Q&A: Jordan Gavet

Raised between Avondale, West Auckland and Sydney with Samoan ancestral roots, rising R&B star Jordan Gavet has opened for Stan Walker’s 2019 nationwide tour alongside Niko Walters and Lepani, and was named “Best Pacific Soul/RnB Artist” at the 2020 Pacific Music Awards. Her powerful, soul-inflected R&B music is comfort food in the process of heartbreak, change and reinvention.

Teaming up renowned Sydney-based producer Willstah (Ariana Grande, Ella Mai, DJ Mustard), she recently dropped her debut EP “Smoke” showcasing her smooth, immaculate vocals, while taking you on a lush ride through slow night jams and emotional highs and lows.

We’d love to know a little bit about your musical journey so far from when you first started singing and writing/producing your own music!

I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember, but it was always secretly in my room until I was about 14 when my Dad overheard me. I started writing and recording myself when I was about 17 and fell in love with that process. Had so much fun and it was a good feeling to find “my thing”. 

Congrats on releasing your incredible debut EP “Smoke”! How would you describe the overall theme of your EP?

Thank you! The theme of the EP is a journey but kind of a pre-journey. In hindsight now I feel like it was therapeutic. It has lots of themes, stripping back, letting go, finding myself, learning to be vulnerable, being angry, hurt, sad, happy but ultimately prepared and ready for the next chapter. 

So incredible to see that your debut single “Hestitation” now has over 200K plays on Spotify alone - such an amazing achievement. Can you tell us a little bit about the meaning behind this track?

The meaning of “Hesitation” is vulnerability which I am not good at lol. If I play with fire and get burnt, I won’t go near the damn fire again lol. But sometimes in order to grow you have to take risks. I was standing too still, you know? Being so hesitant in life actually taught me a lot about myself so I was confident I could now move forward, I just moved differently than I did before.

Most of the tracks on your EP including “Hesitation” were produced by the incredibly talented, world-renowned Willstah (Ariana Grande, Ella Mai, DJ Mustard)! What was your experience like working with him?

Working with Willstah is so easy for me because he’s a genuine guy! He became a good mate and he wants to see me win. He’s so talented that I have to try keep up, his work rate is crazy! I’ve learnt so much from him and he always knows how to make my ideas 1000 times better lol.

What were your main highlights on working on the EP?

My main highlights were being a bit more personal on “Facts”, and letting people get to know me a bit. It weirdly felt like a weight off just releasing the whole EP. Like the end of an era but also the beginning of something really exciting.

Who are your biggest inspirations in music?

I have so many inspirations I honestly couldn’t name them all. I’m inspired by the greats like Prince, Queen, Tupac, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, D’Angelo, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pharrell, and a lot of the old producers too. There’s so many people I look up to as artists and how they push their art’s boundaries. I love watching documentaries on people because there’s so much that comes with being an artist. To me, music is about way more than having a cool song on the radio.

If there’s anything you could change about the current music industry, what would it be and why?

I would maybe change how fast we rotate music. You put a song out and the next week people send you messages like “When’s the next song coming out, I can’t wait for more!” and while that’s cool, it’s like I remember being obsessed with an album for a whole year or longer. I would learn every part, every lyric, and really enjoy the record. Everything just gets disposed too fast now and not appreciated enough.

Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you love or connect with?

I got told about Troy Kingi a few years ago, he’s so talented, also Sammy Johnson. I think Stan Walker is the greatest vocalist in NZ. The most recent NZ song I’ve connected with is “No Fear” by Tree (ft. Junior Soqeta), such a beautiful song.

What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?

The thing I love most about living in NZ is having my cousins and extended family nearby. Growing up in Australia it’s just been my siblings and my parents. I’ve only just started travelling around NZ the last 2 years and it’s such a beautiful country. My favourite place so far is Papamoa, I’ve had some of the best family time there and it feels like I’m on holiday overseas.

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far, and what advice do you have for new artists out there?

I’ve learnt so much and don’t think I’ll ever stop learning - I think that’s a lesson in itself. To always be a student and keep evolving. The most important thing I’ve learnt so far though is to have a good team around you that you can trust, I think that’s key. Even though my name and face is at the forefront, this is definitely a team effort and I couldn’t do it without my people.

Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?

One thing I live by is “who are you when no one’s looking?”. I always say it and I’ve always tried to measure my character against that. It’s easy to come off as a good person in front of people especially these days online, but it’s the things you think, say and do when no one’s looking that actually counts.

Thanks so much Jordan! Make sure you keep up with Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music.