Getting to Know Nat Jay.

THE ARTIST

The first song Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Nat Jay ever recorded was placed in an emotional episode of a major ABC TV show, making a statement that her music stood up on an international level. Continuing to create world class music since then, she has gone on to receive over 30 placements in film and TV on networks around the globe, like MTV, Nickelodeon, Netflix, and many more. 

Nat Jay's songs are personal to her, but relatable to many; her voice soft and measured, but powerful and dynamic. Raised in a classical household, Nat Jay took her first steps in her parents' music school. She went on to study flute at the University of British Columbia, until chronic wrist pain refocused her love of music towards singing. Soon after earning her degree, she began songwriting and never looked back. In her indie career, Nat Jay has been nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards and for SOCAN Songwriter of the Year at the BC Country Music Awards. As a performer, she has been a featured songwriter at the Vancouver Folk Festival, a guest on CBC Radio 2’s “Canada Live,” and has shared the stage with such esteemed songwriters as Dan Mangan, Matthew Barber, Oh Susanna, Justin Rutledge, Jay Brannan, and Angus & Julia Stone.

After releasing the Stoke The Fire Christmas EP with electronic production duo Cookie Cartel in 2016, Nat Jay felt a change of direction in her approach to her music, shifting her penchant for guitar and vocal pop-folk towards a more commercial electropop sound. The artist engaged the assistance of award-winning European pop producer Ovidiu "Ovi" Bistriceanu to construct her most recent album, The Flash of a Fight. Taking a more collaborative approach on this album than ever before, Nat Jay shows herself to be a skilled topline writer (lyrics + melody), supported by Ovi's innovative and impeccable tracks underneath. A documentation of the adversity she's faced over the past few years, Nat Jay puts life's struggles into music form, turning pain into something beautiful and proving that hook-driven pop can be synonymous with artistic depth.

"There was something extremely uplifting about a Nat Jay performance. These days, it is hard to find a performer with as much heart, soul, songwriting ability, and vocal power as she has." -PopYOUlarity.com

THE ADVOCATE & EDUCATOR

Nat Jay has been an advocate for indie artists since early on in her career. She began her journey by sitting on the Music BC Board of Directors for four years and their Marketing, Membership, and Education Committees for six. From there, she started sharing her industry knowledge with her peers through offering public seminars, one-on-one consultation, guest lecturing at schools like Nimbus School of Recording, BCIT, Pacific Audio Visual Institute, and now as a Sessional Instructor of both Music Business and Performance Skills in Langara College’s Singer/Songwriter and Digital Music Production programs. She has also been asked to sit on education panels with SOCAN, BreakOut West, Music BC, Canadian Music Week, VIFF AMP, Folk Alliance International, and the Guild of Music Supervisors Canada.

An experienced Grant Writer for many years, Nat Jay has been the successful recipient of over $200,000 in grant funds (for herself and her clients) from FACTOR, Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, Creative BC, and more. She is a self-managed and self-published artist and understands that being an artist in today’s climate means being an entrepreneur as well. For that reason, she works continuously on developing new strategies for success and diversifying her streams of income, leading by example in this ever-changing industry.

"What an informative seminar yesterday with Nat Jay...I had been to a couple of similar seminars in the past and was still left mystified. Not so anymore, as you clearly demystified the road map into coherent concrete steps.” - Seminar Attendee