JADE joins Rebecca Judd on Apple Music 1 to discuss her new single Angel Of My Dreams. In the interview JADE talks about life after Little Mix, becoming a solo artist and her mums reaction to the single. She also discusses her forthcoming album and how the music industry has changed over the years. The chat also features a guest appearance from Jordan Stephens who discusses what animal JADE reminds him of.
JADE on what she’s doing in her spare time post Little Mix..
Well, I am learning Arabic. I'm trying to sort of tap into my roots a bit more. Please don't ask me to do it. I'll just forget every single word under the sun. What else is new that I've learned? Just that I think I've actually surprised myself creatively. I think the minute I stopped caring as much about like, oh gosh, what's going to work on radio, what's a TikTok hit and all this stuff. I started writing my best music. So I think I needed this time to evolve and know who I am as my own artist.
JADE on being a solo artist…
I think it took me a bit of time to evolve out of that group because I just loved it so much. We haven't broken up so to speak, but I just had to learn how to live without the girls.
[Rebecca Judd]: I mean you are all on paper now, solo artists. Does that feel weird?
[JADE]: Yeah, but it feels right. It feels correct. We had such a long stint for any artist, nevermind a girl group. So to do that well, we deserve time for ourselves and to understand who we are creatively on our own. I see us as the Power Puff Girls venturing off into our own little things.
[Rebecca Judd]: You are the last of the group to release your own solo music. Would you say that made it easier or harder?
[JADE]: It's been interesting. Obviously I get to see that other girls kind of roll out and I think the more they released, the more I felt at ease just because I was like, oh, we're all really different. We're not doing the same sounds. We are three very different artists, so there's no pressure in that sense. And I just know that mentally I wouldn't have been ready for this two years ago. I might have thought I was, but I look back at myself then and I'm like, oh, well first of all, the songs I was writing were very much in the Little Mix world. So yeah, I don't mind being last.
JADE on being the solo star she’s always wanted to be..
I loved exactly what we (Little Mix) stood for and what we were. That to me was perfection as a girl band. So this has been about me finding my perfect sound just as JADE and yeah, you're right. I think the Capricorn in me is a super control freak, so I have to be across everything and I just love it. I love the drama. I love the looks. I love the choreo. I'm a huge pop fan and that's what I'm after. When I look at my favourite pop artist is like looks galore big choruses doing the most. That's my mantra for this record.
JADE on her mums reaction to her debut single…
She went, oh, I don't get it. And I thought, well, perfect. I was like, hun, Norma, you're not me demographic. I get that it takes few listens for some people and now she's listened to it a million times, she's obsessed.
JADE on her solo album…
I think it was important for me to have a body of work ready so that I can just chop and change as I please, drop music whenever, hear what the fans are saying, and have an album ready to drop sooner rather than later. I think it's given me that reassurance that I can just really be myself and that's okay. I can take these risks. I can do something a bit braver maybe, and regardless of if you like it enough or not, you have to respect the fact that I've given it a good old go. But at the same time I'm like, oh gosh, everyone loves this. I'm like, what? Now? What do I do now? So my mind's constantly whizzing of like, okay, what's my next move? But yeah, very exciting.
JADE on the new single being the most experimental track on the album…
There's a lot of songs on the record that have that same experimental vibe. I'd say the record as a whole, to be honest, I definitely have a few of the kind of, I guess more straight down the line poppy songs on there, but peppered in with the chaos, that is my brain. And I'm feeding myself, I'm pleasing my younger self. All the music I grew up listening to and was inspired by, whether that be Motown music, but also Clubland classics. I'm trying to merge all these sounds that I loved listening to growing up.
JADE on the music industry…
I think I've just earned my flowers a bit. So when I first began my solo project, I was going in these rooms, whether it was finding the right label or with managements or whatever, and walking in that room and be like, I've earned my spot. Yeah, this is the music I'm making. Give me a budget.
I think, like everyone, I have moments of weakness where I feel like, oh, has the industry changed that much or how I'm feeling within myself? But I think there's a really exciting time in music now where it's evolved to a point where, especially for women in music, there's a lot more creative freedom. There's a lot more acceptance for whatever age you are or who you want to be as an artist. It doesn't feel as restrictive as when it did when I first maybe entered the industry in 2011. And I think that's really encouraging for me to have watched that evolution in music to get to where I am now.
JADE on her single being compared to Bohemian Rhapsody…
This is tough. I don't want to crawl up my own bum too much. So I don't want everyone to come for me when I say this, but I purely mean in terms of chaoticness. And also because I did see a few fans say that it's like the gay Bohemian Rhapsody. I know I'm not Queen guys don't come for me. But just in the terms of the level of chaos and the switcheroo and the song all the time.
Jordan Stephens on revealing what animal JADE is like…
[Jordan Stephens]: Hello there. I dunno how to start this. Hi my love. I've got a question. What animal do I have you saved as in my phone. And can you remember why? And if you can't remember why can everybody google it? Because this animal is mind blowing you know.
[JADE]: That's my man. We love Jordan. I'm saved as a honey badger.
[Rebecca Judd]: Wait, what on earth is a honey badger?
[JADE]: So a honey badger looks quite cute and they look quite sweet, but they will f*ck you up. They're really vicious. They're raggy. And I think he says that he always calls me that as im like a little northern raggy because I'm a little bit sassy, but I guess I've got a cute exterior. But he loves that about me.
