We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emma St. Jude. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emma below.
Emma, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
There is a love-hate relationship with being ‘happy’ in the entertainment industry. As someone who got her degree in Music Business and graduated a short 4 months ago, a “real job” is always in the back of my mind. It is a constant battle between being happy and feeling outwardly successful, as I have found enjoyment in focusing on my music career out of college but always with the looming fear of if I made the wrong choice or if I will be able to financially support myself. Something that has made me find some real happiness is knowing there isn’t a specific path when you graduate out of college that you must attain. Not choosing a job out of several opportunities presented after graduation does not mean you are self-sabotaging; it just means you value yourself and your mental state enough to try and do what leads you towards what you want. For example, I turned down a few jobs right after I walked across my college’s stage in May because they didn’t feel like me or like they would be a job I would be happy to do for 8-ish hours a day 5-days a week. Instead, I chose to take a part-time job as a tour guide which allows me the flexibility to work on my music career, search for other job opportunities, and still make enough for rent and all my monetary needs. However, I haven’t given up in that quest for a “job-job” in the music industry. I have gone back to applying for internships that will not only be in a field I enjoy but grow my experience to open more doors for more jobs that I will like being a part of and am expanding my industry network to meet people like me who have found their fit in the entertainment world both in business and artistry.
I have decided that happiness is a choice and a constant goal to work towards, recently I have found confidence in crafting my social media image through content creation, something I have loathed the last few years due to my low self-esteem and self-image issues. I now find myself excited to upload the videos from my latest writer’s rounds or shows when I used to dissect them for errors to the point where I wouldn’t think of posting them ever. I love getting behind my phone camera to record small song ideas on my TikTok when I used to avoid it at all costs. Being happy as an artist (and to be honest, as a person) is always a journey because the industry and my day-to-day life has its ups and downs. As difficult as it may be to admit, I do not wish I had a ‘regular job’ at the moment. I believe everything happens the way it does for a reason, I am meant to find my happiness and working a part-time job while focusing on my music is a part of that process! For now, I am content with where I am at while still actively pursuing the next opportunity that awaits me both in music business and in music artistry!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi! My name is Emma St. Jude!
I am a singer-songwriter from Florida who came to Nashville TN to pursue her music dreams! I have always been involved in music at a young age and was extremely dedicated to show-choir and songwriting before moving states to attend Belmont University here in Nashville. I write all my own music and what makes my songs shine is their sense of vulnerability wrapped in an extra-sharp wit and humor. I like to write songs about my own life but add a comedic and relatable element to them. My passion is to entertain and be on stage, and living here in Nashville has given me the wonderful opportunity to actually explore my life as an artist and creative!
I came to Belmont University originally as a prospective music major but was not accepted into the music program and felt lost. I ended up going into the Music Business program and found strengths in the behind-the-scenes of the entertainment industry, and that alone has changed my life. Knowing how the inside business world operates in the entertainment field allows you to see your career differently and understand what it takes to actually “make it” and support a job in the industry as a businessperson or as a musician. Both take an extreme dedication and constant hard work towards what you want to do. In my college years I definitely put that creative side on hold and focused more on my degree. Since graduating though, I have found myself moving more towards that creative side. In my senior year, I happened to cross paths with some musicians (now my closest friends) who I credit with helping me find myself as an artist. I met them during a spontaneous audition for my college’s showcase series and even though we did not make it into the lineup, it entered my music into the equation of my life, and I realized I wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t give myself a fair shot. When I came to Belmont, the dream was always to find a balance in both a music business career and a music career, and I still chase that every day of my life!
My brand is definitely country, but I find myself heavily inspired by rock music. Tom Petty is my biggest inspiration and favorite artist of all time, and it is due to his personality and songwriting. His music is a mix of raw human emotions laid out exactly as they come but with this amazing story-telling element that makes the song not only entertaining but widely relatable. “You and Me” is one of mine and my dad’s favorite songs, simply written but a touching and heartfelt piece of music from a “hard rock and roll” artist. Tom Petty exhibits a large range of vibes in all of his songwriting, with love songs to story songs to songs about being young and reckless. That is why I take such inspiration from him, he never fits into just one box, but is able to fully express himself with a variety of songs and emotions. Always entertaining, and always can find myself somewhere in his lyrics!
I want my fans to find a relatable person within my music, someone who isn’t afraid to be their honest self when they are happy, sad, angry, frustrated, etc. There is a plethora of music that caters to the sad girl or girl-in-love or girl-who-gets-revenge-on-an-ex. I want to represent those who get frustrated and overthink the simple things because of how much they care about something or someone. I want to be the pioneer for songs that make you laugh or remind you of that time you got so mad you saw red, and it was something so important to you in that moment but is now a funny memory because my songs made you feel seen and heard! I write a variety of feelings into my songs; it is never the same emotion and that is what I love to do because nobody feels simple emotions. Every event creates a complex array of feelings, and we all deal with them differently. I think every musician wants to be some form of a voice to their audience and I just want to be someone people see a bit of themselves in.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
As someone who was stuck in a non-creative and college-focused mindset, I think the hardest thing to understand is that sometimes you have to try and make yourself happy even when it isn’t a sure-fire success. Nothing in this life is guaranteed, and the entertainment industry is an ever-changing and uphill battle. I am constantly in a fight with myself to believe in what I am doing and do what guarantees a strong paycheck and looks good on paper. What I have learned, and I think everyone can benefit from hearing is that life isn’t always perfect and especially as a creative, you won’t always be happy, but that doesn’t mean you quit. There are days where I hate how my voice sounds, or I don’t feel confident to apply for a job or writer’s round. There are days where my friend’s success in the entertainment field makes me depressed and feel hopeless about my own journey in the same area. But all it takes is one day of feeling good where the hard work you put in suddenly feels worth it.
I have recently been participating in my church’s music ministry and last Sunday, a couple approached me after mass to tell me how much they loved my voice and how they look forward to when they see me at church. That couple had no idea that days earlier I was crying about how I sounded in a recording from a show and how my confidence had been shot since. Every small victory encourages me to continue making social media content, playing my guitar, writing music. The small things really do matter! Often as creatives we gauge our happiness based on outward success and the typical measures, we see others use like social media followers and money. We constantly compare ourselves to others when we all have completely different paths that lead us to where we are. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it takes just one person appreciating what you do to get all the encouragement you need. It is also never too late to start. Life happens, we drop the ball or lose interest or drive in the things we care about. I was feeling like my life was over and couldn’t dive back into music at 22 because I graduated college and therefore my creativity dies with my life in a dorm. That is crazy to think like that! You have to do what makes you happy, even if it isn’t happy all the time. Find what you love to do, put your work, sweat, and tears into it and at least try!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My senior year of college I was at my campus-job scrolling through the campus announcements page when I saw something that caught my eye. COUNTRY SHOWCASE APPLY NOW was staring at me, and for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I never had the confidence to apply for this showcase in the years prior but why was it still being presented as an option in my brain? My coworker (who had never really conversed with me at this job before) came out of the back room and started to chat with me and asked what I was doing. I told them I saw the country showcase was accepting applications and started to give myself an excuse like always about how I don’t have any produced music or a band so I cannot do it. This coworker, his name is Matt and he’s now one of my best friends and producer of my music, casually says he can help me with all of that and that I should do it. We did not know each other well before this, and this single-handedly shaped the rest of my senior year. We met up at his home studio and I played him a couple of songs I had written, one called “Blue” which I had recently written after a very difficult change in my life. He was very excited about my music, and I felt a confidence I had never felt before. We began having recording sessions to produce three of my songs for the application. Through Matt, I also was able to put a band together to prepare for the live auditions, and I met not only some amazing musicians, but my boyfriend Alex who has also been a great figure in my music journey. We put some amazing hours of work into this audition process, and I learned so much about myself as a musician.
It was the night of Friendsgiving, a gathering with my new friend group, and I was cooking stuffing for my dish. I got the email and saw that we had not made it to live auditions and I was devastated. Normally, I would hole myself up in my room and sob in my own self-pity, cancelling all my plans to be alone. However, I instead thanked my band and friends for their effort and went to our celebration and had an amazing time. It was a pivotal moment for me because I was able to feel sad, we didn’t make it, but still have confidence in myself about the work we put in and go have a good time. This whole showcase event was the first time I had fully dedicated myself to my music and found a support group of people who care about myself and my career enough to help me and be there during the good and the bad. I used to think that I couldn’t make any more friends so close to graduation, but they came at the perfect time, and I am so grateful to have them every step of the way in my life and artistry. They are all still active in my musical endeavors and continue to support and play for me to this day, and I expect great things for us!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.emmastjude.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmastjude/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaStJude
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmastjude
Image Credits
Sarah Walsh @_sarah.walsh