Homemade Music
Made with love…
… and a little existential dread.
Ayla-Jade is a solo, indie-folk artist based in Melbourne, Australia. She has a penchant for overcommitting herself to various creative hobbies and layering an absurd amount of harmonies over the top of each other.
When Ayla isn’t whining into a microphone, she can be found procrastinating her responsibilities by writing the next chapter of her urban fantasy Witchfire series.
I’ll Stay - Music Video
"I’ll stay,” by Ayla-Jade. Music written and recorded by Ayla-Jade. Music video directed and produced by Joyce Wong from Jooce Studios, starring Acorn in the lead role of ‘goodest boy’.
UNREQUITED - EP - 2023
Music and album art written, recorded and produced by Ayla-Jade. A special thanks to Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for distributing this record.
UNREQUITED features five songs about mismatched loves from across the decade. It is an emotional coming of age, in which Ayla-Jade reflects on the boundaries she developed through her journey of seeking another to share her life with.
Away - single - 2023
Written, recorded and produced by Ayla-Jade. A special thanks to Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for the album art and for distributing this record.
This single features my first attempt at many things: Logic Pro (thank you for the free trial, Apple), using a midi keyboard, and creating ambient noise using a Hall of Fame 2 reverb pedal. I also experimented with a ‘round’ of different overlapping lyrics and harmonies, inspired by Tame Impala’s ‘Let it Happen’.
In future I aim to work on balancing audio levels and to further explore the potential of MIDI tracks.
Nothing Like You - single - 2022
Written and performed by Ayla-Jade. A special thanks to Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for performing, recording and producing this track, along with the album art.
This track was inspired by the Wyld Heart series. See Books for more information.
Baby I Wanna Go Home - single - 2021
Written and performed by Ayla-Jade. A special thanks to Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for performing, recording and producing this track, along with the album art.
A song for fellow homebodies who grow tired of the social game.
Descend - EP - 2021
Written by Ayla-Jade and Jake Short, popularly known for his work with the Melbourne band ‘Dalliance’. A special thanks to Mark Lasky-Davidson from Dalliance for playing drums, and Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for performing, recording and producing this track, along with the album art.
This EP is an homage to my musical exploits with Jake Short throughout high school. It was a hugely protective factor during some difficult times and I will always be grateful to everyone who helped bring these songs to life.
The Death of Me - EP - 2021
Album art and music written, recorded and produced by Ayla-Jade. A special thanks to Luke Knowles from emptysad Records for distributing this record.
The Death of Me is my debut solo EP. It was inspired by the dislocation of my sense of self as I entered adulthood, compounded by the isolating effects of the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, as well as my first experience of a long-term relationship.
While this EP is melancholy at its heart, it also expresses the growth of a new identity. Death is often required to feed new life, and as the old ways of surviving became obsolete, I was challenged to grow in new ways and connect more meaningfully with those around me.
At the time of recording, I was using a free recording program (Garageband) and couldn’t find the reverb dial, so I relied on an echoey hallway instead. I also experimented with singing at different distances from the microphone (e.g., close up, halfway across a room, and at the other end of the room).
Thank you for listening.
You can find my music on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, Bandcamp and more.
