Nat Jay

By: Debbie

popYOUlarity:ABC’s Men in Trees and "Love When I Can," how exactly did that happen?
Nat Jay:I was doing some extra work on the set of the L word and anyone who does extra work kind of knows that you make a friend for the day. So I made a friend for the day with a guy who turned out to be an actor. I had this three-song demo that I was giving out to everybody and their dog. I gave one to him and he took it home and really liked it. He had a friend that was a director on the set of Men in Trees and he gave it to her and she really liked it. It ended up circulating on the set of Men in Trees. They sent to one of the writers who sent it to a supervisor and I got an email saying they wanted to use it.

popYOUlarity:“Lights Across the Sky” will be released soon. What are you most proud of about the EP?
Nat Jay: I haven’t been doing this for very long so I think that I’ve done just so much in the last year as far as developing my song writing and putting everything together. Putting an album together is a lot of work. When I recorded the album a year before that, I was nowhere near that level. So I think it is of how far I have come in the last year and developed in my song writing.

popYOUlarity:Can you talk a little bit about the artistic growth you went through from the beginning of the recording process until now?
Nat Jay: It started about a year/year and a half ago really. I decided to kind of really pursue this career. I started taking guitar lessons and then started to perform my own songs, probably June of last year. When I first started working with my producer we did the three-song demo and once I started that I just started writing differently. I understood how other parts are supposed to interact with my songs and what they were supposed to sound like with a full band. I listen to a lot of different music as well and how they formed their songs. I try and let myself explore new kinds of music. It is hard to have expectations because then you can’t be disappointed with the outcome. I just try and let myself write whatever I am feeling that day or whatever kind of music that I am listening to at the time and not restrict myself.

popYOUlarity:You studied at UBC. What was the best part of that experience for you and how has that helped you with the position you are in now and without that education do you think that you would still be in the same place you are in today?
Nat Jay: UBC was really different. I was kind of raised in a classical world and I grew up sort of in a practice room. Going to UBC was an honour because they do not accept a whole lot of people. It was difficult: the level that they do expect from you is quite high. I was never very good at music theory or anything like that so it was different. It was a different kind of people than what you find in the music industry and the popular world. I certainly learned, not just going to UBC, but my whole life I learned disciple, first and foremost. If you intent to excel in your chosen field then you are going to have to work hard and sometime that means shutting yourself away and getting to work and practicing. I think that it gave me that. I think that it is the reason I have been able to jump in and start writing so quickly. A lot of my friends have been writing for many, many years and I think that background gave me a foundation to work with.

popYOUlarity:How does your creative process work for you? Do you have to sit down in your space? Or is it a matter of when inspiration hits you?
Nat Jay: I get inspired at the weirdest times. I do have to sit myself down and try and work through a song. Often times when I try the hardest nothing really comes out. So I am still learning to let myself be in when the inspiration strikes and let it flow.

popYOUlarity:Is there a song you like performing the most live, and why?
Nat Jay: I like “Lights Across the Sky”. It is a song that I still get to delve in a lot. It has the big note and it is just fun vocally to sing. I like it when I get to sing it with Adeline because that’s really fun too. The song has some heart in it and I don’t even know where it came from, but I like the message it portrays. I also really like the production on the album. My producer did a really great job on that. I’m just learning to play with a band and that’s like a whole different ballgame. I’m really enjoying my songs in a different kind of light. Another song on the album is “Coming out” It is really fun as well. We get to play with the band and it is so much fun. I get to bounce around the stage.

popYOUlarity:What kind of things would make you want to start creating music as fast as you could?
Nat Jay: I think that if I had all the time in the world, just to concentrate on my music that would make me want to work on it every day. I do love working on it everyday now, but unfortunately I have to pay bills. I also think that working with other artists I admire and when I hear what they are doing it makes me want to play music more and when I see an artist being successful, I want that as well.

popYOUlarity:In the big picture, how would you like people to view your music?
Nat Jay:Well, I hope they like it. I have had a couple people come up to me and tell me how much it has helped them through whatever or how much they enjoy it and it always make mw happy when I hear stuff like that. I hope that it brings out some kind of emotions in them that they can take into their own lives. I grew up around music. My parents are both musicians and they own a music school. It has been such a big part of my life. I hope that people can see the heart that I put into it and how much I really love it and I hope that it can be a part of their lives as well.

popYOUlarity:What would you say is the biggest misconception about independent artists?
Nat Jay: That we can’t make a living in mainstream or make a living in general I think. Especially when it is such a DIY generation and people eating up a lot of these artists as they are coming through. Feist is a good example of that. They put her in a mainstream setting and everyone loves it. I woke up yesterday and my radio was playing her. I hope that one day it becomes mainstream because we need that quality of music.

popYOUlarity:Do you have anything you would like to say to the readers of popYOUlarity?
Nat Jay: I hope they give my music a listen and I hope that they enjoy it. I hope that they support their local artists because they are the start of big acts that come through. One day you’ll be able to say I knew them or maybe you will still know them when they are big. They need the support. I hope that they will come out and support me at my CD release. I would love to meet them.

+ August 19, 2008
Photo: Official

Links:
Official Site