On the subject of modern love and relationships, the age old question of texting vs. calling comes up. “I would way rather text someone than call someone,” she says. “But sometimes with texting it’s really hard if you have a crush on someone and you’re like, ‘Oh, I need to play it cool,’ then you have their phone number so you can just text them. I think it’s kind of bad for love.”
If you visit Jeans Boots’ Bandcamp (jeans.bandcamp.com), you might get a little confused: the first release under Jeanette’s pseudonym (appropriately called “Jeannette Stewart is Jeans Boots”) is acoustic and folky, but as she describes, is not an accurate reflection of her current musical endeavors.
“That was my first attempt at putting my music out, and my friend made me do it,” Stewart recalls with a laugh. “I’m proud of it, but I think Txt Msgs just has the full band, and if you come to see me you’re more likely to get a rock show than an acoustic folk set.”
As you’ll also see on her site, the music is tagged as “Pajama Pop,” and when asked about the categorization, Jeanette laughs. “I think I sing a lot about unrequited love, [my music] is definitely more romantic. I don’t really remember where pajama pop came from. I think its just the funniest description of a genre,” Stewart says, with a laugh. “Maybe you’re having a really fun sleepover and you’re playing really fun pop stuff.”
In addition to making pajama pop, lately she’s been working with Factor, a hip-hop producer from Saskatoon, to produce hip-hop/electronic beats mixed with vocal hooks. You can look forward to hearing this crazy collaboration on her new EP, which is currently in pre-production with a release date TBA. In regards to the EP, Stewart says “it’s gonna be about 50/50 – I’m jamming with a rock band for some songs on the EP and hopefully the rest will be electronic hip-hop beats with vocals.“
Music aside, there is one striking image of Jeans Boots on the web that I had to ask about – the picture shows Jeanette with a unicorn headpiece on, strumming a guitar in (what appears to be) a forest.
“I’m pretty sure that picture was taken at the Ness Creek Folk Festival,” says Stewart. “I think that was the 25th year and I think there was a costume parade and stuff so I brought my unicorn costume … It’s really funny to play in a unicorn outfit when it’s like four in the morning and people are tripping out. [Laughs] It’s like, ‘Oh! A unicorn!’”
As far as music festivals go, Jeanette knows the importance and positive influence these kinds of festivals can have within a local music scene – and as our conversation shows, there’s no shortage of them (Sled Island, Ness Creek, Big Fun, etc.). Jeans Boots played Sled Island last year and knows first hand. “What a festival like that does in a city is it sets a bar and you’re like, ‘Oh man, if my band is good enough this year we’re gonna get to play with all these other amazing bands.’ I think it raises the bar for people . . . It brings such a fun energy to the city, and I think it makes more people supportive of the local music scene throughout the year.”
You can check out Jeans Boots, playing Saturday, at this year’s Big Fun Festival, running January 24-27!