JS: I am happy to talk with you again! There is nothing like an authentic, no-holds-barred, minimally edited conversation with fiercely independent Anya Jasmine. Part 1 of this interview focuses on “UR NOT.” Anya, this is your latest music and video release after what feels like a long time. It is undoubtedly an attention-getting, meaning-laden, outrage-expressing, emotional song with an amazingly impressive beat and an outstanding vocal performance.
AJ: This is the first music and video release in nearly three years. I hope to continue the momentum after this and am ready to produce. All the music I have written and will release in the next few months was written at least half a year ago—I feel I have evolved from that. I was getting worried about releasing “old” stuff because I can do better than that now. It must be released anyway—there is a six-month to a year delay in the ability progression of what you hear from a creator. So, while getting everything together and dealing with the pressure that comes with that, on a personal level, a few things happened that felt like a wrench in my back. It made things even more challenging. I remember thinking, “This is effin’ ridiculous. I hate everyone. I will sit in my room and get my work done because I hate people!”
JS: Let us jump right into it. Give us all the details about the process and the inspiration behind “UR NOT.”
AJ: I was inspired to write the track – gosh, it must have been a year and a half ago! – when I was placed in the middle of a situation where two close friends in a relationship ended up having a nasty breakup. The guy in the relationship surprised me with how much of an a-hole he was. I was impressed, to say the least. How he dealt with the situation and broke up with her and everything showed his true colors, and I thought, “Damn, you are not that good-looking enough to be able to do that to someone!” You know what I mean? A lot of negative thoughts were running through my head during that situation. So that is how the track came to be: a toxic boyfriend who flipped everything upside down for that poor girl – who is honestly one of the nicest people I have ever met: that is what triggered the emotion; that is where the anger came from for me. Writing the track was a way to channel that anger into something else. The interesting or unusual thing is that the track is not about a personal experience (not my own) but the situation between them. It feels like I stepped out of it, like from the outside looking in. I witnessed it and channeled my angry emotions into telling the story. If they listen to the lyrics and reflect, people will realize that the story is not about me but from a third-person perspective.
JS: Was it an out-of-nowhere jerk-supernova that shone a light on this guy’s true character? In other words, were you caught by surprise?
AJ: Yes. Definitely! Don’t get me wrong. If this person had never come by me in life, I would still be civil, and I wouldn’t have started an argument; it’s in the past. But. We were good friends before all this happened. Then I found out little stories about everything, and wow, although I knew he had a bit of a weird side… I had not imagined anything like that! Not as bad as that.
JS: Perhaps he had successfully masked his obnoxious traits or attitude until that situation happened. How did the girl in the story react to the dumping? Did she anticipate it?
AJ: No, I don’t think so. I witnessed, heard through the wall, shouting down the phone in the very early morning hours. I will not speak about other meaningful details of that relationship. Suffice it to say the breakup was not on the radar, not at all. He ended it over the phone in that sickening manner. I think he did it that way because he could not be bothered to do it in person, face to face; something like, “Easier to do it over the phone because I cannot be *asked.*” [Note: It’s not the word used, but you get it.]
JS: Does she know you wrote the track inspired by her story?
AJ: I don’t think so. There is a chance I might have mentioned something to her a long time ago when I was thinking about it. I do want to tell her. She is in a healthy relationship now, and the story that inspired the song is long past. Hopefully, she will be fine and consider it tongue-in-cheek, even funny, not funny, after all this time. My intuition is saying she’d be fine. At the height of everything happening, I didn’t want to trigger any more emotion; I just wanted to let her heal and process. So much time has passed. I feel it would be OK to tell her. You know… In all honesty, if the guy realizes it is about him, then… I don’t care. [Visualization aid note – something about digits, flipping, and birds]
JS: He may not be emotionally or rationally able to process the level of recognition and accountability for his behavior at the time. He may not have realized how his actions and words exposed his toxic traits in that situation.
AJ: I think he knows, at least a bit, how much of an a-hole he was. He may need to acknowledge the depth, but I think he knows. The thing is, I do get protective of my friends, but, at the same time, I am not one to get super-involved in anything if I don’t need to. In this case, seeing her so distraught by everything that happened solidified in my head those weird intuition things I was picking up about him having a somewhat toxic side.
JS: When you wrote “UR NOT,” did that situation trigger disappointment (if any) with a previous relationship of your own? I know it is a personal question, so feel free not to answer.
AJ: No, it’s OK. I don’t think that, at that point in my life, there was anyone I was picking up a weird vibe from. I believe that that indirect experience has been a good thing for me, in a sense. It has allowed me to register and understand that when I start to get that vibe, it is a red flag: the person might be able to do more damage than one may think possible. It has made me more aware of the people around me and who they might be deep down. It has let me recognize things better, listen to my gut, and act accordingly.
JS: The song is compelling, conveying emotions and visceral reactions. The video effectively and strikingly visualizes the composition. It is a genuinely brilliant video production. The lyrical timing is spot-on. The music video is in no way an invitation to physical violence as comeuppance but an artistic license in rendering the emotional devastation a breakup can prompt and the outrage it stirs, such as that caused to the wronged party in the story the song was inspired by. It has powerful, disquieting final imagery for a reason. “UR NOT” marks the introduction of the “new and updated” version of Anya Jasmine: welcome back!
NEW AND UPDATED VERSION OF ANYA JASMINE
JS: Are you following your intended path? As compared to your previous work.
AJ: It is the new and updated version of Anya Jasmine. There are still continual elements of my sound as a writer and singer, and parts of my “old” music and its inspiration can still be heard. There’s a new, fresh spin to all of it. I think I am somewhere in the middle of the path. I can’t see a time or space where I don’t create music; that doesn’t exist in my mind. Music has been a significant part of my life since childhood – I have come a long way and still have a long way to go.
JS: What direction has your music taken in the last three years?
AJ: I wanted to create my unique style, but I have only recently started fulfilling it. I took inspiration from elements of my rock and metal guitar playing and fused that with modern pop and a little electronic music, pulling together something I like to call “metal pop.” Many artists are doing it, such as Poppy or Rina Sawayama (she’s fantastic). To be clear, this fusion is not an invention of mine: I am doing it my way, and this is the direction I have taken and the field I want to go into. It caught my attention, making so much sense because I am a pop/rock singer and a metal guitarist. I love electronic music, pulling influences from many different genres and may widen it even more. Since I last released music in 2021, I have developed my voice much more. After studying music production, which allowed me to record and produce my voice, I feel I have developed it much more. I am confident in my voice and where I want it to be. The next step will be recreating it live because my recorded tracks are vocally challenging. I want to make sure the accuracy, stability, and intonation are there.
JS: What do you feel you need to work on or focus more on to find your “that’s it” core?
AJ: The biggest thing I need to work on is combining the right sounds for the right track. When you are working with different genres, sometimes there are too many options, and finding what works where is a challenge. What may work amazingly for one track will sound terrible for another. It’s all about the context and direction of the material I am working with and sifting through until I find the “that’s it.” I am working on a lot of things like sound design as well. I want to start programming more. For example, the electronic scene where you hear from the likes of Charli XCX consists of these dirty synths, which I think work so nicely with some of the heavier bits of music. Maybe pull some elements of rave music or DnB. There are so many directions it can go! The goal is to find what works best and reflects my brand as an artist – it is probably the most challenging part.
JS: This leads me to what you recently expressed on your platforms about the criticism you receive. The criticism covers a broad range of topics: style and speed of playing, music production, and genre definition, to mention a few random things. You touched on constructive vs. destructive criticism. How much does this affect you? Does it?
AJ: It depends on who it comes from, right? There is a difference between the two types of criticism. I am very open to hearing criticism. Yet I believe that even with constructive criticism, there may be too much of it, or it may be coming from many people, and it can get overwhelming – especially when it is contradictory on the same issue. Then you think, “So what the heck do you do?” I posted that I am happy to take criticism if it is constructive, solution-based thinking, and less receptive when it is generic, like “this thing does not sound so good” or “the quality of the music could be better.” That’s when I want to say: I don’t have thousands of pounds; I am still learning. I may be aiming high, and I know I can achieve it – but in the meantime, I am here; this is what point I am at, and I can only do so much now. I work as hard as I can. I can only produce as much music as I can. I can’t rush that process, and I do not want to, either. I want to enter the music scene fully, but I cannot know how far that will go until I am in it. I want to enjoy my freedom, time, and independence for as long as possible before facing the pressure and demands that go hand in hand with increased notoriety.
JS: Are you still doing everything yourself, or are you at a point where you can assertively seek external support without conceding decisional power or feeling somewhat deprived of independence?
AJ: I am coproducing with a producer who knows me well and whom I can rely on. They are behind the scenes, and I want to keep it that way for now. I am also sending things off for mixing and mastering. There was a time when I tried to do everything, and I learned how to do many things while trying to retain complete oversight. It wasn’t perfect, but I gained the fundamentals, which benefited me. Now I know what I am looking for, what sounds good, what I want. I have that foundation now, and I can think about starting to collaborate with people, maybe co-writing at some point. It has allowed me to focus on those things that matter the most: my singing, guitar playing, writing, and content creation. Those four things are what I need to direct my energy to.