Violet Jane captivates with a bold mix of vulnerability, rebellion, and raw beauty. From the haunting resonance of her track “Suicide Song” to her striking presence on platforms like Instagram and Playboy, Violet defies conventions. In this exclusive interview, she delves into her lifelong connection to gothic aesthetics, the creative freedom she’s found in Los Angeles, and how embracing her true self shapes her work and inspires her audience.
Even in my modeling, I never try to give off the illusion of perfection. I think it’s so often that models and influencers work hard to maintain a picture-perfect aesthetic which feels very unauthentic to me. I’m not perfect, and I never want anyone to see my online presence and feel bad about themselves because they think that just because I’m successful and in LA that I have my life totally together. Because when it comes down to it, everyone has highs and lows. And it would seem an injustice and honestly harmful to my audience to not be authentic in that I’m only human and I’m far from perfect, none of us are.
I have honestly always been drawn towards darkness and the gothic aesthetic, even in preschool I remember I had to eat lunch separately from the rest of my class because I’d only eat if I could listen to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack. I grew up in the deep south around very closed-minded people. Despite this, I always knew who I was to my core and how I wanted to express myself. It’s part of what drew me away from my hometown, it felt like a black hole honestly and I knew that if I didn’t leave, I’d be sucked in forever. I traveled the world for a while trying to find my place, and finally ended up in Los Angeles because I wanted to be around like-minded people. I was amazed by the unique, creative, diverse culture of the city and it gave me a sense of belonging. And honestly music has always been my passion ever since I can remember, and what better city to follow that dream than here?
As an artist and creative, as much as I’ve always been drawn to including darkness in my work, I’m also very much a sexual person. Though I’m beginning to transition beyond modeling to focus on my music, embracing my sexual nature is still important to me and it’s something that I’ve also incorporated into my music which people will discover with these next few tracks that will be dropping soon.
As much as I’d love to say Amy Winehouse because she’s always been one of my biggest influences, she sadly passed too soon. Now, my biggest dream would be to collaborate with Ethel Cain. Her music changed my life. We come from a similar background and she feels so relatable to me. Her music is so dark and raw and she posses a genius within her that I’ve very rarely seen in this generation of music.
This is the only song I’ve ever written in one sitting and it’s by far the rawest, closest thing to my heart that I’ve ever written. Suicide is always depicted as such a dark, devastating thing, and don’t get me wrong- it absolutely is. But what’s less talked about is how beautiful it feels in the moment. It’s like you’re crying and the tears won’t stop and it gets darker and heavier until you snap and you can’t carry it anymore. And then you make that fatal choice, to end it all. And once you make that choice, the tears all stop. It’s like all of that weight that you were carrying lifts off of your shoulders because you know that you don’t have to carry it anymore. And you feel so light and free that you could laugh or dance, it’s euphoric. And it was in that state, just prior to my own suicide attempt, that I picked up my guitar and this song just flew out of me. So that’s why I wrote it the way that I did, not only dark and sad, but almost a happy-sad, a melody both haunting and beautiful. Because I wanted to encompass what that experience truly feels like. And I think it’s important to bring awareness to subjects like this because until I was exposed to music like this, I felt so completely alienated, like I was the only person on earth who’d ever felt like that. So that’s my hope for this song, is that anyone out there who’s experiencing that same feeling knows that there’s someone else out there who’s felt that too, and that I survived to release that song. (Editor's note: Help is available worldwide. Speak with someone today 🙏 )
I utilize my platform the only way I know how to, and it’s by being unapologetically myself. There’s a part of me that loves to share my sexual side and you’ll see a lot of that on my feed. But I’m multi-faceted, as we all are. And I’m more than just a model and musician. I’m a writer, a poet, a dreamer, and a neurotic among many other things. And I don’t feel the need to hold any of that back just for the purpose of maintaining an aesthetic. I’d honestly say it’s an important part of my aesthetic, because it’s me. I know that I’m beautiful and that I have a sexual allure to me, but there’s much more beneath the surface. I have a beautiful mind, and it’s dark and complex and oftentimes verges on insanity. But that’s me, and I’ll never refrain myself from being true to who I am.
That life is a beautiful, train wreck of a journey, but that through all the lows and the highs, all that matters is finding joy wherever you can and never straying from who you are.
As someone raised in such a closed-minded community, even I’ve had times where I struggled to stay true to myself. I’ve gone through periods where I tried to mold myself into a version of me that people would like. But I discovered that that only left me miserable and alienated because it honestly prevented me from finding my people, the friends I have now that know the real me and love me all the more for it. So don’t ever try to change who you are to fit in. It never works, and it’s only dragging you down. Be true to yourself, be authentic, and be unapologetic about it. That’s where true freedom lies.
I honestly utilize X less than I should, and that’s something I’m working on fixing. But given that a lot of my modeling and art can be quite explicit, it’s nice having the opportunity to use other platforms that are more open-minded and less censored.
Music has always been my dream, but I’ve always been my own biggest obstacle. As a model, especially one who posts as explicitly as I do, you wouldn’t think that I’m the type of girl who’s shy. But my music is so different, it’s my diary. And it takes so much courage and vulnerability to share that part of myself with the world. And it took me a long time and a lot of growth to find that within myself. But now that I’ve found it, I’m never letting anything get in the way of that ever again. I have 4 tracks currently in the works, and I’m writing more and more each day. Each song I write is just another peek into myself that my listeners get to see. They’re experiences I’ve been through, some are dark, some are messy, some are beautiful. But they’re all true to who I am. So I’m very excited to jump head first into music and share my message with the world, and all I could ever hope from that is that whoever hears it feels seen and less alone. That’s what music has always done for me, and now it’s my turn to give that back.
