Interview: Jane N the Jungle uncovers a cleansing power

Jordan White clobbers you across the head. Her voice, that is, leaves a bruised and purple imprint in “Ain’t No Other Way,” the latest offering as part of her band Jane N the Jungle. White stirs up a vocal hurricane and would most certainly give the likes of Lzzy Hale a run for their money. Of course, the musical phenomenon wouldn’t be the same without musicians Brian Dellis and Bryan Dague slinging filthy guitar and bass into the whirlwind mix. “Thought I had to choose / Thought I had to lose you, lose you,” White sings, hang-gliding over the production with a core-rattling inflection.

Unleashing hell with every lyrical lashing, White captures her own journey to uncovering self-worth, both personally and professionally. “Ain’t it funny how / Chase the world to find you here,” she crows, further digging into the universal expedition we all undertake. Each line cuts deeper into a series of existential inquiries. In her life, the singer-songwriter confronted her many desires and trepidations about continuing to navigate such a slippery industry. “I think the biggest breaking point for any artist is when you have to ask yourself, ‘Can I keep going, or better yet do I want to keep going?,'” she ponders to B-Sides & Badlands over email. “During the pandemic, those were real questions I had to ask myself everyday. To think it could all be gone and taken away is very scary, and I had to make the choice to keep fighting.”

White seizes the present moment, and despite taking a little time, she doesn’t believe she wasted any of it. “Time is always time spent for better or worse. It gets you to where you are today,” she remarks.

In the accompanying music video, co-directed by Jim Louvau and Tony Aguilera, and filmed in Phoenix and LA, White doesn’t squander a second. Truth be told, she exhibits a superstar glow, primed perfectly for arena headlining. As they say, it’s only a matter of time. Once the video reaches its aesthetic climax, a rain shower pours over her shoulders and douses the stage, a symbolic transition into her rebirth and declaration of self. It’s cleansing and utterly cathartic. “It was signifying washing away your mistakes and becoming a new person,” she says.

The electrifying “Ain’t No Other Way” primes a forthcoming EP, produced by Chuck Alkazian. “We wanted to explore our different writing styles of rock and will keep trying to dive deeper,” teases White, also noting the next single to be titled “Ocean Creatures.”

Below, White discusses important stage performances, growth as a songwriter, and takeaways from the band’s 2019 debut.

What moments have affirmed your right to take up space on stage?

I think anyone that is brave enough to stand on stage and perform in front of an audience speaking their truth deserves to take up all the space on stage, no matter how big or small. There has never been one moment that I thought I had to earn the right to take up space. I think it’s all the little moments that make all the difference.

What would you tell your younger self at the start of your career?

Your story will always be enough.

You’ve been releasing singles over the last year, so have you found yourself more creative than you expected over the pandemic?

It was nice having time to write and be creative. Before the pandemic, we were extremely busy traveling for shows. I think we were pretty creative during the pandemic and even more so now.

You released a record in 2019 called Concrete Jungle. Two years on, what are your biggest takeaways from that writing and recording process?

We took our time with the record and recorded the songs all over the place — Santa Monica, Chicago and Phoenix. It was a lot of work. We wanted the experience to be fun and organic, which it was completely. Biggest takeaways… sometimes art doesn’t make sense, but you just have to trust the process, and it’s okay to take your time.

In what ways have you grown most as a performer and songwriter?

It’s weird having so much time go by without performing. We just played our first couple shows since the pandemic, and in ways, it felt pretty rusty. It’s like relearning how to perform all over again, but it makes it feel exciting and new. I think overall with my growth as a performer and songwriter lately has been finding a new exploration within myself, and in that way, it’s slight growth, even though it can feel like I’ve taken a step back.

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