Interview - Jazmine White

Across Jazmine White's journey, music has never been separate from memory, grief, and lived experience. From early recordings made with her grandfather—who worked at a radio station and first introduced them to the process of capturing sound—to fulfilling a long-held promise of completing an album in his honor, her path into music has been shaped by both personal history and a deep sense of continuity. That sense of intention carries through into her debut album Innocence of Youth, created in close collaboration with Jacob Ehrlich and developed across unconventional creative spaces, including a remote cabin in Idaho where much of the project came to life. Since relocating to Los Angeles, she has continued to refine her sound through recording sessions and live performances, building a growing artistic identity rooted in storytelling and emotional honesty. In this conversation with MeloDrift, she reflects on her musical beginnings, the experiences that shaped her songwriting, and the personal meaning behind standout track “Zion Hotel,” while looking ahead to the evolving direction of her music and career.

Welcome to MeloDrift. Can you tell us a little bit about your musical background?

Hi, thanks for having me! I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember.  As a kid my grandpa was my biggest inspiration within music, he worked at a radio station and we would record little songs on his recording setup at home and sing at church together.  In 2014 he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and ended up passing away, but I made a promise to myself that I would continue his legacy and record an album in his honor one day.  At the time I had no music connections (I was 12), but I’m grateful to be able to say I was able to actually fulfill this promise. I also used his last name as my artist last name to carry on his name.  In 2023 I met a songwriter and producer that changed my life at a creative retreat and after 3 days of knowing each other we decided to move in together in a cabin in rural Idaho for 2 months to work on recording my entire album “Innocence of Youth” which released in March 2025.  Since then, I’ve moved to LA to further pursue music and have been recording and playing live gigs out here for the past 2 years! 

If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

This is such a good question but a very difficult one to answer! It really depends on the day.  A song I’ve really been liking right now that embraces my hopeless romantic side would be “Truth of Pursuit” by Sarah Kinsley.  My overall all-time favorite song would be “Close your Eyes” by The Backseat Lovers, which relates to growing up and learning more about yourself through that process. 

Who or what have been the most impactful influences on your musical style and sound?

For my first album I was very inspired by Bon Iver, because I also recorded my album in a remote cabin in the woods like he did.  Other artists that helped to shape my sound and style were Lizzy McAlpine and Noah Kahan.  Recently I’ve been really inspired by Sydney Ross Mitchell and Goldie Boutillier 

How do your life experiences shape your songwriting, and what emotions or ideas do you hope listeners connect with in your music?

Everything I write about comes from a personal experience in my own life, which can be kind of scary to share sometimes.  But I also hope that someone else can connect with the emotions I sing about in some way and relate it to their own lives.  I want listening to my music to feel like a safe space to feel any and every emotion.  I really hope my songs give people the courage to move forward while still holding on to the things that have shaped them.  

Each phase of music-making—writing, recording, rehearsing, and performing—has its own unique rewards. Could you share a memorable moment from each stage?

I always think it’s really cool when a song just flows out of me so naturally and I’m able to say everything I can’t necessarily put into words all of the time.  That’s one of the coolest things about songwriting, and being able to offer people a perspective that provides a window into another way of thinking or feeling.  

For recording, I’ve been enjoying recording with my producer Jacob Ehrlich with my past album and present projects.  Some of my favorite memories working with him are recording in the cabin in Idaho together, it was just such a special place where we were fully immersed in nature and finding our sound.  

For rehearsing, this story also kind of goes with the performing aspect for me.  It’s been really fun getting to collaborate with other artists and musicians and bring songs to life live for people.  LA is a really fun place to network and meet new people; for this last gig I had I met my bassist at a karaoke bar and now we’re friends and want to continue to play together! I love collaborating and working with other people and I hope I get to do more of that. 

For performing, it’s been fun getting to play different venues and reaching different audiences.  One of the most memorable shows I’ve had was my album release show last year at The Woodbridge, and some of my friends flew out and surprised me which was really special and meant a lot to me.  It was also my first time playing my songs with a full band which was just really cool hearing them all come to life.  

Is there a song of yours that holds particular personal significance? We’d love to know more about the story or the inspiration behind it.

Definitely Zion Hotel.  That track means so much to me; it’s the first song we finished for my album “Innocence of Youth”.  It’s about new chapters closing and opening and learning to let someone go even if you’re not really ready to.  There’s this sense of wanting to move forward but also holding space for the past or a particular person.  Probably the most hopeless romantic gesture I’ve ever done was send a postcard with no return address to this person the song is about- I was trying to find closure to the relationship for myself, but also simultaneously trying to give one last shot at connection.  One of the hardest things for me to learn is the phrase “if you love someone let them go” and if it’s meant for you it will come back to you.  So this song definitely goes through the internal conflict I felt about that, and I wrote it with a friend in Zion National Park right after dropping off the postcard at a random post office during my road trip.  But so many good things came from that experience; I ended up meeting really great people to work on that album with me, and eventually moving to LA.  I always come back to this song when I want to center again around what I want to be as an artist. 

If you could swap lives with any musician for a day, who would it be and what would you do?

I would love to go back in time and swap lives with Stevie Nicks during her performances with Fleetwood Mac, specifically singing the iconic “Silver Springs” 

What’s a guilty pleasure song you secretly love but might surprise your fans?

I’m not sure if this would necessarily surprise people, but I love Taylor Swift’s older albums like “Speak Now”, “Fearless”, etc. She was the first artist I was really drawn to as a kid and made me want to be a singer

Looking ahead, what are some goals or dreams you have for your music and career?

I want to travel EVERYWHERE and I think the coolest way to be able to do that would be being able to go on tour and getting to play at different venues and getting to experience new places and meet lots of different people.  I also want to continue to develop my sound and create a body of work that people want to listen to over and over again. I feel like I have direction with music, but am really open to any opportunity that comes my way with it, and the opportunities feel promising so far.

Finally, is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers before we close?

I just released a single called “€3.19” on May 15, which is the first song I’ve released since my album last year and I’m excited to be working on some new projects! I would love if you gave it a listen!