One of the hardest workers in the Aussie scene…
The age-old story of the 24/7 grind is a parable second to none. It’s the type of lifestyle that many claim to practice, but few truly live and breathe. It can be hard to distinguish between the two, to figure out who’s truly putting it on the line every day to chase their dreams; but when you have a story as inspiring as Sydney-based Jade Le Flay, you don’t need to say it. Your work speaks for itself.
Working within and contributing to the Aussie creative scene for over a decade now, the constant hustler has racked up a list of accomplishments so long it’s honestly mind boggling. From throwing some of the best parties Sydney has ever seen (behind & in front of the decks) to working with a crazy array of brands and setting the fashion world on fire (just to name a few), it seems her talents are the epitome of endless.
Recent years have seen her get into the media side of the industry, starting the hugely successful Only With Jade Le Flay that’s given a voice and shone a light on some of the most promising hip hop and R&B acts that the nation has to offer. Within a year she’s built it up as one of the biggest podcasts in the nation, deeply immersing it in the up & coming fire that the Aussie music scene is bursting at the seams with. Oh, and she’s just started a Spotify Original and has gotten into the property development game. She can really do it all folks, a living reminder that literally anything is possible when you’re driven beyond belief; when you live and breathe the culture.
We caught up with Jade amongst her crazy schedule (and before her special hometown DJ set in Canberra, which you can suss deets for here) to get the drop on how she’s going, find out what drives her so hard and finally, to fangirl our fucking hearts out. Check it below:
I’ve caught you at a pretty crazy time! I wanna say congratulations on ‘A1,’ ‘Only With Jade Le Flay’ and your property development gig! You’re really firing on all cylinders right now. How does it feel to be in the midst of it all?
It’s fun! I’m always learning something new, but it’s really difficult. So I feel like I have to challenge myself, in the sense that I have to be extremely disciplined. Gone are the days of old DJ Jade where I could just do whatever I want and party most days, now I have a very strict routine. So, I’m up really early in the mornings. I see my PT like four times a week and make sure I’m working out, staying on top of my diet, all of that stuff. If I didn’t have any of that, I don’t think I would be able to keep it all up to be honest. But I asked for this, I dreamed for this and now it’s here. So, I just have to make the most of it. I feel really grateful and blessed.
The last time we caught up with you was for Touch Bass 2017’s Afterparty which you were playing at. You’ve really spread your wings since then, expanding beyond a DJ and fashion star to a full-blown business magnate and important figure of the culture. Was this always the plan?
Absolutely! When I was a teenager and I first moved to Sydney at 17, I thought the industry was a lot different to what it actually is. I thought that there would be endless opportunities, in terms of opportunities that I would want for myself, but that wasn’t the case. So, I learned pretty quickly that I had to create those opportunities myself with the people around me, with people that want the same thing.
Instead of sitting around and complaining about the fact that maybe these larger brands or companies or the industry don’t listen to us, I said “No, I’m just going to go out there and fucking do it.” So, I think it was always in me to do all this, but it’s been a long time. I’ve been working at this for over 12 years or something now. You could say it was strategically planned out, but no; it’s up, down, left, right. I even moved overseas a few times, realized that that’s not it, then came back to Australia. So yeah, it’s been an incredible journey. I still have so many more plans in the works. It sort of feels like this is the beginning of it, even though it technically isn’t. I’ve been doing this for so long [laugh].
I’m pretty sure 24Karatkev interviewed you for that Touch Bass piece, and now you’re co-hosting a Spotify Podcast with him and the amazing Jazmine Nikita! Back then, were you two at all across each other’s radar in that regard? What’s it like to have watched each other grow since?
I think Kev is such an incredible and interesting character. Obviously back then, when we did that interview for the Touch Bass after party, he wasn’t managing artists at that time. He was just doing the journalism stuff. So, to see him grow has been really inspiring to me. Now he’s managing a few artists, one of them being Triple One, and they’re one of the biggest artists in the country. I mean, that’s insane and it’s so beautiful to see your friends grow as you grow. You have a real appreciation for that journey. And before all of this happened, it was always like “When are we going to pop off? When is it all going to happen for us? We’ve been doing this for so long. We’ve been pushing each other for so long. When is it going to happen?” So, it’s nice to see it all coming to fruition.
And Jazz is a bit younger than us, so she’s a bit newer to the mix. But I first noticed Jazz, I think she did a radio slot in the UK a couple of years ago. And just through a mutual friend, I heard that she was doing that and I thought “Oh, that’s pretty fucking cool.” I like to see someone from Sydney in that sort of genre of music be recognized, especially in the UK, so soon and early on in their career. It’s really impressive.
So, I fully support Jazz and love Jazz and love what she does, and I think we’re so lucky to have her as a part of the team and just to have her in the mix, having all three of us in the dynamic is really interesting. I think they couldn’t have picked anyone better, even though Kevin and I have been around for a little bit longer, I just love the fact that Jazz is more of a fresh face, but still adds an equal amount of importance to the group. Kev also just moved out of home, which is really exciting! He just got himself an apartment in Chinatown, which is his favourite place on earth [laughs]. So, I’m stoked for him, I’m really happy for him.
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I really wanna get into ‘Only With Jade Le Flay.’ You’ve built such a platform with it. It’s easily one of the most culturally important podcasts in Australia. What’s it been like watching it grow and flourish in a year?
Yeah, it’s only been a year. I definitely had some big plans in mind with Only With Jade Le Flay, but they were very unrealistic. However, most of them are sort of coming true, which is crazy. I know we always talk about this and the power of manifestation and manifestation is such a buzzword at the moment, but it’s so true. I knew there was a gap in Australia for something like this, I knew it needed to happen and I knew that it was my calling.
I had to be the one to do it because no one else was doing it. And I doubted myself a lot because, being female in the music industry, there was all this negative talk that was sort of holding me back at first, but I just thought “Fuck it. Don’t listen to it. Just do it.” So for the first episode, I knew that it had to be huge. So I actually asked OneFour and asked Hooligan Heffs at the same time.
So Heffs decided to give it a go, which I’m so grateful for because it was nothing. We literally invented it out of thin air. And I guess just where he was at, at that point in his career, he had already released a couple of tracks that were doing so well and he was on the way to being the Heffs that he is now. So that really helped the show as well. I definitely had a plan in mind of who I needed to get on to capture people’s attention. And then, once I had people’s attention, I could showcase all of the other amazing talent that we have in Australia because there’s so much, and that’s the main reason why I started it, but it is about getting the audience first. So that was, not the hardest part, but that was the part that I thought most about, as in how can I get as many sets of eyes watching Only With Jade Le Flay as possible.
So, it’s been crazy. I only released five episodes last year and then I thought “Okay, I’ll step it up a notch this year.” But I manage it all myself so, from the production side, to the directing, to the logistics, to organizing the artists, contacting the artists, to the format of the show. I do all of that myself. I just have my really good friend Jamie from Burrows Digital on the production. And I’ve had some friends help out here and there, but the majority of it is just me managing it. So, it’s really full on and stepping it up a notch this year has been… some days I’m like ‘I don’t know if this is the smartest move,’ but I think it’s paying off.
You given voices to so many artists over the past year with the podcast, many of whom wouldn’t get mainstream promo or plays on Triple j or otherwise. Is that a focus for you as a media figure?
Absolutely and I love that you noticed that. It’s so funny because I always thought that mainstream media were the more inclusive side of the media, because it’s mainstream. So I was always looking up to triple j and that’s where I wanted to be, I wanted to be djing on triple j, I wanted to be hosting on triple j. And it’s not to take anything away from the radio stations, but I don’t know if it was because they were just a little bit out of touch or in denial. I don’t know, but I just thought it’s such a surprise to me that you have these sort of media giants that don’t want to pay attention to these kids that are clocking up massive numbers.
And Spotify have obviously, in my opinion, have done a really smart thing and have paid attention to it. So, that’s something I’m definitely so passionate about and I’ve always been so passionate about that. Australia’s so multicultural and so diverse in the type of people that we have here. Anyone and everyone can make music. So why shouldn’t we be showcasing these kids from Western Sydney or from Redfern or wherever? But I mean, I guess triple j’s sort of skewed more towards the rock sort of vibe anyway, but yeah, I don’t know.
Just watching you as an interviewer, I really enjoy how organic and free-flowing your conversations are, that recent ‘Shake’ with Maina Doe being a prime example. Do you feel at home in the interviewer’s chair? Does it come naturally?
I have no experience in journalism or hosting or anything like that. So no, it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m just learning as I go pretty much, but I do really enjoy it, even though I can get super anxious before any interview. Afterwards I’m like “Oh, that was awesome. Not as bad as what I thought it would be.” But it’s crazy, there’s so much to learn and know about interviewing people, like controlling the pace of the interview and trying to make it punchy, but not corny. There are all these things, which I’m sure you’ve been learning that you have to think about. So yeah, just learning as I go.
Being that ‘A1’ has co-hosts, how has it changed that interviewing aspect or the way you look at that side?
I love it because it means you have more personalities and people to bounce off. So there are no awkward moments because there are the three of us there ready to say our piece. But yeah, actually I prefer it. It’s just a lot less pressure on me, so less work [laughs]. To be honest, I had thought about having multiple co-hosts on Only With Jade Le Flay, but like I said before, I just wanted to get it up and running, and sometimes if you want to get something done, you just have to do it yourself. So, I didn’t end up going down that path, but maybe eventually, depending on how we go, we could look at getting co-hosts or something. But I love the vibe man. I love bouncing off other people. It’s so much more fun than doing it alone.
I wanna mention that IG post you made when you got your property management gig. It was such a whirlwind reading it and by the end I was kinda shook at how much you’ve done. Is there a highlight or period of time throughout the years that stands out to you as one of the defining moments?
I feel like I had lots of defining moments and I probably recall them to be more dramatic in my head than what they actually were [laughs], but it makes for a good story [laughs]. Defining moments… as soon as I feel like I’m just a face in a business and I’m not valued as a person and what I can actually bring and just not appreciated as a human being, that’s when I know that I have to get the fuck out.
I had a few moments like those, working with a few different companies or a few different brands where it just didn’t feel right and in hindsight, I wish I could have known sooner. But you don’t always know until you try. So, I’ve definitely had a few of those moments. Once I took a job as the person that assigns iPhones to people in the public service and I was like “What am I doing here?” But then I got this contract to go dance in China for this Polynesian dance production as a Tahitian dancer.
So I was like, “Okay, I’m out.” And everyone told me “What are you doing? You just got this contract. You should be trying to work your way up and you should be staying for at least the probation period and do the right thing.” But I was like, “I’m not even valued. They don’t care about me. They don’t care about my dreams as a dancer. They just need to fill the role. It’s going to be a little bit of an inconvenience to them for me to leave now, but it’s better that I do that for me.” And every time I’ve made those sorts of decisions, they’ve always been the best. They’ve been scary, but taking that leap of faith has always been the best way to go.
You had this badass quote in the post where you said ‘I’m seeing the benefits of never settling.’ You’ve lived and breathed the grind for so long now. What drives you to keep hustling 24/7?
I always think “What does settling mean to me?” Because when I was younger, people would sort of say “Oh, I can’t wait to settle down. I just want to get a house, family and kids and settle down.” But in my head, I always thought “Why can’t you do all of that without necessarily settling down?” I’m surrounded by so many successful people. And when I say successful, I mean it could be that they have a really big beautiful family. And everything revolves around the family and maybe they have a family business or whatever.
That to me is success. Everyone’s happy, everyone’s thriving, I’m lucky that I have that with my family and all the restaurant businesses and stuff. Another example is you could be working your nine-to-five and then you have your side hustle that you’re really passionate about.
And then there’s some serious growth there because you’re taking it seriously, and that to me is success as well. So success comes in so many different forms. And so I think that if you constantly just avoid having the mentality of just settling for whatever situation you’re in, whether you’re happy, especially if you’re not happy, that’s settling. You know what I mean? Just doing something because everything else seems too hard, I don’t think that’s the best way to live your life.
You have to go out there and you have to at least try to get what you want, even though it may seem impossible to attain or it may be too fucking hard. That’s not to take away though, I understand that when it comes to especially during times like COVID and stuff, it’s easy maybe for me to say these sorts of things because I am fortunate to already be in a position where I can sort of leverage off my success and whatever.
But there have been times where I’ve been really low and I’ve been depressed and I’ve been suicidal and I felt like there’s nothing out there for me. I felt like I was never going to be anything and I would never going to get anywhere because I’m just another face and what’s the point? And it was those moments where I had to choose a direction, either I settle for feeling like that and for feeling like a piece of shit and for not giving myself the respect that I deserve and my family deserve and the people around me, or I get up and I go “I don’t settle, I keep working at it. Even if it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, even if I cry every day and every night.” And I’ve been through those moments so many times. I could be on an up and then all of a sudden, my life does a complete 180 and it’s all the way down.
So, that’s where that never settling mentality sort of comes from because you’ll find yourself in these situations in life. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in, what age you are, those moments will most likely happen to you at some point. That’s sort of where the never settle mentality comes from.
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Now, looking forward, what’s the future looking like for Jade Le Flay? Do you have a ten year plan or anything?
So I’m a Capricorn [laughs] and I’m very… I don’t know if that is actually relevant at all, but I’m a planner. The things that I’ve learned from every successful person in my life is that you have to plan for anything. So it’s all good and well that you dream and whatever, but if you don’t have a plan, you’re never going to get there. And you just break each one down into small steps. So that’s what I’ve done. So yeah, I do have a fair few goals actually. I have a whole book of goals. I don’t limit myself to like one or two.
So as you said, yes I’m in the property development world, so I’m planning to invest in a few more of my own developments and maybe get involved in some joint ventures. And I mean, I don’t know yet whether I’m going to actually own these properties myself or just buy them, flip them and sell them, but it’ll be something like that.
So that’s that side of things. And then on the Only With Jade Le Flay front I want to, in the next year, probably take it a step up and maybe do like a Netflix series or something like that. And then changed up the whole format. Maybe have a live audience and do like an Ellen DeGeneres or that style of talk show. But for Australian music, I think that would be crazy. And then the djing stuff, definitely wanna keep going with that.
Now that I don’t DJ four or five days a week it’s nice because I can actually focus on putting together really good sets that I love. So, there’ll be a lot more of that. A lot more of me just sort of playing on my decks at my home studio and I mean, I’ve been talking about this for years, but like I really want to drop my own mixtape. I have so many producers that I look up to like Metro Boomin and shit and I could just see myself dropping like a Jade Le Flame mix tape and get a whole bunch of Australian rappers on and just take over. I think that’d be mad.
Lastly, it‘s clear you’re about the culture in every aspect. Every move you’ve made over the years really affirms that. I just wanna know, what are you trying to bring to the culture? And what has the culture given you?
I’m really to… I’m trying to put women on the forefront. That’s a big reason why I do what I do because I want to inspire other females to have the confidence and the tenacity to just go out there and do what they want. Within this industry it is such a beautiful culture, but sometimes I do feel like women… I wouldn’t say like pushed to the back, but maybe if women were sort of fighting a bit harder for what they want, then maybe we would get what we want, kind of thing. So, that’s definitely a massive reason why I’m doing what I’m doing and I’m trying to… Like you mentioned Maina Doe before, I really want to showcase a lot of the female talent that we have here because they’re so talented. And I believe they should be on that international level and we should be putting them there and supporting them in that aspect. So yeah, there’s that side.
And what has the culture done for me? Well the culture’s been a part of my life since birth, like my family, they’re all DJs and my dad was a break dancer. So, I’ve been around music and dancing and that culture my whole life. And I’ve always been so drawn to it. I just can’t imagine my life without it, it really is my life. It’s brought me life.
Jade Le Flay has a whole list of hustles you should definitely be keeping up with on Facebook and Instagram. In the meantime, if you’re keen to see her throw down some banging tunes from behind the decks, she’s playing Fiction Club in Canberra next Friday for a special hometown show. You can suss full deets here.
