Sir JET aka Joel Evan Tye is a pop star like no other. With his super-hero body and love for skin tight costumes and anime.
JET's childhood struggle with gender anxiety that lead him to become an agoraphobic mute for almost a decade to only rediscover his voice again at age 20 and become the man you see today.
His mission in life is to help people who struggle with their identity and to encourage them to find their true selves by going within like he did, with the release of his current EP "Shout Out to the Lonely" it's Sir JET!
MS: Your sound has evolved since your single "Storm" which had a very retro/Depeche Mode quality to it. But you did go back to that sound with your track on your current EP "Hikari Iku (I'm Coming Home)".
SJ: It does have that retro vibe. (laughs)
MS: The track was co-written by Kimberly Locke, you said it worked out between you guys really well because she was stuck in a mode. I am not familiar with her last song, is that statement true?
SJ: Well last song was "Friendly Free" I can't remember the actual lyrics, but it's a you hurt me and I'm free of you sort of thing. It's ironic because she released the video a couple of months ago, and I thought: "This song sounds very similar we must have wrote them at the same time". (laughs) She's a lot of fun to work with, very easy going and quick witted, just like me. (laughs)
MS: "Shout Out to the Lonely" is a very inspired song, what, uh, inspired you to write it?
SJ: I wanted to create a new dance track and that's a phrase, I just kind of heard: "Shout Out to the Lonely" the song grew from the title. When I first created that song it had a very different meaning than the video, I think that's because I was bringing in different people to make the video. At first the song was about how lonely we feel in crowded places. By the time we shot the video it grew into loneliness being a drug, as much as any other kind of substance, you can take too much of it. We have to acknowledge that there are so many lonely people in the world and if we don't reach out to them it just gets worse and worse.
MS: You've had your own issues with that.
SJ: Right, and I learned from my experience that if you just keep closing in on yourself it's just going to get worse and worse. You really need to do that reaching out and find that thing that you care about. Otherwise you go down a selfish spiral, of feeling not good enough. It's amazing I see posts on my Facebook wall all the time about how lonely they are and how they need attention or a boyfriend...you break out of that struggling by finding something you passionately care about, that you can do for other people.
MS: You are also working on something called "The Marriage Equality Video Project".
SJ: It's to my song "Like God". The song is about finding the love of your life, and learning to let go of that fear of love. It came to me listening to the song that it would make a great video if the development of it was a song that leads to a wedding. Marriage Equality is a hot topic right now and I thought: "How could I use that to help the efforts"? Monetizing the video on YouTube was a way I thought could help the cause. So, that's how the idea got started, and I've been working towards it ever since. To raise the funds myself and the people behind it are going to start selling wristbands that are going to say: "Committed to Equality" on them.
MS: Oh, cool!
SJ: By wearing the wristband, you are committed to the cause like you are committed to someone you want to marry.
MS: Want to hear something about "Like God"? The song really stood out for me being a power ballad. However, while I was listening to it, I somehow accidentally hit my iTunes, and I hear this driving alternative rock sound in the background. I thought: "This doesn't sound like that song". It sounded kind of cool though, I had accidentally started playing "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails behind it! (laughs)
SJ: Oh, my! (laughs)
MS: It sounded good, maybe you should sample that behind it sometime as a re-mix.
SJ: Not a bad idea, we could have a alternative rock wedding. (laughs)
Get on "equal" footing with Sir JET at:
www.iamsirjet.com
And his Marriage Equality Project at:
www.likegodmusicproject.com
