From MuchMusic VJ to musician, Jesse Giddings has covered a lot of territory in the past three years! We sat down to chat with him before this tour with Marianas Trench and Down with Webster kicked off this weekend. Here’s what he had to say:
What came first, you wanting to be a VJ for MuchMusic or your interest in singing?
My interest in being a musician was always there. My mom’s a music teacher and my dad has a recording studio and I’ve always been around music, I’ve always wanted to do it. I just never put the time that was needed into it to launch a project. MuchMusic was because of my love for music and my love for people, connecting with people and hearing their stories. I love television, I love the acting and being a part of that, so it was the best of all worlds combined, which is why I went there in the first place. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to live out my dream. Now, it’s on to the next challenge, the next dream and focusing on one aspect of that.
What prompted you to leave MuchMusic?
I’d been working on music for a while and I realized that it’s really hard to give two things 110 percent. That’s kind of what you have to do in order to really succeed at anything – really commit yourself fully to it. My heart was torn when it had come time to make a decision. I realized that I’d had an amazing three years at MuchMusic and some of the best times of my life, but that I needed to go on to the next adventure. The other thing was that I’d just come back from a trip to Kenya with Free the Children and there, they stop at nothing to pursue their dreams. They live in thatched huts and yet, they’re studying 12 hours a day to be doctors one day. I realized that there were still some dreams that I had left and as much as I loved working at MuchMusic, the only way to continue to follow my dreams was to move on and take some risks.
What will you miss most about working as a VJ at MuchMusic?
I miss the crew, the staff, like working with Liz, Phoebe, T-rex, Damien, Lauren and everyone else that worked there. They’re amazing and so much fun to work with and so is the rest of the crew. So, I’ll miss that and I’ll miss the excitement. Everyday you host a live TV show which is crazy and exciting and it’s like a thrill ride everyday, so you get used to that. I’ve had like a month off now and it’s kind of weird not waking up and going to prep for an interview. The fans are so dedicated and there are so many that come every week to New Music Live to hang out. I got to hear their stories and be a part of their life. I try to keep it up on Twitter, but life gets busy!
Tell us about your upcoming tour.
The tour is with Marianas Trench and Down with Webster, so that’s really exciting. Both of those bands are phenomenal bands. The guys in Down with Webster are some of my best friends. I’ve travelled with them; I got to go to the Dominican Republic with them last spring with MuchMusic. I’ve had the opportunity to interview both bands so many times and we’ve become friends through that, so to now have the opportunity to go on tour with them with my music project is amazing. It’s a little crazy to be jumping from my first tour to opening up for two much respected and talented bands. I feel like I have a lot to prove and there are a lot of expectations, which is understandable. I mean, how did I get the opening spot on a tour this big?! Hopefully people enjoy it!
What’s your favourite song on ‘Brighter’?
That’s a tough one. There are so many that I love for different reasons and they each have their own story. All the songs have a similar theme. I’m a hopeless romantic and there’s a lot of that throughout the whole record… There’s a song called “Love Like the Movies” and it’s like, I want a love like in the movies, like what we’ve been told and I’m going to hold out and wait for that. There’s also this track called “Back to Me” that we’re going to go to Jamaica soon to shoot the music video for. It features as amazing artist called Exco Levi who is currently in Jamaica right now; super talented reggae artist. It samples another amazing, legendary Canadian who we’ll have to wait and see. I’m really excited for people to hear that song.
Do you write your own songs?
Yeah, I work with a lot of different people in writing, especially on this record. I had the amazing opportunity to write with Justin Richards, who’s a good friend. He’s in a band called A Rocket to the Moon and this other guy, David Fischer, who goes by Prince Caspian. He’s a super, super talented guy and he’s actually playing guitar with me on this tour. I’m working with Nat from 3OH3 and Paul Zacharias out in Alberta and just a lot of really talented people. I’ve been every fortunate to have a lot of amazing friends that wanted to come in and get involved in the project and for me that’s where the best songs came from. Working with other people and collaborating and being inspired by each other.
How did you become involved with designing T-shirts?
It started a long time ago. Ever since I was 12, I’ve been drawing and designing T-shirts and it’s always been something that I’ve loved doing. Before I worked at MuchMusic, I was designing merchandise for bands and their tours. When I started at MuchMusic and got involved with the charity Free the Children, I had told them about my passion for designing. They asked me to design a shirt last year called “The Freedom T-shirt” for Me to We and Free the Children, which was sold at We Days. The new T-shirt for this year (which I’m wearing) comes out in a few months and I just did the photo shoot for it. It’s something I love to do and now I’ve been able to turn it into something positive. The funds from that have helped build a village in Kenya. This year’s shirt will be a part of their “We Are Silent Campaign”, which comes out in the spring.
Thanks, Jesse!
To learn more about Free the Children and how you can help, visit freethechildren.com