INTERVIEW
Vee Pandey | 30/09/2025
In music, there are artists who perform vulnerability and artists who live it. Jutes belongs to the latter. The Canadian-born, LA-based singer-songwriter has turned transparency into both connection and survival. His songs trace struggles with addiction, mental health, and the small triumphs of everyday life, creating work that resonates far beyond the stage.
“Being vocal about what I’ve gone through is scary,” Jutes admits. “But it makes you feel less messed up, less different. Suddenly you realise a lot of people are dealing with the same things.”
That willingness to open up has built him a devoted following. Fans don’t just listen to his music – they see themselves reflected in it. And for Jutes, that reflection isn’t about validation. It’s a reminder that the isolation of growing up in a small town, where therapy was rare and emotions were often hidden, no longer defines him.
Honesty didn’t come naturally. For years, he chased an image of who he thought he “should” be, writing songs to please others rather than reveal himself. That changed with Sleepyhead, an album born out of a personal reckoning.
“I had a whole other record finished before that,” he recalls. “But I scrapped it. It wasn’t me. Sleepyhead was the first time I made something just for myself and it changed everything.”
Writing became a form of therapy. Darkness that once lived in silence found its way into lyrics, melodies, and rhythms. “I’d put something into a song that I hadn’t told anyone in real life,” he reflects. “It almost felt like creating a character, but over time I realized - it was me.”
That realization not only shifted his music, but also stretched his comfort zone a bit further. Each time he shared something vulnerable, it grew easier to confront the next truth. “Your comfort zone expands every time you push past it,” he says. “Eventually, you realize you can handle more than you thought.”
The work continues with his latest project, an album that retraces his early steps. Named after Dilworth, the dirt road from his hometown, it digs into his childhood and the origins of his struggles. “It’s not a concept album,” he clarifies, “but there are a lot of songs that revisit where things started for me. It was therapeutic, like retracing the map of my life.”
Still, Jutes doesn’t live solely in heaviness. For every confessional track, there’s a moment of levity- what he calls the “let’s make a banger” instinct. That balance, he believes, mirrors real life, where joy and pain inevitably coexist.
For someone who has battled addiction, anxiety, and imposter syndrome, progress is measured in small victories. “It’s easy to look at where you want to be and feel overwhelmed by the distance,” he reflects. “But the little wins, getting through a night out sober, stepping back on stage after years of fear, that’s everything.”
Those victories led him back to live performances. After years away, the nerves were real - sobriety, self-awareness that made doubt louder, but stepping onstage reminded him why he started. “The internet is cool, but nothing compares to 200 people in a room, crying and singing your lyrics back to you. That’s real. That’s why I do this.”
Offstage, Jutes finds balance in simple joys: cruising LA in his vintage Cadillac, hanging with his dogs Pickle, Batman, and Ella, or celebrating milestones with his wife. “I try to let little things make me really happy,” he says. “Because if you’re always chasing the next big thing, you miss everything in between.”
That philosophy rooted in gratitude, honesty, and growth shapes not only Jutes’ art but his life. He is proof that transparency, though uncomfortable, can build bridges: between artist and fan, past and present, despair and hope.
Words Vee Pandey @veepandey
Photography Kohl Murdock @kohlmurdock
Styling Michael Comrie @michael.comrie
Styling Assistant Patrick Martinez @partsofpatrick
Grooming Michaeline @mickbeauty
1st Photography Assistant & Digital Tech Madeline Derujinsky
Creative Alice Gee @alicesgee
