INTERVIEW: JENNIFER-LYNN CHRISTIE: THE MULTI-LAYERED ARTIST
You're an actress, singer, songwriter, musician, model, photographer. Could you tell me how you got into all that?
Yes. I think it stems from childhood. My dad was always filming, so he always had a camera on him. I literally thought I was born on a TV set acting as a kid. I immediately thought, “I'm gonna be a famous actor and singer when I grow up”. I always knew it was gonna happen. Photography happened by accident. My uncle gave me an old digital camera, and I started fucking around with it. And people noticed, “Oh, you're really good at taking portraits”. And my friends were all in bands, and I always wanted to make music, but I grew up in a not so encouraging creative environment. I didn't start like everyone else when they were 12 or children. So I would just take pictures of my friends who were making music. I wanted to go into acting in school. My mom didn't want me to, so I ended up writing instead. There was a teacher who was a pain in the ass that made me quit the program. I decided, “I'm going to do photography”. And then I ended up working with modeling agencies at 15, 16 and started acting. I told myself, “I have to stop being scared of doing it and just start”. So I just started and kept going. People told me, “Wow, you're really good at this”. And music came with COVID in 2019. I thought to myself, “The world is stopping. I'm not gonna pay my phone bill. I'm gonna buy a bass and I'm gonna buy a guitar”. I took a road trip around the US and played guitar every day from state to state and ended up in Oregon. Then I was a barista and I just started doing music every day. So I would work 5am to 1pm and then paint and be creative for the rest of the day. That's how music kind of came to be. In 2019, I paid someone to record my first song “Voices”. This Italian film student immediately liked it. He was referred by someone I had been on set with and he offered to shoot it for free, which usually cost maybe 10 grand. And I was flabbergasted. I said to him, “Oh my God, it's so expensive. I don't have money”. And he replied, “No, we're paying”. And I asked "You like my song, it’s that good?” I was freaking out. That's how it all started.
I don't know how you do all those things. It's a lot at once. Do you ever think of maybe putting one to the side for a bit or do you think you wouldn't be able to do one without the other?
I feel everyone is multi-layered and we do have a lot of interests as people in general. I kind of dare myself to do it and I try to find balance in how to manage each one so that I can be really good at all of them. Because a lot of people can do a lot of things and be bad at them or mediocre. But I am competitive and a perfectionist, so I want to be excellent at a lot of them. Photography I kind of put aside because it wasn't a passion anymore and I wanted to do more personal, cinematography kind of work. But I still do headshots from time to time. Modeling, I quit that because it was just not aligned. And it's a weird industry. Acting is where I feel the most alive. And with music, I'm still shy. So I'm slowly, continuously forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone and take care of my inner child who thinks, “You’re not good enough or no one wants to hear this”. It's like a womb of being perceived, I guess. I have to do it for my self validation. With acting, I know that I'm good and I work hard, but with music, I started late. People are gonna think I started when I was young, but I haven't. I get told, “Wow, you're so good”. I tell them I only started in 2019 and they don't believe me. They say, “No, you started before that”. And I tell them, “No I really did not”. I started in December 2019 to play the guitar. And I play seven hours a day. But they expect me to know things because they started younger. They’ll say, “Oh, you don't know how to do this and that”. I’ll explain to them, “I started late. If I started at the same time with you, I probably would have won a Grammy by now”.
You mentioned your mom not being supportive of you going into acting. Is there anybody that inspired you to become an actress?
So my mom is more supportive now. She'll kill me if I don't say that. My parents didn't really encourage art. I think it's when I moved to LA on a whim, very irresponsibly. Don't do what I did because you'll get deported. When I watch TV shows and movies, I get depressed because I'm not in them. I’ll wish I was on set doing those things. When you are on set, it's so fun. It's long hours but it's so much fun and inspiring. There's nothing in the world that makes me feel that way. It's just watching really good movies that are gritty, raw, honest films that take a risk to be original. That's what inspired me after learning Viola Davis started when she was in her late 40s. The guy who plays on Solo started late. There's an infinite list of really good actors that make me think, “Wow, I wish I could be that good”. I think it's always been in me to love those things. They're interconnected too.
Are there any movies, recent or older, that you watched and thought “I wish I was in that movie?”
Oh gosh, there are so many. You know Greta Gerwig, who directed Ladybird? That's a really fun project. I like indie films that go into film festivals because people are a lot more passionate and do it for the storytelling. I guess any film that you can tell is well-written. And has a good soundtrack. So I'm really good friends with Josh Boone who did The New Mutants. He has really good playlists for his films because worked in music stores when he was younger. So he perfectly curated the songs for the films. And I like when people keep that also in mind. I love all music, but I hate when it's always the same artists that are being played in films. I think, “you couldn't get an underground indie artist, really?” There are so many good songs but they’re mainstream. So anything that's well written.
You put out your album Pretty, Ugly, Raw & Free last November. I read in an interview you mentioned being tired of perfectionism and if you had the money, you would re-record your songs. Is there a specific song that you would like to re-record?
Oh, there are so many. I'd probably re-record them all. I'd record them all. “Look at my pretty flower”, which is also “Keeps Getting Better”, the commercial name. But “Look at my pretty flower” was the poetic name. I would definitely re-record that one. And “24hrs”. I'm currently recording one in a studio called “BRIGHTSIDE”. It's more rock, but it's expensive. So it's on a pause and then “Undergraduate Poet”. There's a song that's not out that needs an orchestra. I don't want to even try to record it because it's not going to sound the same without it, even as a demo. It's just not gonna give it justice. But I have to at some point have kind of an idea for my producer. “Undergraduate “Poet” and then “Life & Death Of A Poet”. There are so many songs. I think they're really good. If they were recorded professionally, people would want to listen to them more. But I feel people will appreciate the lyrics and still like the songs. I feel I put a lot of thoughts in the song and lyrics. So all of them. Let's re-record them. I've written hundreds of songs. I have 300 songs. I can come up with a song like “Trash Man”. I was in LA and I was taking out the trash and singing to myself, “I'm the trash man”. And then I came back inside and the person I was with said, “That's so catchy. What's that?” And I said, “Oh, it's just nothing”. And he told me I should record it. And that's how it came to be.
Sometimes ideas come up in the most random moments. And sometimes they're the best ideas.
Right? Or in my sleep.
In your sleep?
Yeah, my song “Heaven”. I was listening to a lot of Harry Nilsson, The Beach Boys, Elizabeth Cotten, Nina Simone. I had this dream and the song was playing and I thought, “Oh, I'm dreaming. Oh fuck, if I don't do this right now, I'm gonna forget the song”. And I loved it so much because it had Beach Boys vibes. So I woke up and just improvised it. I didn't know what I was doing but one take and it was there. It's done. I recorded the song.
You mentioned being tired of perfectionism. Would you say that applies to every form of art or specifically music?
Perfectionist for music, definitely. Photography, I have let go of perfectionism because in school they teach you to over edit. I love the details of people that make them real. You can see their personalities, soul and real life. So, perfectionism in photography. I've let go of. I'm trying in my relationships to not have so much Virgo in me to ask myself, “Why are you doing that? That's so cringe”. But I'm fighting with myself. “Oh, why would you do that? Why would you say that?” In acting, I'm learning to slowly let go of perfectionism. But I am a perfectionist because I really care for the art. Even when I perform a show, I stress myself out too much because I forget that imperfections make it real and people connect to that and it takes a lot of pressure off. I think of when Amy Winehouse came off stage and she killed it but still said, “That was kind of shit”. And others say, “That was amazing”. She disagrees and replies, “No shit”. And I think, “Why would you say that?” But after my first show, I said, “That was shit. That was fucking shit”. And everyone said, “That was so good, what the fuck? I didn't know you could do that!” And I tell them, “That was so bad. I fucked up on this song at this part and this song at that part”. But no one knows. It was so bad. And I get nervous for the first song. I feel like I'm gonna shit myself. And then the second song, I feel I'm on fire. And then go, “Let's go all night. We could do this all night, guys”.
Can we expect you to play a show anytime soon?
Yes. Eeno, she works with music at Benelux for open mics. She reached out to me last month saying, “Hey, Benelux has monthly artists. So instead of doing an open mic, can we hire you to do April as the monthly artist?” So most likely in April, I'll be doing a 45 minute show. That's cool. And I'm nervous. It's my longest show. It'll be eight to 10 songs. And it's funny because it's such a small venue. I've played in front of 3,000, 5,000 people in LA, but no one knew me. And it was for a good cause. But this is so small and more nerve wracking. Now it's a show, but open mic so people will like it or hate it there. But it gives me a fire. One time I had two girls right in front of me. The moment I started singing, they went “Ugh”. And I told them, “I'm just gonna be louder now so you can just deal with it”. They kept talking so loud and they were right in front of me. I thought, “You know what? I’m not going to let this affect me”. But my inner child was crying because they're so close. I almost said to them, “You're rude” or “It's okay to talk but I could hear your conversation more than my own lyrics”.
I'm gonna talk about MGK for a second. What if you could do a photo shoot with him? What outfit would he use? Or what location?
Oh my God. This is so funny to me because I've met him multiple times and I did give him my card. I think he lost it. But we really got along every time we met. He's genuinely excited from what I have experienced. And I met him at his friend's birthday and I said, “Here's my card”. And he never reached out. But then I changed my phone, so I'll never know. If I were to do a photo shoot with him, I would actually kind of break it down and make it more raw and actually Colson. Because I feel we have so much of a grandiose, performative persona and I know he has a midheaven and aquarius. But I would want to do something more cinematographic and intimate. A more “Who are you when you're not performing?” type of photo shoot. Because I feel a lot of photos, it is still him and it still represents him. But I feel there could be so much beauty in a black and white shoot. I would love a black and white, kind of story. An editorial kind of shoot. But with broken down, more normal but still expensive clothes. A white shirt and jeans, more simple. With the guitar. Just to go back to his roots of being a normal person. Something different and more real.
I feel like someone needs to do that and that needs to be you.
Yes. You should call me Colson one of these days. Probably when I'm gonna be more successful. I'm calling it out. I'm not famous enough for you yet.
I know you also mentioned wanting to tour at some point. Who would you like to tour with?
There are so many artists. I love Phem and would like to go on tour with her. I think we would get along. Fefe Dobson. She was one of my inner child’s favourites. Me and my friend listened to her in art class and no one else knew her. She’s the emo queen of Canada. And then any of the pop punk bands from growing up.. But it's not necessarily matching in aesthetic. A recent artist I like is JSolomon. He's an indie rocker. And I think our vibe kind of matches musically. Aidan Bessette. I think our music kind of matches also sometimes. I love Madison Beer. Mgk. I feel that I would have definitely been able to be an opener for him or write a song with him. We're gonna write a song together one day.
It will happen.
It'll happen. I think it'll work. Anyone who wants me, I'm down. I'd like to be an opener a lot more than a headliner. To start at least. It takes the pressure off. I cried at Our Lady Peace because they played a song that reminds me of my song “24hrs”. Well, it's the opposite. My song is kind of their song, but I thought, “Oh my God. Imagine if people sang this song all together”. I would cry. I would actually not be able to sing. I'd be just crying. It's so hard not to cry when I play in front of people.
Imagine if it's like 20,000 people singing your song back to you.
Oh my god. It would feel so surreal. I cried at Charlotte Cardin's show. I think it was two years ago. She played at Bell Centre. And I got so emotional because it was sold out. There were 10,000 people there. She's so hot. She came on stage and I saw her presence. She's a Scorpio. I thought, “I have to go work out now. My vocals. I need to run or something. She's so good”. And I discovered her when she was a model before La Vois and everything. So to see her evolution made me so emotional. I cried five times. I was not expecting to cry once.
Are there any places in the world that you would like to tour?
Everywhere except Australia. I'm scared of everything in Australia. Everything. The giant spiders with family names. “Oh, that's Jill. You know, just hanging out”. A wolf spider that's this big. I would love to play in Japan. If I can do a music video in Japan, that would be the goal. With a local artist. I'm learning Mandarin right now, but I should try to learn Korean or Japanese.
It's funny because I literally have a question about that too. I read that you were trying to learn Chinese and wanted to learn Italian and Japanese. If you could pick any language to sing a song in, which one would you pick?
Oh, for sure Japanese. It's so sick. I love anime and manga. I just love Asian culture in general. Japan is a very Virgo person's- I'm not Virgo but I'm a rising Virgo. But it's very for the Virgos I feel. I grew up liking anime so Japanese would be sick. But I have songs in multiple languages all the time. So I sang one in Spanish, “Ella siempre está en mi mente”. She's always on my mind. And then I have French and English songs, trilingual songs. Sometimes it's just easier to express yourself in a different language because it's a different aspect of your brain and it brings people together. So it's not appropriation, it's more embracing and integrating. Because I feel if people were more mixed together the world would be so much more interesting. But united, you know, especially food wise. Yeah, I love snacks.
What's your favorite snack?
Everything unlimited. But I would eat poke every day. I could eat that or in California I could eat Mexican food every day.
It's really good there.
The Mexican food here is not the same. Someone was in Toronto and asked me, “Do you want to go eat Mexican food? I know the best spot”. It was not good. I miss Mexican food in California. There was a family under my apartment in K town. They made the best burritos asada. They were this big. It lasted me two days because I was broke. I kept half one day and finished the other half the next day.
If you could make a music video for one of the songs from your latest album, which song would it be? What would the perfect version of that music video look like? With all the budget in the world. You can shoot it anywhere. And also what would the more accessible, realistic version of it look like?
So “BRIGHTSIDE” isn't out yet. But that one would be shot in London with punk influenced aesthetics because it was inspired by The Kooks. I went to see them live and I was inspired to have a rock British song and I wrote that one. So it would definitely be in the UK and all over the place. But also Y2K/early 90s/2000s inspired aesthetics with Japan's street style inspired fashion as well and just really fun. And it starts with the classic plugging the guitar throwback Avril with the white backdrop. spiderweb. I would shoot with Massimo Russo who I did this sci-fi short film with called Solipsis. He has a brilliant team. Everyone on the team is hard working and so nice and respectful. And the video would also be inspired by Our Lady Peace, Avril and yeah, the 90s, the grungy pop-punk scene. So with a crowd at a concert, mixed with like a storyline. For my song “24hrs”, I had someone approach me but it's taking time. And that one is about day-to-day life and everyone is struggling. There's multiple layers to it with 24 hours in a day. I don't know if I'll make it out okay. Is anyone wondering if I'm fine? If you're wondering why I'm crying? There's a lot on my mind. Everyone is dealing with something and not everyone is necessarily talking about it. And mental health is weird when everyone says, “It's okay to be depressed”. But when you're depressed, they ask, “Why are you depressed?” That song was also inspired by dating someone with drug use who struggled with heroin addiction. And not knowing if they're gonna make it through the night, you know? And also it could be about grief because I had a friend who died. So it's multiple things in one. I think those are the main ones. “Bittersweet”, I would re-record in the studio. I love that song.It would be a very indie film vibe. A sweet little bittersweet romance, rom-com movie kind of vibe.
You have so many ideas.
There's too many. My dreams also give me good movie ideas.
Do you remember your dreams most nights?
I always remember my dreams. If I don't write it down though, it wasn't a big thing, I'll forget it. But if it was weird, I'll remember. But I think dreams help you do inner work because it shows you a lot of what's going on in your subconsciousness. They call them nightmares, but I think it's just parts of yourself you don't want to look at. And that's why it's stressful and scary. And I was a kid when I discovered this. I wondered, “Why is it called a nightmare?’ And I realized it's only a part of yourself that you don't want to look at. So if you're okay with understanding that, then it doesn't become as scary when you're in it. So when you're aware that you're having a nightmare, you ask yourself, “What is this showing me?” And it kind of changes the scariness of it all. And you're open to looking at the scary stuff more.
That’s an interesting way of looking at it. I never thought about that.
It's weird, right? Now I just call them dreams. I don't call them nightmares anymore. It’s an uncomfortable dream.
I'm gonna think about my nightmares in a different way. I have one last question for you. I know you received some good advice that you mentioned in an interview. What would be one piece of advice that you would give anybody that wants to be creative in any way but is being held back for whatever reason?
There are so many things. If it speaks to you, there's a reason for it. If something makes you feel alive, you should go towards that. Because then your soul, you're going to be supporting your purpose in life and you're going to be much happier. You're going to look healthier, you're going to look younger, your mental health is going to be much better. Because when you're not doing your life purpose, your soul and body will know you're not doing the thing. And then I would say it's okay to be cringe because what is cringe? At the end of the day is a reflection of things that we're uncomfortable with or whatever. I used to be scared of posting, because my inner child is afraid to be seen and rejected. And now I'm not afraid of posting because it's already out there so I don't have to be afraid and rejected. Do what makes you happy and don't do it for other people. Do it for self validation. Don't do what you think people want you to do. Do it in a way that feels right for you because people don't know what they want. You don't even know what you want sometimes. You'll be much prouder if you do that. If you're making songs that you think people want to hear, it becomes “Am I doing this for myself or for others?”.
You can’t do that in the long run.
It's exhausting. And I would say walk away from people-pleasing because I used to be a people pleaser. What changed my perspective on people-pleasing was they are never pleased and they're not. They don't even like you. And when you're people-pleasing, you're not living truthfully. You're blocking your chakra and you're much more aligned when you're not people-pleasing. It's liberating. But people-pleasing is manipulative.
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