Jae Stephens is Making Her Debut
Photography by Andrew Onyekuwulje
A single LED sign displaying ‘ON AIR’ hung above the center stage of the venue, projecting a soft red glow on the keen faces of fans waiting for showtime. Suddenly, the sound of flipping between radio stations bled through the amps before halting on a station called Sellout Radio, where a familiar voice teased guests with live phone calls and special surprises during the show. Suddenly, Jae emerged on stage, setting the night off with one of her fan favorites, Body Favors, as the room lit up within seconds.
Watching her perform was reminiscent of the early years in pop music, think Lady Gaga dancing in a DIY disco bra at her 2007 Lollapalooza set. It felt as though videos from the show would one day be considered in the likes of fossilized digital camera clips of our favorite early 2000s pop stars in their breakout years.
A highlight of witnessing Jae in her element is how clear it is how thrilled she is to be performing to her fullest capacity. The interactive bits in her show, such as turning the stage into a club as multiple fans and dancers moved all around Jae to SMH, showed just how much she effortlessly turns a performance into a shared experience.
Now, with the glitz of the Sellout era behind her and the release of her latest singles Attaboy and Sugar Trap, Jae is taking on a darker aesthetic, sporting black leather outfits with red accents on most days. Still, the sharp wit of her lyrics in contrast to her sweet tone, a personal stamp that marks her music, remains very much present.
Last year you performed an intimate and stripped down version of Boyfriend Forever at Top Ten Records in Dallas, do you see yourself making slower tempo projects in the future similar to that performance, or maybe more romantic songs such as That's My Baby?
Jae: I mean never say never! Right now, it definitely seems like, yeah right, I definitely can't imagine. I feel like I'm in such an upbeat, fun, flirty, energetic time and I'm having so much fun with it, I think the music really reflects that. But as someone who loves listening to and making all kinds of music, I would definitely never rule it out, I could see myself going there eventually, I guess, but right now, nooo.
You’ve got a great voice for it!
Jae: Noooo nooo, we're in the club! We're at the club! But thank you, maybe one day!
Do you have any pre-show rituals that help you feel a little more confident on stage?
Jae: Just pray for the best, that's literally it. I try to think as little as possible about what I'm about to do. I definitely enjoy being distracted by a lot of things, getting ready, getting dressed, doing hair, doing makeup, right until the very last second so that I can just not get too in my head about it.
Are you also practicing your dance routines right before, or do you not have any time for that?
Jae: Listen! We rehearse so much leading up to it. I definitely think there's a point where it can get too, like, almost over-rehearsed, so yes, as far as to the point where I'm comfortable, and now we're definitely at the point where it feels like muscle memory. I kind of got it down to a point where I can still have fun with it and feel comfortable switching it up if I need to.
When you're in your creative process, how much of the audience do you have in mind, and how much do you have of yourself and your own desires and what you want to create in mind?
Jae: I'm definitely making music that I love, that I want to hear, that's definitely always first priority for me. But I think, you know, I do trust the fan bases, what they love, what they want to hear, their ideas. I think that we have a lot more in common in that way, in terms of taste and music that we love listening to. So I think in a lot of ways, what I like is something they would like. So with that, I always try to keep my intuition and my taste at the forefront.
Who or what is your favorite thing to listen to when you're feeling low and you just need something to pick you up a little bit?
Jae: Literally anything! like today was so irritating, I was so stressed. So I just put on anything, just to go for a walk, literally any music. I don't care if it's sad, I don't care if it's happy, I don’t care if it’s stripper music, I will put on anything just to take my mind off of whatever, because music is healing. These days I’m putting on my album a lot, just because that's a good distraction to make more notes like, ‘this needs to be done, we need to change this, we need to do that’, so that is occupying a lot of time, just putting that on and making final edits before it goes to mix.
You're going to be performing at Lollapalooza in Chicago, how are you feeling about performing for a festival audience for the first time?
Jae: Yeah, I'm so excited, I mean the only other festival I've been to is Coachella, so I'm super excited to go back to Chicago and perform at my first festival, see what that's like, see how it differs from these venues full of fan bases. I think it's going to be really interesting to just experience a crowd full of people that could be discovering me for the first time. We're going to be debuting new music at Lollapalooza, so that's going to be really exciting, to feel that energy for the first time. And yeah, I think it's been a bit of a bind to start my festival run, so this is going to be an amazing place to start, and I'm excited to see a few people, I’m really excited to see Zara, Charli, and all the Chicago Jae Baes who’s begging me to come to Lolllapalooza, I’m comin’! I think it’s going to be so fun!