I've gone pretty dialed on that, but I still want to explore so many different genres and things like that, and write about different things. I mean, that got me obsessed song, that's one of my favorite songs that I've written. I feel like people don't necessarily want to say this stuff. I kind of just write what I want to write, and if you like it, you like it; if you don't, you should like it.
You sort of blew up on TikTok with over a million followers. Do you feel like there's more pressure now with more eyes on you?
I feel like there's always pressure, no matter what. I think it's just a great tool to promote music and everything like that. I'm very grateful for the following that I have, and I just try to use it as best as I can and take advantage of it.
So talk us through the new EP. Are you totally excited?
We're super excited. It's called It's Always at Night and there's a bunch of different songs with different emotions. You know, there's heartbreak, love, desire, all those things. I think the reason is that this is the first project where I was able to name it and be like, wow, there's a meaning to why I named it this. And it's because with me, when I'm alone by myself at night, in my bed or whatever, and the sun is down, the lights are maybe on or off, it doesn't matter, I'm just alone and I'm stuck with my thoughts. So I'm feeling all my emotions like 100 times stronger than throughout the day because I'm always so distracted. When I'm left alone wandering in my own mind, I can feel all these things. I used to think that was only with like sadness and heartbreak, where it would get worse at night, but I realized later on in life, that when I was crushing on somebody or something like that, and I would be alone, I would be thinking about them and just being so excited to talk to them the next day. So it's just always at night for me. That's kind of why I named it that.
When you're going through all of those emotions, do you find that to be a time when you write music?
Totally. I feel like I get very creative at night. It's funny, though. For this project specifically, I actually got really creative while driving. I didn't listen to a lot of music while driving. I would listen to my own stuff, writing stuff in the car. Just like driving to do random stuff. But yeah, I do tend to be more creative at night for sure. If I come up with a cool melody, I'll definitely record it, or I'll have a demo of some chords and stuff like that. Or if I already have the chorus written, I'm trying to write a verse, and I am just playing it in my car and listening to that and trying to write. So yeah, just a random kind of thing. But at night, is when all the emotions and inspiration come.
Do you have a favorite song off the new EP?
I do. It's called "Sweet Dreams" and it's definitely my favorite song. I love it so much. It's a song that can be interpreted in so many different ways, but it's just so raw and emotional. I feel like the way that I was able to layer certain vocals and stuff, it's just so beautiful.
You were talking about wanting to explore some other genres as well. What would you want to branch out into?
I'd like to do more R&B kind of stuff. I really love the old weekend kind of stuff. I feel like I would like to dig deeper into that. I don't know, I kind of want to try it all
A country album, a dance album…
Why not let’s go
There are a lot of versions of constellations. Do you have a favorite version?
They're all so cool. They're all their own thing, to be honest. I feel like both the remixes that are out are so awesome and are unique to themselves. And then, of course, they were originally on the piano. I think the piano version is one of my favorite piano versions I've done of a song, for sure. We took a lot of time doing that, but all the versions are cool.
So the piano version came after? What's the process?
I originally wrote it on guitar, but let me just transfer the chords over to piano, and we were gonna originally be lazy with it and just like throw the same vocals on to some piano and call it a day, but then we were like, no, we really want to try on this. My producer, JVP, just had somehow nailed it, and I mean, it has done amazing, which is very awesome. And it definitely made the song a lot more emotional.
Did you ever expect to be where you are now when you were younger?
I always had the dream. I'm glad that I've been able to make it come true. And I'm just excited for what's to come, really.
Well, you are definitely on the rise and very quickly as well. I heard you got your first guitar and piano from Santa when you were really young. Did you know from that point it was something you wanted to do for the rest of your life?
Yeah. I mean, before that, I was singing with my cousins. It's always been that I'm going to be a singer, and it's never changed.
Is there anybody in your family who's also musical?
Not really. No. I'm the lone one.
Where would you like to see yourself five years from now?
I mean, just as successful as I can be, and being happy at the same time. I would love to still be doing what I'm doing and enjoying it and loving it, and still performing. That's the goal.
And you're going on tour in Canada. Is that a headline tour?
Yeah, headline tour for Canada in January. And then it's Australia right after.
Do you have a lot of fans in Australia?
Yeah, I hope so. When we looked at the stats on my Spotify, there's a good amount of listeners in Australia, and there always have been. So that's great.
Are there any places that took you off guard? Like, Oh, I didn’t know people were listening to me here.
Constellations blew up in Nigeria a couple of months ago. I didn't expect that. That was probably the most whoa.
Do you have any advice for someone who is in their creative process, but may have a fear of putting it out there due to the vulnerable nature of it all? What would you tell them as a person who is unapologetically putting music out there?
Yeah, I mean, I think the way that I write and the way that I do all this stuff, I've always found that music is very therapeutic. So whatever feels right to you is what you should do. If it feels right to write about something, write about it. Don't be scared about it because it's really not that scary. I can guarantee it'll make you feel better, but yeah, there's always that fear.
Okay, so I was going to see if you want to do a quick “Would you rather”
Would you rather speak every language or have the ability to talk to animals?
Oh, shit. Speak every language. It's kind of convenient to go on a world tour? I feel like I would be too scared to be able to talk to all the animals. 'Cause they'd be like, you guys are killing us or something. I would feel bad. I couldn't bear that pressure. I imagine I could perform in any city in their own native way. Also, I want to speak to my family in Vietnam, which would be really cool.
Invisible or read minds?
Invisible.
What would you do?
I would catch free flights. I would be traveling for free.
Would you rather go to the future or the past?
I don't know. Future, past, either. The present.
Well, I'm really excited to see what the future has in store for you.
Connect with Jade Lemac: INSTAGRAM
