Jasamine White-Gluz, Musician & Model Manager
💭 Thoughts on lake swimming, Maddie Mortimer’s Maps of our Spectacular Bodies, and playing old mix CDs in your car.
Jasamine White-Gluz is a Montreal-based guitarist, songwriter, and artist who has been making music as No Joy since 2009. No Joy has evolved over the course of four studio albums and five EPs, defying expectation and genre, and cementing itself as something rare: a band without a category. Coming up in the spring, she will be on the road for a short run of live tour dates. Besides music, Jasamine also works in the fashion industry as a Model Booker at SYSTEM and in her free time talks to animals in her backyard.
🎯 Current focus
I have been sitting on a new No Joy album that has been finished for well over a year. Some songs have been done for over two years. I'm excited because I really went into making it without thinking too much about where it would fit in a musical landscape. There weren’t any obvious sonic references. So I have no idea how to describe what it sounds like, which is exciting. Maybe it sounds bad. I hope to have it out soon, and maybe you can let me know.
🏊🏻♀️ Lake swimming
I love swimming! I’ve regularly swam laps in pools and love to do that daily if I can, but chlorine can be rough on my skin. I’ve started “wild” swimming in a nearby lake and recently managed to swim over 1.5 km in one swim. I love it because it forces me to be away from my phone and only focus on my breathing and movement. It's a real sensory shock in a way. I have bad technique but I love it and the euphoric adrenaline rush you get after a good swim is such a feeling.
📚 Maddie Mortimer’s Maps of our Spectacular Bodies
I live next to a library which has been excellent for my reading. The book Maps of our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer was really inspiring, it had me start to envision my own creative output in textures, shapes and colors - not just sounds. Some other books I really loved lately were Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Pure Colour by Sheila Heti, and The Edge of The Sea by Rachel Carson.
💪 Constantly pushing yourself in your craft
One person I really look up to is my sister! Alissa White-Gluz is the lead vocalist for the Swedish band Arch Enemy. She is so talented and has the most disciplined work ethic. She tours so much and gives everything into every performance. She is constantly pushing herself in her craft and is an absolute trailblazer in metal.
💿 Playing old mix CDs in your car
I really like buying both new and old CDs. I spend a good amount of time in my car which has a CD player. It's a great way to listen to albums start to finish. I enjoy having the physical artwork but also digital tracks I can plop onto my ipod. I found a bunch of old mix CDs I made in high school and have been really enjoying them (they are not as embarrassing as I thought they would be!) There’s something so special about decorating and personalizing the CDs for each mix that doesn’t quite feel the same as a playlist to me. I also am really fond of local AM talk radio. Local radio sometimes can be so specific and niche it’s like if we’re all in an inside joke together. I listen to a few stations, I really like the local sports station for hockey games.
🌼 Summer forever
This weekend I saw the first pops of color from the magnolia trees, so I know in about two weeks they will be in full bloom and that means the beautiful weather is on its way. Winters can be long here so these colorful signs are very hopeful. Summer forever!
🐦 Shazam for birds
Cornell University has an app called BirdNet which is basically Shazam for birds. It’s great when you hear this really wild sound and want to know what creature made it. My most “Birdnet”-ed bird is a Grackle. Turns out they can mimic bird and human sounds, weirdos!!
👢 Collina Strada x UGG campaign
I really like the latest Collina Strada x UGG campaign. I was not a fan of UGG because of their use of sheepskin (I am absolute in not wearing any animal products.) Collina Strada always highlights the importance of protecting nature, sustainability and usually features all kinds of creatures - I love that. So this collaboration—UGG producing a vegan shoe made out of corn leather—is really interesting to me. Besides the ethical aspect, I also love how Collina Strada’s campaigns are really smiley and absurd, even when the mission is important and meaningful.
Follow Jasamine on Instagram, Twitter & TikTok and check out her band here.