Jaël – Midlife

By starrymag | June 7, 2023

By: Paige Zinamin

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) Acoustic music with profound lyrics and melodies that stick in the ear.

 

Q) Who were some of your inspirations growing up?

A) I’ve listened across the board to everything that came my way and caught my attention because of an exciting voice or a great lyric. I’ve heard pretty much everything from Tracy Chapman to Nirvana, Sting and Johnny Cash that touched me.

 

Q) You just released your new album Midlife. Please tell us a little bit about the themes behind it.

A) I looked back at the first half of my life when I was writing songs. There’s a lot of heavy stuff that still needed to be processed. I sing about depression, panic attacks, a sexual assault, about saying goodbye to people who drag down machprimary. But it’s also a liberation for the future, so the second half is about letting go of my demand for perfection, becoming a little more light-footed and complimenting women who master an incredible amount as working moms.

 

Q) What I love the most about this album is that there is everything for everyone. When were you creating this album did you have those messages in your mind or did you just want to get the feelings out?

A) The songs wanted to be written… Often songwriting is therapeutic for me.

 

Q) My favorite song has to be “Litii.” It was simply beautiful with its message and that it is strictly in Swiss and German. How important was it to incorporate your native language into this album?

A) I’ve been struggling with it for a long time, but somehow it never sounded right. Now the time was ripe. After writing and releasing an album for highly sensitive children (Sensibeli) in Swiss German two years ago, I was now free to take this step.

 

Q) What is your favorite song(s) off the album and what makes it so special for you?

A) “To Miss You” is a very important song for me because it describes the basic feeling that preceded this album. Longing for a time that you know wasn’t all good for you. It has a lot to do with the self-destructive element that I kept encountering in my search for myself.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

A) Since I manage and release myself, I also decide with whom I want to produce the album. Then, I discuss with the producer what sound I have in mind, we listen to a lot of music together and define a line that we follow. But I don’t have the technical know-how to produce myself. Cyrill has opened wonderful doors for me and some things we have discarded because I didn’t like them. At the end of the day, I have to like it, because I want to put my name and face on it and perform it live with a good feeling.

 

Q) Are there any plans for a tour? If so, what places are you looking forward to visiting?

A) At the moment, we are playing smaller venues near home, like on the last tour. It gives a wonderful intimacy that I love. And since I’ve just become a mother for the second time, it’s important to me that I can sleep at home. Luckily, Switzerland is small, and you can get back to your own bed relatively quickly from anywhere.

 

Q) You were the lead singer of Lunik for a long time. What are some of the challenges you would say there are from being a part of a band and being a solo artist? Or are there any?

A) The situation is quite different, because with Lunik I was really mainly a singer and songwriter. Today it’s a whole business that I have because I have everything under my wing, from the webshop to the management and booking, the production, the promo, the publishing, the distribution. Of course, I have a lot of people working for me. I could never do it all myself, but it’s still a different situation when you take all the risk and make all the decisions yourself. But I was only able to do that because I learned a lot in the years with Lunik, acquired the know-how and got to know many people in the business.

 

Q) What’s the message you hope listeners take away from your music?

A) I don’t have a message per se, but many of my listeners tell me that my songs have been accompanying and touching them for years, helping them in difficult times and also giving them the feeling that they are not alone with their thoughts and their being. For me, that is the most beautiful thing of all.

 

Q) Who would you love to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) I let myself be surprised by whom life leads me to. I used to have ideas and dreams and most of the time the unplanned, which I didn’t expect, was always the best.

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and followers of your work?

A) Thank you for everything. Without you, I would not be able to live my dream.