A Little Jaded - Season 2, Episode 4

Jade: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to A Little Jaded. I’m here with Joanna, and my name is Jade, and we are so excited to bring you the 2021 recap of our year at Jaded and a big year in the music industry, but we'll hop into that. Joanna, do you want to say, hey?

Joanna: Yeah. Hey, guys, it really blows my mind that 2021 is already over. It feels like I went by so quick, but in the best way, you know what I mean? It was such a good year for so many different reasons, but I'm excited to talk about it. 

Jade: Yeah. I mean, it's really cool to think that just this year in March, Jaded kind of got started, because… I mean the original story is you can go back and listen to it in our very first episode. I believe it's titled “Welcome to Jaded Productions”.

Joanna: Yes.

Jade: And basically, I just go through the fact that I started it in November, or something, in 2019, couldn't get it off the ground. No idea what I was doing, just reading books, taking online courses, trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing, figuring out. Can I even do this? Then flash forward to March of this year? I can't believe it was this year, and Joanna hopped on the team, and then I was like, “all right, let's do this.” And just being able to film these podcasts now… it's crazy, because we all started as just people that love music, and now we get to work on it and do it for ourselves. So I think it's crazy and it's really cool. And that's kind of how Jaded got started a little bit… and yeah, it's crazy. And we've done so much this year that I want Joanna to touch upon some of the things.

Joanna: Yeah. I feel like this is a really cool example of you kind of making something out of what you had. You know what I mean? Like, just kind of rolling with it and keeping it going, because if you had stopped Jaded in 2019, where would we be now? None of this would happen, which is kind of insane, because everything happened so fast. Once we kind of realized this is what we wanted to do… everything started happening. We had a list of things we wanted to do, and I want to say we did all of them, which is literally like… mind blown. Can't believe.

Jade: It's insane because the fact that I was going to delete the account so many times and just be like, forget about it, “Whatever this is, I tried it, whatever.” And I was like, “no, let me just keep it, because whatever”,, it had like, it had 40 followers? That's fine!

Joanna: No, yeah! The reason that I reached out to you was because you reposted something on your Instagram, from the Jaded Productions Instagram. And I was like, “oh, this is cool. I should hop on this. Why not?” Because I was the same as you. I was just like, doing online seminars and this and that, and reading things. But I wanted to do something, I want to do more. And so I was like, “eh… I don't really know thus girls, but why not?” laughs But yeah, anyways, like Jade said, if you want details, like us reaching out to each other and, like, the whole thing, it's a funny story. But that's the first podcast episode. But, yeah, things that we did this year, one of the biggest things that we knew we wanted to do was a podcast, and also a street team. And it's insane because I think when you think about starting a street team, you think that you have to be this big company, you know what I mean? Like, you have to have X amount of people following you and this and that. And we just started growing. I don't want to say we started growing so fast, but I think faster than we thought that we were going to grow. And so we were like, “oh, we can do this sooner than we thought.” You know what I mean? And once we kind of saw that we were in a position where we should, I mean the basis of Jaded was to help smaller artists, and at that point, we had our first artist already. I think that was like, the biggest thing is we wanted to have an artist before we started a street team so they could have something to promote. And we brought on Sophia Rose, and we ended uphelping her do a release campaign for her first single, which came out, “West Coast Blues”, which is amazing. So happy for her. 

Jade: Go stream that! Actually fun fact about that, I'm really into her analytics and stuff, obviously, and I have access to her accounts. And because of that street team because of putting together a street team that was able to promote her, basically, we put together the street team so that we were able to promote the artist that we brought onto the roster. And she got, I want to say, 500 streams in 24 hours, which was amazing, I believe. Yeah. All platforms combined. So I was shocked, honestly.

Joanna: I mean, that's insane because it's like, what you pretty much started Jaded for was to give small artists a platform. And I feel like nowadays, especially, because everybody's on social media, we also have a social media episode of the podcast laughs, go listen to that! It's a good one with our team, our amazing team, some of our team. Yeah. I feel like a lot of people are realizing now more than ever that it's so hard for small artists to get big or to reach a bigger audience, I would say. And I think that it's cool that you started Jaded to do that. And we gathered a bunch of people who were also just passionate about music and things, and they joined the street team. And eventually we were able to build up our team. And now we have twelve people on our team, which is like, insane because it literally just started out as you and me. It was just me and Jade, nobody else. We were doing the graphics. We were like, “okay, we're going to do this X amount of posts and this and that.” And our first person that we brought onto the team was Mariana, who is an amazing graphic designer, she ended up doing the rebranded Jaded Productions logo, she did the amazing podcast graphic that you're seeing, that we post every week, she does about half of the graphics that we post now, and then we also brought on… I want to say we brought on Haidyn, our other graphic designer, after our TikTok team, which is Travis and Vivienne.

Jade: Yes, and Maddy now.

Joanna: And Maddy now.

Jade: Maddy was after Haidyn.

Joanna: Yes, it’s insane many people we have now, and it's, like, I literally love them all. I can't believe that they trust us. You know what I mean? It's really crazy because I also just consider everybody on the team just also, my friends. I've been able to meet about half of the team in person now, because obviously, we do everything online, because for anybody who doesn't know, we're all literally jumbled all across the states, and in different countries, we have Kelly, who is amazing. She applied for our TikTok Creator position, and we gave her Twitter. And originally, we never even thought about the fact that we need somebody to run our Twitter, because we don't have enough time to run our Twitter account, and she does it amazingly, and she's in Canada! It's insane. She has to deal with all of our different time zones, and you deal with the different time zones, we all do. And it's literally insane. And then we brought on, like, let's see, who did we bring on next? Well, originally, we only wanted to bring on one TikTok creator.

Jade: Yeah, that was the plan.

Joanna: And instantly we interviewed Travis, he was the first one, and we loved him literally, instantly, or at least I did laughs

Jade: agrees

Joanna: We pretty much loved everybody that we interviewed, and we interviewed Vivienne, and we were just like, you know what? Let's just make this a two-parter, let's just bring on another person. Why not? The more the merrier. And we brought on Vivian, and she's also amazing. I love her the most. And now we have Brooklyn, who is our blog writer. We have Khristina, who is our podcast editor, shout out to her. She's editing this right now. We have Mai, who is our podcast transcriber, and she literally does a billion different things, so I'm glad that she even has time to transcribe our podcast, which is amazing. Let's see. We have Ria, who is our LinkedIn manager, if you don't follow us on LinkedIn, follow us on LinkedIn. Am I forgetting anybody else? We had Kayla, who was our Secretary for a short period of time, but then she got a job, which is amazing for her.

Jade: She's got into amazing things.

Joanna: Yeah. Love that for her. Obviously, we see this as a starting point for a lot of these people, and we're glad that they trust us enough to give them something to put on their resume, which is really all we wanted, to help people out. Same thing with the street team, something on your resume, some experience.

Jade: Yeah. I'm like, I think you got everybody.

Joanna: Shout out to Sanj, who is not on the team anymore, but we just had a podcast episode with her about music marketing and fan engagement, go listen. She's literally so amazing, her accent is beautiful. Another example of somebody who is located completely, like, on the other side of the world, she lives in London, and she just graduated. She was a marketing student, and she's amazing. I know she's going to do such amazing things. She was in charge of marketing at Jaded, and she helped a lot with Eraste, who was another artist that we had for a good chunk of time. And we helped her get her first single to over 10k streams, which is literally insane, and I'm so happy for her. And since then, we helped her release “favorite secret”, which is a banger. Go listen to it. She also released “Habits” recently, which is also another banger. Go listen to it. And it's just like, I don't know. It's crazy to think that these people were trusting us to help them. 

Jade: Yeah, it is crazy. I know when we got Sofia, it was crazy because I was like, “what the heck? Somebody is like, she actually said, yeah.” And I was like, “okay, cool. We'll see how it goes.” And then we talked to Eraste and she was like, “yeah, sure!” laughs And I was like, “okay, yeah!” And then going out and just doing, like, I remember doing, like, gorilla marketing in the summer, like, me and my friend went around like, Pittsburgh, and we were hanging up signs that said “Stream Eraste”. And I was just like, this is everything that I've ever wanted to do. This is so cool. And I know it's just like, a piece of what I got to do. But it was just so amazing. And now just to watch her flourish, still following her on Instagram, “Habits” is doing insanely amazing. And it's just so awesome to watch her just, like, be amazing because I have the potential to just watch people be like, “oh, my God it;s Eraste.” It's the coolest thing ever. And now working in Pittsburgh with an artist that is in Pittsburgh and working with, like, Kate Denman is going to be really exciting. And I think that it's just fun. It's fun to be able to run around with these people and be like, “do you trust me? Yeah. Do I trust you? Yeah. Let's do it.” Y’know?

Joanna: Yeah.

Jade: Crazy. It's crazy to think that, like, and even on top of that, to think that like, I'm only 20, you're 21. Like… what the? laughs

Joanna: Yeah, and I think that that's why the imposter syndrome hits really, really hard sometimes. Especially, I feel like in the beginning, I had so much imposter syndrome or more so once we started the street team and things, I had a lot of imposter syndrome, because first of all, imposter syndrome is really real, especially when you're young. It's so hard to believe, like we were saying even now, like, “you trust me? You think that I'm smart? You think that I'm qualified? What?” both laugh And I feel like it just comes down to you just have to believe in yourself as much as other people believe in you.

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: You know what I mean? Because obviously, cliche, you're your worst critic, blah, blah, blah. But it is also really true because obviously, you are the one making these moves. You're the one doing everything. So you're going to be the most nit picky about everything and the people from the outside perspective, they're not going to see what, I mean obviously, they might see what you could have done better, but they're going to be like, “wow, they point blank period did this!” Y’know?

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: Like they're trying. They're doing this. And these are the positive things. And, like, yeah, we're not professionals. We're aspiring professionals, and we're going to make mistakes. And I think overall, everything that we have been doing, I feel like it's just it literally blows my mind. It's crazy. Sometimes I have a hard time even, like, comprehending that we did some of these things.

Jade: Yeah, I know. It's crazy to think that something that, like, which sounds weird, but something that I built in my dorm room and now has twelve people working internally, like, 100 street team members working remotely everywhere. It's just weird, because I was like, I never thought the idea would go anywhere. You know what I mean? I was like, “all right, cool. Let me just try to be Scooter Braun real quick and see what I can do.” both laugh Just seeing what it's become. And I hope we can only grow bigger because we're not even that big, but everything is every tiny little step. It's like watching your baby start to talk and start to walk.

Joanna: Yeah!

Jade: You know what I mean? And then start to grow up into a teenager and slam the door in your face or something, because sometimes it will. That's like what running a business is, especially whenever you have other things that you're doing, too. As 20 and 21 year olds, we're in school, obviously. And obviously we've talked about before we're in school. And so doing that, doing the business, doing every other thing that we want to do, being in clubs on campus, just trying to be social outside of the music industry, just make friends, make your roommates your friends or something. It's just like, there's a lot to be done on top of running a business, so sometimes what I mean by your business turning into a teenager and slamming doors in your face is like sometimes it will. laughs But the important thing is that you're doing it and that it means something to you and that it hopefully means something to somebody else. And that's what's exciting about it, is just watching it grow from this tiny little idea that you had all the way up into something that you never thought it could be. Even if it's not that big to like the world, it's big to me.

Joanna: Well yeah! Because even if it doesn't have 10k followers, we're still showing that this is something that we're really about. We're really passionate about it, because at first it was literally just you and me and we're like, “oh, what if we did New Music Monday, and then the Artist Rec Friday, and then what if we had a blog, and this and that! And we literally just did it and there were 40 followers. It could have stayed out of 40 followers, and it could have jumped to 4000 followers. We didn't really know that. And at the same time, we weren't like, “this is going to get us followers.” You know what I mean? We're just kind of doing it because it was something that we wanted to do. And it was fun. And it is still fun. It is still cool even just making these connections with these people and the networking about it. It's like, literally insane. Like, even just on this podcast, we've interviewed literally so many amazing people, so many of my favorite people, so many people who are definitely already making moves in the industry and are going to continue making even bigger moves. And I think that it's so cool. And we interviewed Fox Glove. We've interviewed obviously, Sophia Rose, we interviewed Eraste, these amazing small artists who hopefully are going to look back and remember that one of their first interviews was with us, which is insane.

Jade: Yeah.

Joanna: And jst the whole community aspect of it, I think is my favorite. Just seeing people, people repost us, seeing people support us, seeing people comment on our reels and on our TikToks and on our Instagrams. And we just had a giveaway, and it's crazy even thinking that we were able to do a giveaway… that doesn't even feel real. Like who are we to be doing a giveaway? I don't know. But that was so cool. And just the street team as a place for people to meet other people from all around the world, like, literally all around the world. And even just, like, for us, even just our team, our team is literally so amazing. And everybody are some of the best friends ever. And it's cool that we're able to have that separation also of being like friends, but also being“colleagues”, which is weird. both laugh Like Vivienne called me her boss. And I was like, “that's weird, don’t say that.” both laugh

Jade: I know. It's so weird to even think that, like, there was a Jaded meetup at all. I was like, “what the heck?” You know what I mean, it's just weird, because like I said, it's just weird.

Joanna: It doesn't feel right… I don't know. Like I said this year felt like it went by so fast.

Jade: Yeah. And yet we did so much. But I feel like we did so little.

Joanna: It’s so weird, like… I don't know. It's so weird.

Jade: Yeah. And that's what makes it fun is the fact that it went so fast and we did so much. And I still feel like we could do more now, it's probably like maybe an issue, but maybe something that I should be like, “okay, cool.” But also, where else can we go? Satisfied, but not satisfied. If that makes sense.

Joanna: I feel like in the music industry, I feel like even a lot of artists say that they're never satisfied, like, they can always keep going. And I feel like if you reach a point where you are satisfied and you just want to sit, I think that that's an issue. You know what I mean? I feel like it's good to, obviously be satisfied and to be like, “okay, I did my job”, and, like, you know, I feel like everybody reaches a point in their career at some point. But I think that it's also good to want to keep doing more, especially because we've only been doing this for less than a year because we started in March. So it's been about nine months, eight months? I don't know. I don't do math like that. But even so, it's like even thinking about, like, on a business standpoint, like with a company that still qualifies as a startup company, there's still more room for it to grow. Even with small artists, they're not going to release the biggest single of their career and then be like, “okay, I'm satisfied. I'm going to go now.” laughs It just makes you want to keep doing more because you're like, “oh, my God. What can I do now?” I think that that really shows passion, because if you weren't super passionate about something and you reached the “end goal” or like, the goal you are trying to reach, you be like, “okay, I reached it. I'm done now.” And I know we're always going to keep finding goals, and we're always going to want to keep reaching them. And obviously, as we grow, then those goals are also going to grow bigger. And I think that's what makes it fun, too, because you keep having something that you're working towards.

Jade: Definitely. Yeah. And I love how you mentioned artists never being satisfied. Some artists are never satisfied, I feel like that jumps right into all of the artists that had amazing years as well. Like, Big Time Rush came back because they weren't satisfied, which is, don't even get me started. I'm so excited for them to tour. They have to tour. If they don't tour, I'll be very upset.

Joanna: Well, first of all, they just have something against the West Coast, apparently because they have no shows over here. It's on the East Coast, and I'm just like, “guys, I-we said this before. I'm a college student. I don't know if I'm going to be able to go all the way to the East Coast.” I mean, I could, but I probably shouldn't. laughs

Jade: Take that type of time off, it's tough! They're coming back. Y’know Olivia Rodrigo, she released “driver's license”, I believe, at the beginning of this year, right?

Joanna: That was in January, and it's so insane to think about how much she's already grown. Even, like, I see a lot of people talk about this, about even just like her stage presence when she's performing, like, you could tell, she didn't have a lot of stage presence because she had never really performed in front of crowds, because she's done a lot of acting and a lot of singing on TV and things, but not a lot of performing in front of these massive crowds and her own original songs. Like, that's a lot of pressure, especially because she wasn't even 18 yet. It's crazy to think about, like, she went from just releasing her debut single to now… her album was one of the biggest albums of this year. Sour was just every single song that was hit after hit after hit. I want to say her album was I think it was like the quickest an album had, like, every single song had reached, like, 10 million streams or something. Something like that. Every single song on the album is, like, stacked upon stacked with streams. And that's rare, that’s something that doesn’t happen!

Jade: And that's great, though, because not only- she's, like, representing, you know what I mean? She's a woman, which is amazing, because I feel like that wouldn't have happened, like, 20 years ago, however long ago that it might have been. But that is so cool. And, like, Lil Nas X. Oh, my gosh. Lil Nas X is marketing is genius. I loved it, like he was like pregnant for a while? That was hilarious.

Joanna: I feel like, what makes these younger artists so eager to do these insane marketing campaigns, like Olivia Rodrigo. Because obviously, she had the “Sour Prom Livestream”, but she also went to fans houses and asked them to go with her to Sour Prom, which is so freaking cute, especially thinking about the fact that, the amount of people who didn't even have proms because of quarantine and she was just like, “Well, I'm going to ask you to my prom”, and that's just so cute. And she didn't have a prom either, because she didn't really go to high school. So I thought that was just a cute and little thoughtful thing for her to do for her fans, especially now that stuff was starting to be in person. She was just like, “I want to do this for my fans.” And she did the Sour… she did, like a car wash. She did her collaboration with Sour Patch Kids, and it's just obviously, Lil Nas X, he freaking drove on Hollywood Boulevard on a bus and was, like, promoting his music, which is so insane.

Jade: You know, what's cool, though, is that just talking about these artists is so funny because you realize, through these marketing campaigns, how much they actually understand their generation, like, they understand Gen Z so well that they, like, these marketing campaigns might not have been the perfect thing, like, ten years ago. But the fact that they nailed down exactly what Gen Z wants to see is amazing. And it's like a big shout out to their marketing.

Joanna: Yeah! Really. And the biggest thing that I've noticed is that both of them started out on social media as fans. Like Lil Nas X, he was like a Twitter troll. He wasn't, even, like, seriously pursuing music. And then he started releasing music because he gained somewhat of a following because of his presence on social media. And then that obviously, inevitably made him skyrocket and just made him all of a sudden, he's, like, the biggest thing in music, and the same thing with Olivia Rodrigo. She's never shied away from the fact that she's, like, a Swiftie and she pays attention to things that Taylor Swift does. And she pays attention to the things that all of these artists do. And she's like, “okay, what do they do that works? And what can I do to apply that to my music, and my career and things?” And, like, Lil Nas X is super, like, he knows the trends in social media. He knows what people are looking for. So obviously, he's going to create these amazing campaigns and, like, ideas because he is thinking, like, the fans, like the consumers. And I think that that's something that a lot of people are starting to do. A lot of people are starting to kind of take notes and notice what people are doing. And it makes me so excited for, obviously, all the music that's going to come in 2022 and just thinking about what more can these people do to stand out? And I think that it's exciting, but it's also kind of scary, because people keep wanting to top themselves. And how do you think of something better? How do you even think of something new?

Jade: And then they do. laughs

Joanna: Yeah. And speaking of Taylor Swift… She released Red (Taylor's Version), which is insane!

Jade: “All Too Well”.

Joanna: Yeah, “All Too Well”. Which, first of all, she released the ten minute version, and she released a short film to go along with the ten minute version. And she even did an in person premiere, and she casted Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink, amazing actors, literally. I think nobody could have played it better. I think that it was so smart for her to do that. And just… I mean we don't have to go into the backstory pf “All Too Well”! If you know, you know.

Jade: laughs

Joanna: But that's just-she’s such a good example of somebody who is just, like, providing what the fans want. The fans have been wanting the “All Too Well” ten minute version, and she was like, “Uh, I don't know if that's going to happen.” But then obviously, when she had to do her re-recordings, she did it, and the fans went crazy. Never did you ever think a ten minute song would be charting!

Jade: And it is. laughs

Joanna: Even, like, isn’t “Bohemian Rhapsody”, like, a six minute song or something? And they thought that was insane?

Jade: It’s long! I can't remember if it's, like, six or seven minutes.

Joanna: Yeah. And now freaking “All Too Well”, laughs a ten minute song, and it's so good. And her artistry is to, like, another level, and I can't wait to see what she keeps doing. And just so many artists have had so many amazing albums, like, obviously, like, Billie Eilish had her album, Silk Sonic. Are you kidding me? Never did I ever think that was going to happen.

Jade: laughs I know. Here's the thing. Okay, because Why Don't We, Drake, Halsey, everybody that had amazing releases, and that's not even all of them, but the fact that most of them utilize social media, especially TikTok… like I would have never known the sound. Maybe I would have listened in the album, but I would have never thought that it could be, like, the first time I heard it. Okay. The first time I heard it was on TikTok, and it was like, “this beep got me…

Both: “payin’ her rent.”

Joanna: Yeah!

Jade: And I thought that was brilliant because I'm like, “Dang, now I need to listen to that song.” So then I did it. And that's how you put your song on the thing, people are like, “oh, I like it”, head over to the streaming platform, stream it, they make money from it. You know what I mean? It's brilliant the way that most of these artists use TikTok, and I just thought it was great. It was such a great year for music, especially live music, because live music came back, everybody. And if you're not hyped about it…

Joanna: Thank everything that it came back.

Jade: I swear, it's so great. You know what I mean?

Joanna: It was a sad year, 2020, without live music, for sure. I feel like it really just... I don't know. I feel like for a lot of people, live music is just… I feel like they are more impacted by live shows. You know what I mean? And it's just, obviously, you really get to see the performers in their element. That's one of the biggest things.

Jade: Yeah. And not only that, but I mean, for me, going back to live shows just made me realize how much I love them because of what you're feeling in that exact moment. You know what I mean? You're feeling a state of total happiness, like, no concern, like, freedom of concern at all. And the floor is vibrating, and your heart is racing, and just your head-it's like a complete sensory overload. If that makes sense.

Joanna: Yeah! And it's funny, because a lot of people will always reference concerts and be like, “I don't remember a thing. I blacked out.” Because you're literally on sensory overload, like, you're in such, like, it’s almost you're in a euphoric type of state. You know what I mean?And I feel like a lot of people will hear that, and they'll be like, “oh, you're just exaggerating.” But I feel like, especially for young people, at least for me speaking as a younger person… “younger person”, like, when you have a job and you have school, you have all of these different priorities that are always just buzzing through your mind 24/7, I feel like a lot of people look for something like live shows with just something that they genuinely enjoy. And when they're in that moment, that's all they're focusing on. You know what I mean? That's why a lot of people say, “Stop recording and put down your phone and just be there and enjoy the moment”, because when you're there, anything that's outside those walls doesn't matter. It does not matter. When you go to a three day festival, nothing exists outside of those festival grounds. You know what I mean? Like, this is what you're paying attention to, and you're just going to be enjoying this. And I feel like people miss that so much, and obviously the artists, even they missed it like they miss being able to just be in a room with their fans and see their supporters, because obviously, we'll hammer it in forever, like, without the fans like, these people's careers would not be as big as they are. They just wouldn't. They want to see their fans and they want to have these interactions with their fans. And obviously the fans want to see them. But they also just want to have a good time and they just want to have an escape. They want to see their friends. They want to meet new people, like the amount of people, like, even just Harry Styles: Love on Tour. If you haven't listened to our last episode, it was Artist Spotlight on Harry Styles, one of my favorite episodes. We basically just talk about him for an hour.

Jade: It’s October. Wait, no, it's November. I don't know. It was either October or November that we recorded that. So check it out. It was either our last episode or the one before that.

Joanna: It was our last episode. chuckles

Jade: Oh okay, then it was the last one. So go check it out.

Both: laugh

Joanna: And we talked about Love on Tour and how it was just like, this big, basically, just like- it was like huge fan… like mania. It was insane in the best way possible. It was just really a moment. I feel like especially, because nothing was happening last year, people used this as a moment to take it to the next level. And they were making outfits and they were making these friends online, and just…

Jade: Standing in box office lines for long…

Both: Long amounts of time. laugh

Joanna: Trust me, long amounts of time.

Jade: Yes. And then you stand up and your legs are weak and you should fall over, but it was worth it.

Joanna: Oh yeah.

Jade: But anyway, if you want to hear more…

Joanna: Sleeping on the sidewalk, the whole thing.

Jade: Being dehydrated and so on.

Joanna: And so on. But for good reason! And I don't know, it was just, like, the second that it came back… it only came back, like halfway into the year. And once it did, everybody was just like, tour, tour, tour, concert, concert, concert. And I can't wait for more.

Jade: Yeah. And now Justin Bieber is coming back. Cross your fingers Big Time Rush is coming back, Billie's, coming back. Everybody is just going. And I think it's cool-I mean, it's cool from a fan perspective. It sucks because it's going to be a lot of money because everybody is touring the same year because they haven't made money in a couple of years. But it's going to be so cool. And I'm very excited because all this good music came out during quarantine in the pandemic, and now we get to see it all live and just take you right back to that moment, because I was thinking about it the other day, and it was pretty cool: The fact that you can listen to a song and it defines, like, a period of time in your life, or like, you remember, you just breathe in and you feel like you're smelling the same, like smell that you had whenever you played that song, y’know. Like when Big Time Rush plays, I feel like I'm still a child. You know what I mean? I'm outside playing or something, because that's when it was like. I listened to a lot of James Arthur this semester, which, by the way, yeah, James Arthur just came out with an album, and I can't remember what it's called. But I listened to “Emily” on repeat and like, “The last of the Whiskey” and stuff, so now when I listen to that album and the semester is over, I'm like, right back in the study rooms.laughs And not that it's a great feeling to be in the study rooms, but the music is just, like, so good. It just defines a whole period of your life, which is also the reason why I feel like a lot of people gravitate towards seeing it live because that piece of music defines a whole piece of your life. So you're just trying to relive it, I guess in a good way or bad way or to feel like- getting the trauma out, bringing in the good stuff, type of thing. That's at least what I thought the other day.

Joanna: It's amazing also, because even now, obviously, I'm a big Harry Styles fan, and now when I listen to his music, it triggers a memory of being at the show, or even like the day before the show, just things like that. And I don't know, it just always makes me smile, because then I think about that. And I'm just like, “my gosh, I miss that.” It could make you sad because you're like, “oh, I miss that.” But at the same time, it makes you happy, and it makes you excited for maybe the next time that you get to see them, or it makes you excited because of the people that you were there with, or this and that, whatever it is. I don't know. Obviously, music is meant to trigger lots of different emotions, and I think… I don't know, I feel like live music, especially it's on another level. It really is.

Jade: Definitely, yeah. And the James Arthur album It’ll All Make Sense in the End, so I would recommend. But what more do you think that the people out there listening, that have listened this far, that somewhat care about what we have to say. laughs What do you think they can expect in 2022, without giving away too much?

Joanna: Well, lots of changes, but exciting changes, for sure. Advancements, I would say. I think it's just going to be a lot of opportunities, I would say? Just trying to use my words wisely. I don't know. What would you say? 

Jade: I would say: “pay attention”, because it's going to be really cool. And I don't know, I'm all smiley when I'm saying this, because I know it's going to happen, but it's just going to be really cool. I am very, very, very excited. I think it's the next level of Jaded, and I think it's going to be pretty great, and it's a lot of changes, but a lot of cool changes. Changes that I'm very excited for, and changes that I'm very excited for you all to see.

Joanna: Yes. Jaded is not going to slow down anytime soon. And I feel like especially, because, obviously, we're college students, like, fall semester, for some reason, is just always the hardest. It's always hard to prioritize anything outside of school. laughs

Jade: I know it's very hard.

Joanna: And now that it's going to be a new year, it's going to be just like a new semester, like all that, I'm just… I don't know. I'm excited. I'm excited to see what happens. I think it's going to be good, it's going to be good. 

Jade: Yeah. So I think with all that being said, thanks so much for sticking around with us in 2021, we hope to see you in 2022.

Joanna: Yes.

Jade: And this has been another episode of A Little Jaded.

Transcripted By: Mai Vo

Edited By: Joanna Serrano