From technical drum & bass to dreamy liquid, Jade Sierra has found his voice this past year. You can take this quite literally, as he used his own vocals for one of his latest tracks, ‘Into Dust’. This comes a year after his debut release Anywhere but Here on DIVIDID.
In 2025, Jade Sierra found himself exploring the softer side of drum & bass, experimenting with melodic music, getting even better at producing, and finding his voice. “I adore artists like Porter Robinson and Frost Children,” he says. With so many new tools and possibilities available for newer artists, this was the year where he dared to tap into this inspiration.
We had a chat with Jade Sierra, and talked about finding yourself through music and exploring, his debut gig in Japan, and most of all; believing in what’s possible and never giving up.
Your music used to be quite technical, but you’ve changed up your production quite a bit this year…
I think I had a deeper focus on the technical side of things because that was my interest when I started producing eight years ago. I was really into artists like NOISIA, Black Sun Empire and Shades and I just wanted to be like them. However, I also think that insecurity was holding me back from making melodic music. I didn’t want to sing because I felt like I couldn’t do it. I thought that singing was a skill that you needed to nurture from a very young age in order to ever do it professionally. Nowadays though, there’s a lot of people out there who have shown that it’s possible to make really good music using the tools that are available, without having had that physical training in something like singing. That really inspired me to start doing my own vocals despite not being that great at singing yet. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of singing to improve though!
Your latest release is ‘Honest’, a collaboration with Hex Cougar. How did this happen?
Yes! I am so excited to finally be able to share ‘Honest’ with the world. To be honest, this collaboration kind of just dropped out of the sky. After my first release, Hex discovered me and approached me about a collaboration which I was, naturally, all for. Despite not having released a lot of music, he trusted me with one of his demo’s and I fell in love with it immediately. It really allowed me to explore the terrain of colour bass and trance like I hadn’t done in the past. With this project it felt like I could unapologetically follow that American electronic music sound that has inspired me all these years, which was liberating. In that sense, I think it left a mark on the direction I want to take as an artist. So all in all, it was a fantastic experience to work with Hex Cougar.
Another track of yours, ‘Into Dust’, came out on Pilot earlier this year. This is probably the biggest example of that style switch you did. How did you feel about this release?
I’m really happy with this release. Releasing on Pilot was genuinely one of my first goals when I started releasing because I really enjoy and respect what they’re doing. Their focus on songwriting with artists like Fox Stevenson, Tsu Nami and Tom Finster offers something unique and I feel honoured to be a part of that. I have always been more into the poppy and songwriting side rather than the technical side of music. For example, I adore artists like Porter Robinson and Frost Children and nowadays I feel like I identify more with that stylistic direction. For quite a while I have wanted to incorporate that vibe into my own productions. It wasn’t until the Pilot release that I was finally convinced that my music would get enough support from the industry, my peers and my audience. This release being out on a platform like Pilot really convinced me that “Okay, this is something that I am capable of.” Even if I’m not the best songwriter or singer out there, I can make something that’s good enough to where it speaks to some people. And I think that’s important.
Ella Noël, your girlfriend, is featuring on the track as well. What does that mean to you?
Ella inspires me a lot. She’s one of those people who sings the entire day. When she’s walking around the house, she’s always singing and playing the piano or the guitar and having fun with it. Just by being herself, she inspired me to have fun and get better at singing, just for the sake of the craft. It’s really special that music is something that we get to share and it means a lot to me that Pilot provided us with a platform to showcase that.
You mentioned that you weren’t into electronic music before. When did this change?
I’ve always been interested in creating stuff, so in high school I tried to get into music production. I downloaded FL Studio but I found it way too daunting. Fast forward to when I was in college, a fellow student introduced me to drum & bass by taking me to Noisia Invites (Shoutout to Kata!). I had never heard of NOISIA before, and as a first impression of a drum & bass event, it blew me away. To see what they were doing with the genre opened up this whole realm of possibilities for me. At the same college, I met someone else who was doing music professionally. She showed me the basics of Ableton and this time I actually put in the effort to learn. So I think that these two people played a pivotal role in reigniting my interest in making electronic music.
Your debut EP came out on DIVIDID one year ago. How do you look back on it now?
Looking back at it, I’m still proud of it. Even though I consider it outdated in comparison to what I’m doing now. Even though it seemed like a bad idea, I wanted my first release to be an EP. It’s very difficult to convince anyone to bother listening to a full-length EP when you’re debuting as an unknown artist. However, I felt like it was important for me to make four tracks in a similar style. It really helped me with creating an identity for myself. I feel like my sound has evolved quite a bit since then, but this EP was a starting point that gave labels and the audience an impression of who I am. Besides, it gave me a foundation that I can build on.
In the past, you’ve been active in the music industry behind the scenes. How did it feel to return to the label, this time as a releasing artist?
I’ve been in the music industry for quite a long time, having worked in artist management and booking agencies. It’s interesting to return to familiar places in a different role. For instance, I have a collaboration with Synergy right now, and I used to represent them in their booking agency a couple of years ago. For us to cross paths again in a different way is amazing, because you get to work together on a different level. It’s something I’m really grateful for. Getting to work together with people is one of the most beautiful things about music. I’m working with people all over the world right now, from America, Hong Kong, you name it. You get to know all these people and you get to learn about what their lives are like. That’s a very enriching experience. I’m very thankful that, even though I’m a small artist at the moment, I get to experience that.
Talking about connecting with people all over the world, your first gig was in Japan. You literally went all over the world to show your music, which is so cool! How did that happen?
I never thought my first gig ever would be a gig in a foreign country, let alone Japan! Coincidentally, I was in Japan at the time because my girlfriend and I were there to visit family. I got to know a really kind promoter from there and he told me there was an event in Tokyo the same week I would visit. I asked if I could play there, and that was that. It was a fantastic, but also quite intimidating experience. Not a lot of people there spoke English and I hadn’t touched a CDJ in five years. I couldn’t ask anyone for help so I had to stand there and figure it out on my own. But I had a blast and I was surrounded by friends so I feel like that experience helped me massively with getting over stage fright. I noticed that the people in Japan were very engaged with the party and the scene. They were extremely excited about the music and brought life to the party. The community came across as very tight, so it was great to experience that.
Another set you did this year was your Bro2Bro set with Lexurus. How was it to explore the dubstep side of things?
I think my brother, Lexurus, has played an important role in my music career, although maybe a bit less direct. When he started making drum & bass, we were all still living at the same house together with my family. Seeing him produce music and learning it from scratch, and watching him achieve amazing things made me realize that those things were also in the realm of possibility for me. To this day, we haven’t collaborated on a track or worked on music together, so doing a performance at Liquicity Festival was the first time we got to share our passion for music. It was definitely an experience that brought us closer together, and exploring dubstep together was a creative challenge as well. When you’re doing a performance with someone who has a completely different style, you need to find a common ground. That took quite a while, but in the end, we delivered something we were both proud of.
What sparked your interest in dubstep?
I think that Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites by Skrillex, along with music by Deadmau5 and early Monstercat artists, were one of my earliest influences. I vividly remember discovering these artists when I was in primary school (That will make some readers feel old, I’m sorry) and listening to Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites on repeat on my MP3 player on my way to school, while playing videogames or while exploring the internet in its peak. Although I didn’t make music in any form at the time, I think that listening to dubstep and similar genres was my first experience with discovering and exploring a certain style of music out of sheer interest, rather than discovering music by chance. So in that sense, I think that these artists took me from enjoying music to loving music.
Anything else you want to share?
I think I got very lucky, and I’m in a very privileged position, because I have super talented people around me who allowed me to believe that I could make music and release it. My girlfriend, my friends and my family have always been supportive. If someone out there is reading this and they don’t have that support system, I want to share that I don’t consider myself a particularly talented person and that I don’t think you need to be born with a gift in order to pick up music. With an abundance of resources nowadays, I think that anyone can learn how to make music. Sometimes I hear people say, “oh, it’s just not in my DNA to do that.” I say, just give it a go. It’s such a cliché, but you’d be surprised how much you’re able to do if you give it your all.
