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photos: Bennett Eason, Moe Horta

From dropping out of film school and his departure from creating rap music to embracing his alternative and pop-punk roots, the career trajectory for Canadian wildcard Jutes has been just as evolutionary as his music.

With a handful of genre-spanning projects, multiple co-writing credits, and his recent engagement with popstar Demi Lovato, Jutes is undoubtedly a name you need to know. 

His transcendent new single "Sleepyhead” has made waves as of late, surpassing five million streams since its release earlier this year quickly becoming a fan favorite. 

In preparation for his forthcoming album Sleepyhead (due out 10/17), The Noise sat down with the soft-spoken singer-songwriter to discuss his transition from writing raps in Toronto to alternative and nu-metal in Los Angeles, his dual role as both an artist and a co-writer and so much more. 

To see what Jutes had to say, be sure to read below. Afterward, you can find more info about his upcoming album here. 

You've had an interesting journey to this point in terms of your career. You dropped out of the film program at your school to pursue rapping originally, and have since ventured into more of an alternative and pop-punk style. For those unfamiliar with your work, how would you sum up Jutes in 2024?

JUTES: Definitely a lot darker. It's very emotional. Kind of just like a blend of all the alternative rock and nu-metal stuff that I grew up on in the late 90s, early 2000s. So very nostalgic. But I would say just cinematic, dark, heavy, emotional. A lot of my stuff has been kind of bubbly and carefree in the past, but I feel like this new project is a lot more serious.

Speaking of jumping into the alternative world, what motivated you to make that transition? Were there any artists that helped inspire that specifically?

I mean, when I was in Toronto, making music and kind of doing the rap thing, I wasn't working with any producers. Whatever beats I could find on the internet is what I was using. And to make rock music by yourself with no musicians and no producers is definitely challenging. So I was kind of just going off of what the most popular sounds were at the time. Then I made the move to LA and started meeting a bunch of incredibly talented musicians and felt what it was like to create stuff from the ground up, rather than just working with beats that were already made and sent to me or stuff I found on the internet.

So it kind of opened my eyes to the possibilities of being able to create the stuff that I grew up on and make band-sounding music as a solo artist. So I would say the alternative thing just kind of [happened] through meeting the right musicians. It kind of became possible, and I just instinctively gravitated towards that because it's what I've always loved.

The environment you were in impacted the result of what you were creating at the time naturally.

Totally. I used to make music in an apartment where it had very thin walls and the neighbors could hear me, so I wouldn't really be belting. I was kind of self-conscious about everyone in the building being able to hear me. But then I come to LA, I mean, [there’s] studios and stuff. I can really just try screaming, try doing things that I never would have even attempted before. It's allowed me to kind of find a voice that I didn't even know I had.

You've written for artists such as Charlotte Sands, Illenium, and Demi Lovato. How does it feel writing for other artists versus yourself? Is the process different when you write for yourself instead of other artists?

Funny you say that because I'm currently at the studio with Charlotte Sands writing, starting a project with her. Writing with her for her next stuff. But it's different because whatever their vision is, is what I want to help bring to life. So it's cool because I get to kind of sharpen different blades in my arsenal that I wouldn't normally sharpen on my own [when] doing my own thing. So then, when I get back to my stuff, I have new tools, and I get inspired by the people I work with a lot.

I'm lucky enough that I have an artist career as well as a writing career, so I can kind of be a little pickier with what I want to do as far as writing for others. I try to, especially these days, [after] having some success with the artist thing, I try to only work with people that I find inspiring because then, selfishly, I get something out of it. Beyond the business side of things, beyond money, beyond anything like that. Like, I get to work on stuff that inspires me and makes me a better artist. 

But yeah, it's kind of nice because when you're doing your own thing, you’ve got to make sure that you connect with it. You’ve got to make sure that, like, in five, ten years, am I going to look back at this like I look at some of my other stuff and I go, "Oh, I was kind of pretending to be somebody else. I was doing what I thought was going to be popular, and I don't identify with this, and I never really did."

When I'm working with other people, it's like, I don't have to have all that in my head. I just have to throw out the coolest ideas I can come up with. And if they like them, then they make it into the song. I don't have to overthink it so much.

You mentioned that when looking back at some of your older work, you can notice different trends that have come and gone, such as emo rap or SoundCloud rap. That was a very popular genre, and a lot of artists were really great and excelled at it. However, there were a lot of artists who also just tried to hit it while it was hot and it wasn't authentic to them either.

Yeah, and I think that that's just also a maturity thing. I'm in my 30s now and I know who I am, and I'm not really trying to fit in with what everybody else is doing. I just don't really care anymore. So, I'm just a lot more honest, and I'd make stuff for myself. But, yeah, coming up in the music thing, being younger, it's like you chase trends. You want success so bad. You don't necessarily trust your own vision sometimes. So you kind of go with whatever's hot at the time. But I think that is a maturity thing, and I've definitely done it. And I definitely look back and cringe whenever I check out some of my other stuff where I'm like, "Who is this guy?" Like, "This is just, it's not even me."

Especially nowadays, with the internet. I mean, back in the day, you would make albums before anyone ever knew who you were and no one would hear them. You would just write music, maybe for years, before anyone ever really heard you. You might perform it live, but it wasn't even being filmed.

Nowadays, everybody watches everyone kind of figure it out from their first song ever to where they end up. So it's like there's like this paper trail of identity crisis after identity crisis, and it kind of is what it is now. But yeah, it's definitely kind of cringy as an artist looking back, I'm sure a lot of people cringe.

Going back to Demi Lovato, congratulations on your recent engagement! You've gone from being co-writers to now fiances. Can you shed some light on how your relationship went from being just co-writers to taking that next step?

We started off as friends, which is really awesome. I mean, it's the ideal way that things go; you start off as friends. It wasn't complicated at first. It was just like, "Oh, I vibe with you as a person. You vibe with me." We like a lot of the same music. It's just very genuine and organic. And then, you know, as things happened, one thing led to another, and we told each other how we felt, and neither of us thought the other person felt the same. And we ended up being on the same page and yeah. 

Have you guys had the chance to write together again now that you guys have been engaged, and if so, what does that process look like now?

Yeah, we've definitely written a bunch of songs since being engaged and it's awesome. I mean, I never really thought it was something that I wanted or could have - being with somebody that is into the same things that I'm into as far as making music. It's like a whole other part of my life. It's always been very separate from my relationships.

So we just have great chemistry and we work so well together and it's always so much fun. It's like we get to just hang out and do what we love to do. And I just love watching her in action recording songs. She's like the best in the world. So I just get to help write songs and then watch them come to life by one of the best to do it.

Shifting gears a little bit, your tour towards the end of last year supporting Royal & The Serpent was your first proper tour in the United States. Can you explain how it felt to finally perform these songs live and what fans can expect from a Jutes show that haven't had the chance to see you yet?

It was really fun. I think it was great timing because I can't imagine touring and performing a lot of that earlier stuff that we were talking about. The imposter syndrome would have been crazy. Me on stage, talking about stuff that I don't actually do or have. I'm happy that I toured when I did, because I actually did connect with the music. And so I was able to just be myself on stage. I have a lot of anxiety, and I kind of work things up in my head bigger than they really should be. So I was very nervous going into it. And then doing it, was like this huge weight off my shoulders where I was like, "Oh, this is just fun." I mean, people are paying to come and have a good time and enjoy music, and I love the music I'm making right now, so I get to just sing it with them and meet a lot of people that I've seen on the internet that have been fans of mine for a long time, meeting a lot of people who didn't know who I was before that night that they saw me. It's definitely a magical thing in a world where it's like all these numbers on a screen, it's like I can look at a million views or a million whatever and kind of feel nothing.

I mean, be excited. But at the same time, it's like, I don't picture a million people. It's just a number. But even seeing 200 people jumping up and down and singing was like a different feeling, and it can't be replaced with any kind of internet success or anything like that. 

So, yeah, I mean, anyone that comes to a show can expect just a lot of energy, a lot of just letting go and just being free and just feeling the music and not thinking about anything else for that period of time that we're rocking out together. I'm excited to get back on the road. I'm actively trying to figure that out and get a tour going. I would love to start headlining my own stuff, even if it's really small to start. I've also been scared of that for a long time, like, "What if I headlined tours or shows and not that many people come?" And again, I think I just don't care anymore. It might be an age thing. I don't really care to try and impress people anymore. I just want to, even if it's 100 people, if they're all having the best time, I'm going to have the best time and it just doesn't matter. And so I really want to get back on the road and see more people. A lot of cities I didn't hit. So a lot of people I still have yet to meet, so I'm eager.

On a similar note, you mentioned social media and numbers/algorithms etc. It's easy to get discouraged when you post things online, and you see the numbers, and it's like, “Oh, only 100 people saw this” or whatever, right? But when you think about it in a live setting, when you have 100 people in a room, that's 100 people who care about your art. It's a totally different world when you put it in that perspective.

I mean, I think we just get numb to a lot of stuff on the internet. And it's really hard to imagine all those numbers as real people for whatever reason. Like, comments are different because it's people actually saying whatever they're thinking, but like just views and likes and stuff, I don't know, they're just numbers. It's really strange. It doesn't really resonate. Like, if 100 people ran up to you on the street all at the same time, you'd be like, "Holy shit, there's a mob of people running at me." 

Yeah, there's nothing that will ever beat that live music magic. Because that really shows the people that are there for the art itself. Everything else aside, they just want to see what it is you have to say, whether they're seeing you for the first time, whether they like it or end up not liking it, they're able to go into this and have their own experience for the first time.

That's another thing about the alternative music space and the fans and the type of people that go to rock shows / alternative shows. It's a different world than the pop world and I'm very happy to not be desiring or chasing any kind of success in the pop world. Because that, I find, is a tougher game. I feel like people that go to rock shows, they care about the openers and they want to find new bands and they want to find new artists, to follow their journeys, no matter how big or small and it just makes the environment really great.

Looking forward, what can you tell us about your upcoming album Sleepyhead?

Well, we got a new song coming out in a couple days. We actually made the song a few weeks ago. And kind of the beauty of being an independent artist is we can make something. I can go “Sick. Let's put this out in a few weeks.” No one can tell us not to, we can just [do it]. This is what the album is missing currently. [Out] of the five songs that I've put out, none of them have the energy that this one has. And I was also thinking about a live show. I was like, "I need something to kind of open the show with that's just wild and goes hard." So you can expect some heavier energy.

There's been a lot of heavy moments on the EP so far, but there's some heavier stuff, which I'm really excited about. I didn't want to try and chase "Sleepyhead" every single song. A lot of comments obviously are from people, like, “Make more songs like this.” And I feel like I've done that without it being just like me directly ripping off my own song. But I wanted to actually build it out if I'm going to do an album. I wanted to build out a project that had something dynamic and wasn't repetitive and redundant. 

I mean, if they like "Sleepyhead," they can listen to "Sleepyhead." It's all the same world. Sonically, it all is very cohesive and sounds like an album that's meant to be an album. But yeah, there's some heavier stuff and a lot more random weird outros. I was just kind of like, "I already don't have any rules whenever I write music." Nowadays, like, I want to do whatever I want to do. But even more so with these next five [tracks]. I was like, "Let's make this album special and interesting and have moments that feel like a surprise that you don't expect and whatnot." So yeah, I'm really excited.

Your next single "Safe Word" leans a lot heavier than your previous releases and has almost a Deftones-like sound. Did you know that you wanted to go heavier with your new music? Is that a vibe that we can expect more of on your new album?

These days, I'm listening to a ton of heavier stuff. Going heavier in the past always felt like a really drastic jump from what I was doing. With my last project, Ladybug, it was a lot more grunge rock. Still nostalgic. But I just thought the progression felt right. I felt like I want to make some heavier stuff and get some more metal inspiration in there. But I love melody and I love vibes, for lack of a better word. There's a lot of metal that's too metal for my taste. I love Deftones because they have so much energy, but also has that soft melodic tone, over heavy production. And to me, the combination is like the sweet spot that I always gravitate towards. But yeah, this next song has like even some of the rapping stuff. It's not rapping like I used to rap. It's a lot more like Rage Against the Machine meets Limp Bizkit. It's very nu-metal still. But I came out to a song that isn't released, on tour, and it was very much like a Rage Against the Machine / Limp Bizkit vibe. And that energy to start the show off was so great that I wanted to write something that belonged on this album, but with the same qualities of that last album.

To wrap things up a little bit, do you have any final words or anything else you'd like to highlight before we sign off?

Not really, other than there's definitely at least one show coming up that I haven't announced yet. I don't know exactly when it is, but there will be a show coming up that I'm going to play. I have some opportunities to play a couple others as well. But yeah, tour is definitely on its way. I'm doing everything I can to get it all figured out. I get asked to tour all the time, and so I just want to let people know that I'm absolutely going to be touring. Just gotta figure it out.

The emphasis on there will be shows. There will be shows. That’s a promise.