Fresh Beats and Big Dreams: Interview with Jade Sierra

Back in 2024, I was on the hunt for some new music to gain inspiration for making tunes. When I do that, I like listening to new artists, as they often tend to let their creativity and passion drive them when producing, instead of following trends or sticking to some standards. That description I believe perfectly matches someone I that debuted as an artist not too long ago. Their range already seems quite big, we’ve been shown their skills in three different electronic genres while having released only five tunes. But I wouldn’t be talking about this artitst if one of those was not DNB. I invited Jade Sierra for a little chat, to learn some more about his music, journey, and plans for the future.

How about we start with a little introduction? 

Hey! I’m Jade Sierra and I make electronic music. I currently live in The Hague, The Netherlands. It’s also the city that I grew up in. I’d like to say that I grew up by playing music but I was actually quite a late bloomer. I picked up a bass guitar when I was fourteen years old and I didn’t even start music production until I went to college. At that point, I was listening to the SSX video game soundtrack and I heard a track by Camo & Krooked on there that really inspired me to get into music production. My older brother had also been making Drum & Bass for a while, which showed me that being a musician was something that was possible.

Let’s talk about your production habits! It’s always interesting to learn what artists got through behind the scenes, how they achieve the final versions of the tunes we listen to. Do you have an ideal studio day, a routine? 

I like to divide my sessions so that they have different goals. Sometimes I have a session where I just try to write a demo, and other times I will focus only on making drums or doing sound-design. I think that I have let go of the idea of an ‘ideal studio day’ because I find that inspiration and creating is largely out of my control. Instead, I try to be in a position where I am open to receiving inspiration as much as possible and trust that the music will come out eventually. I do this by doing music-related stuff as much as I can, whether that be singing, making samples or listening to references.

Where do you get your inspiration for your music? Who are your favourite producers, artists? Do you have any dream collabs?

I take a lot of inspiration from artists like Flume and Imanu. Their songwriting is fantastic, and that’s what I mainly enjoy in music. But other than that, I also like innovative sound design and production by artists such as Sleepnet, Trinist or Camo & Krooked. But most of all, I am just a sucker for pop music. Right now I’m loving the new Billie Eilish album, and I really like listening to Phoebe Bridgers. Some of my dream collabs would be with Jukaa, Imanu, Kučka and Camo & Krooked.

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You released an EP on DIVIDID not too long ago. I did some research, as far as I am aware, this is your debut EP as an artist right? Or do you have a different music alias too? Your debut music sounds so clean, makes me wonder where can it go from here!

Thank you so much! It means a lot for me to hear that. And you are correct! This is my debut EP. I also have a song out on Nightmode with Malixe, but other than that I have never released anything before. I’m extremely grateful to have been offered a platform on DIVIDID, and I’m working very hard right now to get my other songs released. I am sitting on a huge pile of unreleased songs right now that have yet to be sent out.

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Let’s take a deeper look at ‘anywhere but here’! Enlighten us please about the concept and the story behind it! 

Anywhere but Here explores the relentless cycle of constant introspection on topics like interpersonal dynamics, battling feelings of inadequacy, and facing emotional paralysis. Rather than confronting pain and discomfort in the present moment, it’s easier to go down a spiral of overthinking. Anywhere but Here is a call that expresses the desire to get out of that cycle. I do realise that it’s a bit difficult to extract that meaning from an EP with little to no lyrics, but I hope that I was able to convey that feeling in the music itself and I hope that it resonates with people as much as it did with me. Looking back, I’m very proud of the project, and it’s also an exciting foundation to build on with new music.

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And lastly, what’s next for you? Any gigs, releases soon, anything you can share with us?

Thankfully there will be a lot of exciting stuff happening this year. Right now I have two releases confirmed for 2025 and I hope that I can make more releases happen soon. I’m also working on a bunch of exciting collabs with artists that I highly respect. Furthermore, I’d really like to start performing live this year as well, so if you want to see me play in your city, you can reach out to john@yakana.net. I’m very thankful for everything that’s coming my way already, and I feel a lot of love from everyone who has sent me messages about my music and people like you who want to interview me, it really makes my day. So I’m hoping to take this journey with everyone even further!

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Check out Jade Sierra’s work and social media for more info and updates of his works!
Soundcloud page
Instagram page
Buy ‘anywhere but here’

Promoters, if you are reading this, get this man his bookings! john@yakana.net