Janette King is truly a master of all trades, not only will she pull on your heart strings with her wonderfully rich vocals, she is an incredible instrumentalist as well as DJ. With nothing holding her back, she takes on the world, ready to literally move across the country to chase her dreams. We were lucky enough to link up with her virtually and take 7 minutes of her time to talk about her projects:
1. You started your creative journey as a dancer and learned the electronic bass once you joined a friend’s band in your late teens. You then started making beats and went to school for composition and electronic production. If you had never joined your friend’s band, do you think you still would have transitioned from dance into making music?
I think I would have always found my way into singing but I think I would have
been more heavily involved in dance and incorporated it more into my artistry if I
had never joined my friends band.
2. Growing up in Vancouver but now residing here in Montreal due to your love of the local electronic music scene; was there any specific moment or show that made you realize you wanted to move here and be more involved? How has Montreal shaped your creativity in comparison to Vancouver?
I had never spent any real significant time in Montreal before moving here. I did
however, know that Chromeo, Grimes AND Patrick Watson all had passages here so that was a huge motivation in moving. Montreal has a longer hibernation period in the winter months than Vancouver so it sort of forces you to focus on the creation process a bit deeper than Vancouver would have. I personally write a lot more when I am forced to stay indoors.
3. Your first EP, 143 , which included the song I need love, hits hard especially now with isolation being the norm. Since that song, originally released on its own two years ago, how do you feel you’ve grown as an artist between the release of the single and the release of the EP?
For the EP we had worked with two really amazing directors for the music video for In Vain and Love Another. That was a really eye opening experience as an artist. Also, I feel like I started producing a lot of my own music by the time the EP was ready for release.
4. You unfortunately have recently gone through a tough year that influenced your upcoming album entitled What We Lost. Do you write only once you have put some distance between yourself and the subject at hand, or is writing therapeutic/a form of self-care for you?
Writing is 100% therapeutic for me. Oftentimes I will just freestyle some lyrics only to listen back to what I wrote in order to understand what I was actually saying. Sometimes it feels as if some spirit is speaking through me and I am not in control of what comes out. When that happens I know that there was some deep information that I needed to let go of. Most of the time I write about situations or emotions that I am experiencing at that time or something that I need to express from the past because I am still feeling it deeply.
5. Your latest single Mars is about reclaiming, exploring and expressing our sexuality and sensuality within our own boundaries and power. This is your first song speaking more openly about this and displays a lot of vulnerability. How was it for you to write and share Mars in comparison to past songs?
This is a great question. Yeah, Mars was a new avenue for me in terms of speaking about my sexuality in a public space. I found it very empowering to be able to share my queerness and my excitement about sensuality. I think there is a lot of shame around it and that the more we open up about it the less power that shame has. I was nervous to share Mars with the world but I am so glad I did.
6. Apart from music, you also enjoy hairdressing and making video content; having even started a fun series on your self-titled Youtube channel on hairstyling! How does working on different creative avenues keep the motivation and inspiration alive for each project?
I am beyond grateful that I have many passions in this lifetime and I am so lucky to be able to integrate them with one another. I love hairdressing and have been doing it for around 11 years (5 years professionally). I am inspired by the way hair behaves and moves and I like to share that in my music videos. I also share my music in the hair youtube videos that I create. It’s cool to be able to do that.
7. Finally, you once mentioned that a future musical goal would be to collaborate with bigger artists. If you could choose any two artists to work with for a future album, who would be your first picks and why?
I would work with Radiohead because they create incredible soundscapes and I would work with H.E.R. because I think our voices would blend well together and we would have a lot of fun creating!
If you would like to know more follow Janette on Instagram @janette.king ; Facebook @janettekingmusic ; Twitter @JanetteKing ; YouTube @JanetteKing ; TikTok @janette.king ; Spotify @JanetteKing ; Bandcamp @janetteking ; Soundcloud @janetteking