Positive, uplifting songs are the hardest to write for most songwriters. We often do not find the right words or we may perceive our happy songs as too superficial. But the truth is, that happiness is just that – a fun ride that needs no deep dive to drag us down. “Oh My Heart” by Australia based singer/songwriter Jade Holland is one of those songs that instantly make you feel good and excited. It is a song about falling in love and feeling like a brand new person. Love is full of promises and opportunities and that is what this song illustrates beautifully – both through the writing and through Jade´s gorgeous vocals.
Jade is an award winning songwriter and performer who co-wrote the song with Sinead Burgess with the intention to create a positive love song that is for everyone.
Jade herself states “Love doesn’t discriminate! It´s for everyone! Whether to love a person as a friend, as your intimate partner, or your best mate who could be your dog. It can be goofy and fun, or insanely lustful, it can be painful, it does hurt. This track for me reminds me to chill. Life is hard enough without putting all this pressure on ourselves to live the ‘perfect life’ that society thinks we should be living. This is my ‘let your hair down, sh*t happens, I love you so what?!’ vibe song!”
We sat down and talked to Jade about her songwriting career, her inspirations, aspirations and so much more:)
Jade, big congrats on the release of “Oh My Heart” – a catchy country dance track that adresses the feel-good moments that come with being in love. Tell us a bit about how this track came to be, would you?
Well I have always been so open with my love life, it was very much a ‘what love life’ kind of question as I was always unlucky in love until I met my forever human a few years ago. I sat down with a friend of mine, Sinead Burgess earlier towards the beginning of this year and we were catching up, talking about life and how we had both randomly met someone at the same time a few years ago. After we had both been swept off our feet and I think it was about bloody time! So we wrote about it!
I love the line “beating to the drum of the sound of your name”. It makes you think of how a heart can suddenly beat faster when someone mentions your crush. What are the ingredients for a good lyrics line in your opinion?
I think one of the main ingredients is heart. If you are writing something that comes from the heart, I find it quite easy to write! Also, when you are writing with your heart you don’t have to pretend or make up the lyrics… they mostly come to you naturally.
Agreed! You used a lot of perfect rhymes in this track which makes so much sense, considering that the song is all about happiness and being in that “perfect place”. In your previous releases like “Drive Thru” you played with imperfect rhymes in the chorus. The song had a totally different message and vibe. When writing a song, how do you usually develop a specific vibe? What´s your go to method?
I’m a hook like person. So my first focus is coming up with a hook line then challenging it, feeling it out for it‘s vibe. Is it a happy dance song or is it a sad somber song etc?
Once I figure that out, then I use that feeling I get from the hook to create what I think the mood is music-wise and see how it flows with the hook for a potential chorus. I find if it takes a long time to come to me then maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree and I go back to the drawing board. It’s got to feel right!
Jade, you are one of Queenland´s most booked live artists. What do you love about performing live and do you still remember your first ever performance? Tell us a bit about your development as a performer…
I will nerver forget my first performance! It was terrible! I was 11, at an open mic night and I was so nervous and was atrocious! But, I loved every second of it! It was something I craved from that moment forward. From that point I taught myself guitar and how to sing. I absolutely loved the feeling I got from being on stage so I worked on my craft and really did the hard yards working on me!
For me, as a live performer, I love the people. I love seeing their faces. Knowing that I can bring someone else joy with my little gift just lights up my life.
That is so cool! What makes country music your preferred genre and who are some of your current influences?
I find country music honest. It’s about the people, the stories, the land, it‘s about real life. Country music has the power to make or break your heart within a 3 minute song.
Currently, I’m listening to Larry Fleet – I’m a huge fan and Robyn Ottolini – she‘s got such sass!
You recorded “Oh My Heart” in Nashville. Tell us a bit about working in music city…
From the first time I visited Nashville about 7 years ago, I remember stepping off the plane and feeling like this wave of magic hit me in the face. Music City opened my eyes to a whole new world in music. Anything is possible. Nashville has changed the way I think about music and meeting a bunch of the musos there who worked on my Dream Wild Album, I just knew that even if I couldn’t live there then at least I still needed to incorporate parts of it into my music which is why even though we recorded the song in Australia, we got it mixed and mastered in Nashville.
As an artist what are the biggest challenges in today´s music market and what motivates to push past boundaries?
As an artist I’d say some of the big challenges would be that dreaded word Covid, we have come out the other side of it thankfully but unfortunately it´s still around and it has limited a few shows. So all we can do in that aspect is keep pushing on really. Playing live is something I crave, so it´s easy for me as we will book two more shows in replacement of the ones that were cancelled.
What are some of your music goals for 2023?
Fingers crossed for a new album! Hopefully completely recorded in Nashville!
Keeping my fingers crossed for sure! 😉 One last question: What kind of change/development would you like to see within the music industry in the next couple of years and why?
I think that women are still not being given the same opportunities as men in the industry so I’d like to see it become more of an equal stance. I think we have come such a long way in the scheme of equality in all aspects of life and we just need to keep working on it.
Great answer! Thank you so much for your time and thank you for the music!
Find Jade Holland on the web:
Web: www.jadeholland.com
Instagram: @jadehollandmusic
Youtube: @jadehollandmusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0fHLzgaigV23z0vU2cji3h
Facebook: @jade.holland
To stay up to date, please follow Song Brewery on Instagram
