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Interviewer: How does it feel to be back at the Edmonton Folk Fest?
Jeremie: I love it. Honestly, I could play Folk Fest every year. It’s probably my favourite festival. Last year, I was hoping we would play, but we didn’t. So when we got the offer to come this year, it was just really exciting.
Interviewer: Last time I talked to you was a few years ago. What has changed for you since then?
Jeremie: I got married in 2024, and I put out a record since then. I’ve just been touring a lot and doing way more music. That’s probably the biggest change since we last talked.
Interviewer: I’ve also noticed you’ve been opening for the Black Keys. How did that come about?
Jeremie: My last record, Time of Sun, was made down in Nashville with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. I’m signed to his label, so he takes a lot of the artists he’s signed out on some of the support tours. They did their whole U.S. tour with a couple of bands signed to the label, and we’re part of that.
Interviewer: How has the tour been so far?
Jeremie: Good. It’s been kind of split up. We did the West Coast and Canada, including Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, and then they went on to do a bunch of U.S. dates. We’re rejoining them again in October for some more shows.
Interviewer: I saw you play at Rogers Place, and people absolutely loved it. What was it like playing an arena that big?
Jeremie: That was my first tour doing something like that, and it was a really fun new experience. It’s a whole different game… The production is so huge, and they have such a massive team, crew and band.
It’s also just cool to see how everything works. There are hundreds of emails going back and forth between different venues and promoters. They’re touring with three tour buses and three semi-trailers full of gear, and they’re working with different teams at every venue.
You just learn a lot. You start to understand how everything works and the hierarchy of how things go and you just don’t want to get in anyone’s way. It was a really fun experience, and hopefully we’ll get to do more of it.
Interviewer: I’ve been a fan of the Black Keys since around 2007. They’ve been around for a long time. Have you learned anything from playing with them that has changed your perspective?
Jeremie: I think you just learn that this is something you can do for a long time. They’ve been touring for a long time, and you just hope that if you keep going, you can still be doing it as long as they have.
Even here at Folk Fest, you see so many bands throughout the years and then meet up with them again. We’re all just road dogs trying to make it through life.
Even though they might be working a much bigger circuit, they’ve still been where I’ve been. They’re going through the same things I’m going through with smaller shows, just at a bigger level. The stresses are still there; they just happen on a bigger scale.
Interviewer: Touring can obviously be demanding. How do you stay physically and mentally grounded while doing it?
Jeremie: You just try to work, get enough sleep and stay hydrated. I don’t drink too much, either. It feels like a marathon a lot of the time.
There are times when you get to have fun, but you also have a lot of work to do, and you’re thinking, “Okay, we just have to get to the other side of this.” If you don’t pace yourself or take care of yourself, it can catch up with you.
Lately, I’ve been working out at gyms whenever we can, whether that’s on the road or at hotels. And I try not to eat too much bad food. Obviously, when you’re on the road, sometimes there’s no other choice but to eat McDonald’s or whatever, but when you get the chance, you make sure you eat your vegetables.
Interviewer: Do you write while you’re on tour?
Jeremie: Not really. Maybe I have a bit in the past, but it’s just a different mindset when you’re touring. Personally, I can’t really get into that headspace.
You’re just kind of “on.” If you’re not working, trying to get to the next venue or finishing packing, you’re sleeping or driving. Unless we have a really big day off or two days off where we can sit down and pick up the guitar, I’m not really in that mindset.
Interviewer: I’ve been watching your growth since we last talked. Where do you feel like you’ve grown the most over the past few years?
Jeremie: Probably songwriting. Early on in my career, I always found it challenging to really find my ideas and communicate them through writing.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve done more co-writing and worked with Dan from the Black Keys, and you start to see how they approach writing songs. You realize you can just go in, have fun and try to be creative without letting the pressure get to you.
Early in my career, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I’d think, “I have to write a record. It has to be really good.” Now, I might still want to write a really catchy song, but I try to go into it with creativity and just have fun. That’s the fun part of making music.
If you lean into that, even if you write a bad song, you’ll write another good one after that. It’s just the act of creating. It’s like a muscle—the more you do it, the easier it gets and the more naturally it flows.
That’s probably the biggest way I feel like I’ve grown as a musician. Early on, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and now I really try to focus on the joy of creating.
Interviewer: Was that something you learned through working with Dan?
Jeremie: Yeah, definitely. When I first made my last record with Dan, we started doing some writing sessions together. He’d bring in other great songwriters and people he writes with.
After a day of writing, you’re just so excited and happy. Sometimes it can be a challenge to get through and finish a song, but most of the time, if you’re with really good songwriters and you keep the energy light and creative, you can write five songs in a day and they could all be good.
We wrote my last record in two days. Every time I’d leave one of those sessions, I’d think, “Oh, this is what I’ve been struggling with all these years.” You just have to go in, have fun and let the creativity happen instead of inhibiting it.
Interviewer: Are you working on any new music? When can fans expect to hear it?
Jeremie: Yeah, we recorded almost a whole record this past April, and it’s all still in the works. We’re still mixing, and right after Folk Fest, I’m heading down to Nashville to finish a couple more things on the record.
I’m really hoping to put it out as soon as I can. I don’t know the exact date yet, but hopefully sometime next year.
Interviewer: When you look at where you are in your career, is there a milestone you’re particularly proud of?
Jeremie: I don’t know if there’s one specific milestone. Every day, I’m just really grateful.
When I finish a big tour, it’s always such a feat to actually do that. Or I’ll come to a town and people will come out to the shows, and I think about when I was just a kid and no one knew my music.
Then all of a sudden, you go to Edmonton and a thousand people know your music. Sometimes I’m on stage and I just stop and think, “Wow, this is actually amazing.” It’s crazy.
But often when you’re touring, you’re just onto the next thing. You’re working, so it’s hard to take a moment to really take in how much has happened and how far you’ve come from one place to another.
I’m sure it’ll go up and down through the years, but it’s just fun to think about sometimes.