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| Photo by: Ani Tchakarova |
Vancouver's Jillian Lake transposes her feelings into the lyrics and melodies of her indie folk music.
With a sound comparable to Feist and Maggie Rogers, Lake beautifully creates a culmination of words, music, movements, and visuals.
Lake first shared her soul-bearing sounds with the release of her first self-recorded EP Honey. Following her debut, she connected with musician and producer, Jordan Klassen for a full-length record. Klassen combined his cinematic and syncopated style with Lake's stripped-down singer-songwriter form to construct an album that combines raw poetry and melodies complemented by stellar song structure and instrumentation.
Lake first shared a taste of her new album with its debut "Oliver" and recently released the second single "Bleed Baby Bleed."
“'Bleed Baby Bleed' is a melancholy lullaby for the lost. It's the feeling of drowning while not even really remembering to swim. Surrendering to the chaos, ignoring the normal deliberation on behaviour that would ask "Is this good for me?". Sinking into a mix of masochistic tenancies tangled in shallow short lived thrill and immediate gratification until it almost swallows you whole.”
Her forthcoming project has been described as embodying feelings of love and loss through hushed electronics, swooning dream-pop and ethereal ambiance. Both "Oliver" and "Bleed Baby Bleed" give us a sneak peak of what's to come. Though her album has yet to be released, Lake already has her third record in the works and a lot more in store.
Q: How would you describe your sound to new listeners?
I’m inspired by a variety of music, so I find myself blending melancholic singer-songwriter with folk feelings and lil moody indie??? I could throw a few more genres in there and just keep going haha. I’d hope to sound dreamy, like if you were to be swept up and carried away in a sound or an emotion. I try my very best to create something that gives people that nostalgic feeling in the pit of their stomach. Whether it’s a bitter reliving of heartbreak, or a sweet remembrance of a sweet love. Sad bops that somehow still make you want to dance.
Q: You recently dropped your latest single "Bleed Baby Bleed." What was the vision behind the track?
In my recording process I often change the songs, add a new bridge in, amp up the chorus, switch around parts, write a new outro etc, but this is one song that started and ended as simple, and the same as when it went in. My producer, Jordan Klassen and I, wanted the song to sound pure and beautiful and have an ache to it. We wanted to use raw and organic sounds like acoustic guitar and piano and a little bit of ambience to just lift up the song and let it take you away. My greatest vision for the song was for it to just make people feel something.
Q: Your lyricism possesses so much depth, detail and vulnerability. What’s your creative process like when crafting a song?
My process has changed and evolved since then, but at the time I wrote this song it was a very natural flow, almost like picking up a journal and writing whatever comes out. It’s like how you don’t really know what you’re writing about or what you’re feeling till you pick up the paper or pick up the guitar and let it come out and all of a sudden you’ve solved something. I was more lyric focused and all about the storytelling, as it was all pieces of emotions or stories I had felt myself or observed in others.
Q: How important is the unification through music during these times of a pandemic?
Very very very veryyyy. Honestly, art and creation is how we’re gonna get through this. To be in a time of so much uncertainty feels helpless, but to find, seek out, and create beauty keeps you grounded and inspired. Music brings people together, and that is what we all need during isolation. My favourite part about creating has always been the collaboration of it – so being surrounded by artists supporting artists, inspiring each other, finding innovative ways to not let their art be stifled even in the midst of a global pandemic is just about the biggest fire under your butt you could light.
Q: As a creative, what are some tips you suggest to stay inspired in a time of uncertainty?
I mean I feel so flippen moody all the time hehe but trying my best to stay sane. If I were to give advice I would say: Keep the passion alive! Listen to albums that give you goosebumps, think hard about what you want to achieve and how you can get there, use this as a challenge to find inspiration out of ordinary things that you may have overlooked before, chat and plan and daydream and get stoked with other artists about all the projects you can do (even if it’s in the future) and imagine yourself on stage again, or crammed in a band van that smells like sweaty boys hucking it across the country. Picture those feelings you want to feel again and trust they will come. Also, probably most importantly take it easy on yourself. Find time to rest and be still as well in the midst of all this. Give yourself a little credit, and be kind to yourself.
Q: You are anticipating the release of your full-length album. What can you tell us about the upcoming project?
Woweeee I cannot WAIT for this to be out in the world. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s just such a crazy thing to have your project that you’ve put months (years?) into be out in the world. This album is kind of a bunch of pieces of me – the things that shaped me, broke me, inspired me, taught me etc. It’s all about growing and moving through. These past few years were full of a lot of firsts for me – new love and heartbreak and betrayal and longing and confusion and awakening – so of course I couldn’t help but splatter all those big feelings onto paper and into sounds to create this album. It’s kind of a weird thing to have everything displayed out there for the world to take and do what they want with it – but in a weird way it’s freeing, because it becomes less about you, and more for everyone to make it into something that is theirs. Plus I always have 500 or so ideas running through my head at all time, so I’m quite antsy to get started on the next project.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Hmm, I think we covered a fair bit. I’m just happy to get to keep on creating. I used to (still am but working on it hehe) be so hard on myself and my music, but now I just try to find value in the process, and look forward to all that is to come next. I also hope everyone finds a little bit of peace in music, wherever that may be during this chaotic time, and feel so grateful to feel people’s support and encouragement through this all. It means more than ever. People taking the time to listen to, dance to, write about music is so so so so magic.
Connect:
jillianlake.comfacebook.com/jillianlakemusic
twitter.com/jillianlakeband
instagram.com/jillianlake