12 Questions with Darla Jade
NSG’s David Lancaster spoke to Stoke’s Electro-Pop sensation Darla Jade about life as an independent artist, growing up dancing to Kylie Minogue and playing live in Berlin.
DL: Hiya Darla, thanks again for the interview opportunity. Thank you for your time, it really means a lot to us. I know that you grew up in the potteries area, in Stoke-on-Trent and that you’ve had a great couple of years, rising steadily, now firmly established as part of our national music scene. Please tell me a little bit about who you are, also, can you tell us how you got into all this music malarky??
DJ: Hi! Thank you for having me. Sure, I’m Darla Jade and I’m an electropop artist from Stoke-On- Trent. From the age of 4, I always had a passion for singing. There is no one in my family who does music apart from my mum who likes to do a bit of karaoke here and there ha-ha! My mum taught me my first ‘proper’ song at the age of 4/5 which was Eternal Flame by The Bangles. My parents also took me to musical theatre lessons and from the ages of 5-17, I genuinely thought that musical theatre was going to be the route I would take. However, at the age of 15, I started to perform all over the UK in pubs, clubs, holiday parks, etc and this was when I discovered how much I loved to perform pop music. I dabbled in writing my own songs from the age of about 17, however, it was only really when I was 19 that I started to take writing music seriously after I went on a songwriting camp in Thailand. It really opened my eyes to just how much work needs to be done if you want to do this as a job!
DL: What was young Darla Jade like then? Were you a good conscientious girl or were you a rebel, did you enjoy school??
DJ: I was super conscientious but very artistic. My favourite lessons were of course things like drama, dance, music, art, cooking (although I can’t cook to save my life ha-ha). It’s funny as I didn’t actually take music as a lesson at GCSE, and I think it was purely because I saw it for people that play instruments and I don’t play anything really apart from a bit of ukulele and with a lot of practice I could play some songs on piano. In hindsight, I really wish I had because then I would certainly know more theory. Regarding school, I bet people will think I’m crazy cause I did actually like it! I think it was the structure I liked.
DL: Who was your childhood hero?
DJ: Growing up I never really had a childhood hero, but I did watch loads of Kylie Minogue whenever I went to my nan’s house because she only had 2 videos (Kylie Minogue or Mr. Blobby ha-ha, so you can bet I was prancing around the living room screaming “I should be so lucky” ha-ha!) My mum also played a fair bit of Celine Dion when I was younger, so I definitely saw her as a hero too. I actually got to watch her a few years back and wow she was phenomenal!
DL: So here you are then in 2021, you’re an up-and-coming singer tipped for big things in the next couple of years, but in another life, in another time, what job might you have chosen?
DJ: Aaahhh thank you! Erm, I always find this question super hard to answer because I genuinely don’t know, as I know I can’t pick musical theatre either because it’s practically the same industry. I think if I had to choose, I would be an athlete, I used to love sport and I used to run competitively for the county.
DL: Did you start any hobbies during the covid lockdowns?
DJ: So I feel like a wet lettuce for saying this, but no. I just spent all my time writing music. I feel like I kept really productive throughout the lockdowns though which is why I didn’t need to take up a hobby. I started releasing consistently from the beginning of last year and because I’m fully independent, for every release there is so much work to be done, i.e., liaising with producers, getting artwork done, and sending 100’s of emails to radio stations, blogs, etc. I also did a lot of live streams last year too which also kept me very busy along with collaborating with other musicians and writing songs for other artists over zoom. I had 13 releases last year that I was part of in some way which I’m really hoping to top this year.
DL: Your music has a nice accessible “pop” sound, some have described it as “Scandi- Pop”. You write your own music and some of your songs have a deep message. Could you tell us a little about how the songs are crafted and what shapes the recordings, I know that you like collaborate?
DJ: Thanks very much! Yes, “Scandi-pop” is a term I also use to describe my music. I’m a huge fan of artists like Sigrid, AURORA, Dagny, NOTD and I would say these are all Scandi-pop artists and because I listen to them all a lot, I feel it definitely influences my music too. I’m a big fan of having a deeper meaning in some of my songs, I think because most of the time I’m fully writing from experience it’s why I can open up about these issues because I’m passionate about them. I do tend to collaborate a lot although this year I have also written completely alone too, so it does differ. But predominantly whenever I’m writing with other writers, I bring an idea or a specific topic on what I want to say or write about and I sometimes have lyrics and melodies to start us off. I think collaborating keeps things fresh and fun, also you’re learning different ways of doing things which only means you are going to get better.
DL: ‘Overcrowded‘ and ‘Forget You Not‘ are 2 singles of yours that have meaningful lyrics, you talk about O.C.D. and dementia in those songs, are these 2 conditions that are close to your heart?
DJ: Yes definitely, these are both topics I’ve experienced and want to bring to the table in my music. These topics are hardly spoken about and I feel that they should be because they affect so many people. OCD is something I have experienced personally and is also something someone really close to me is currently experiencing, so I’ve witnessed it firsthand in different ways. Dementia and Alzheimer’s is another topic close to me as my nan is currently going through this. I’m actually going to be doing a charity event at The Moat House in Stoke on the 21st of September to raise funds for The Alzheimer’s Society. It was supposed to be last September, but I’ve had to reschedule multiple times due to the current pandemic.
DL: ‘Problems‘ is your latest single, only just released this May, what’s the story behind that song? Where was it recorded??
DJ: Yes! I was super excited to share this one, It’s about accepting and loving the darker parts of someone you love and working through the problems together. I wrote the song with Syon around October 2020 and it was an easy one to write because I relate to every word in the song personally, so really it was just getting my thoughts into a song! I then brought in Rhys Fletcher who did a Stella job in producing it up and I recorded final vocals in March at his studio.
DL: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
DJ: The best piece of advice I’ve gotten is to “Follow your own gut and intuition and keep going” – and this applies for anyone really! I think as long as you are happy and moving in the direction you want to then that is the only thing that matters.
DL: What current music are you listening to now? Anyone, we should be looking out for??
DJ: Ooh, so I’m really into finding new emerging artists and I also have a playlist on Spotify, purely for tracks that I think are awesome but are under 10,000 streams. Artists/bands you should definitely keep your eye on are… The Kind, Zela, Megan Dixon Hood, Blanid, Dylan Fraser, and Katie Kittermaster, there are literally sooo many I could recommend ha-ha!
DL: You have built a reputation as a live act and you’ve already played some major venues including the legendary Ronnie Scott’s. What is your favourite gig so far?
DJ: My favourite live gig was performing in Berlin with The Dark Tenor. It was my first touring experience and it was EPIC! I really hope I can get to a level where I can tour like that, that would be the dream. But The Dark Tenor’s fans were so supportive and to see a big team working together to make the shows the best they can be was just so cool!
DL: Looking ahead Darla, where can we see you now that it looks like shows and gigs are returning? Have you got more releases planned for 2021??
DJ: For sure! I have so much planned for this year and definitely heaps more music. I’m performing at ‘Your City Festival‘ on 25th July and I am also performing at The Underground on the 10th of September along with Megan Dixon Hood and Ella Cicely.
DL: Once again thank you for giving us the chance to interview you, anything else you’d like to add?
DJ: Thank you so much for having me it’s been great!
To follow Darla Jade on social media click on any of the links in pink below
Listen to Darla Jade on Spotify
