Jazzy Gold

Written during a late-night session in Bali, ‘DUMB’ became a creative turning point for Jazzy Gold, opening the door to a more honest and emotionally unfiltered style of songwriting that now shapes her upcoming project WTF is WRONG with ME. Across this conversation, she opens up about hookup culture, self-sabotage, emotional burnout and why learning to laugh at yourself can sometimes be the only way through it.

‘DUMB’ explores the emotional emptiness that can sit underneath constant validation and attention. Can you talk about the personal experiences that shaped the narrative of this song and why you felt ready to share that side of yourself?

DUMB was heavily inspired by my own experiences navigating hookup culture, validation and relationships throughout my teens and early twenties. I used to have a really unhealthy relationship with my body and struggled with orthorexia, which eventually spiralled into caring way too much about being desirable and constantly seeking validation from other people. For a long time, my happiness depended on how much attention I was getting, and I think I started viewing intimacy as a way to reward myself or temporarily feel worthy. I also think I became conditioned into believing people could only really be interested in me in a sexual way, because that was all I had really known or been shown for a long time.

Over time, I realised how emotionally draining and isolating those patterns actually were, even when I was surrounded by constant attention and validation. It’s not like that voice in my head has completely disappeared either — I still struggle with it sometimes. I think that’s why the song feels so honest, because it wasn’t written from a place of pretending I had everything figured out. It came from recognising those patterns in real time while still actively struggling with them myself.

I think I finally felt ready to share that side of myself because I got exhausted trying to make myself seem more put together than I actually was, both in life and in my writing. DUMB was the first song where I stopped filtering those thoughts and just said exactly what I was feeling. Writing it completely changed the way I see my own music, because I realised the songs that connect the most are usually the ones that feel the most uncomfortable to admit out loud.

The song came together during a late-night session in Bali with other artists. What was the atmosphere like in that room, and how did that environment allow you to be more open and vulnerable in your writing?

The atmosphere in that room honestly felt really unexpected. The session itself was planned super last minute and none of us really thought it was going to turn into something as personal as it did. I’d only known the people in the room for a few days, and they were all from completely different parts of the world, but somehow we ended up having this really deep conversation about relationships, validation, insecurity and self sabotage. The focus of the session kind of naturally shifted onto me, and they were asking me a lot of personal questions and really getting me to open up in a way I normally wouldn’t in a writing session.

I think because there were no expectations and nobody was trying too hard to impress each other, the room felt really safe very quickly. Everyone stopped trying to write something ‘cool’ and just started being brutally honest instead. That environment made me realise how much I’d been filtering myself in previous writing sessions. DUMB was probably the first song where I stopped trying to make myself sound more mysterious, put together or emotionally detached than I actually was. I just said exactly what I was feeling in real time, and I think that honesty completely changed the way I approach songwriting now.

There’s a really distinct tone in ‘DUMB’ where it feels like you’re almost laughing at yourself while also confronting something quite heavy. How did you approach writing lyrics that feel both playful and brutally honest at the same time?

I honestly didn’t really approach it in a calculated way, I think that balance just naturally reflects the way I process things emotionally. Humour and sarcasm have always been huge coping mechanisms for me, so even when I’m talking about something genuinely painful or uncomfortable, there’s usually still a level of self awareness or irony there. I think a lot of people in their twenties are like that though, you can be genuinely spiralling while also laughing at yourself in real time.

I never wanted DUMB to feel emotionally disconnected or overly serious, because that wouldn’t have felt authentic to me. The playful side of the lyrics is almost part of the denial and chaos of the whole situation, whereas the honesty underneath it is what gives the song emotional weight. I actually think the humour makes the vulnerable moments hit harder, because it feels more human and less polished. It also became a really important way for me to showcase my personality through my music, because I never want my art to feel separated from who I actually am as a person.

You’ve described the track as calling out the reality of hookup culture. What do you think people often get wrong about that lifestyle, and what truth were you most determined to capture in this song?

I think people often glamorise hookup culture without really talking about how emotionally complicated it can become underneath all the attention and validation. There’s this idea that constantly being desired automatically equals confidence or empowerment, but I think for a lot of people it can actually become a really unhealthy cycle of trying to fill emotional voids or prove your worth through other people.

I’ve always been a pretty open person sexually and that’s definitely a known part of my personality, but I think people sometimes mistake that for not having feelings or not craving genuine human connection and intimacy. Those are two completely different things. One of the biggest truths I wanted to capture in DUMB was how lonely and emotionally draining that lifestyle can actually feel, even when you’re surrounded by constant attention.

I also really wanted to capture the contradiction of being self aware enough to recognise your own toxic patterns while still actively living in them anyway. I think that’s what makes the song feel so honest to me, because it’s not written from a place of judgement or acting morally superior. It’s written from the perspective of someone who was genuinely stuck in that cycle and trying to understand why.

‘DUMB’ is the first glimpse into your upcoming project ‘WTF is WRONG with ME,’ which dives into themes like self-blame, addiction, and complex personal patterns. How does this song set the emotional and thematic foundation for what’s to come?

I think DUMB sets the emotional foundation for the entire project because it introduces this really important contradiction that exists throughout WTF is WRONG with ME, being able to laugh at yourself while simultaneously falling apart internally. On the surface, the song is fun, chaotic, playful and sarcastic, but underneath that there’s still a really uncomfortable level of vulnerability, insecurity and emotional exhaustion. That contrast honestly represents me as both a person and a writer better than anything else I’ve made before.

The entire project revolves around unpacking unhealthy coping mechanisms, self sabotage, addiction in different forms, and the habit I’ve had for most of my life of blaming myself for things that were completely out of my control. DUMB was the first song where I stopped trying to make those emotions sound prettier or more digestible and just said them exactly as they were. I think writing that song completely shifted the way I approached music afterwards, because I realised the most powerful moments usually came from the things I was almost too uncomfortable to admit out loud.

Even though DUMB is probably one of the more playful songs on the project sonically, it still introduces the core emotional themes of validation, loneliness, insecurity, addiction to attention and destructive behavioural patterns that continue throughout the EP. If anything, the project honestly only gets darker, deeper and more vulnerable from there.

You’ve already been building a strong connection with audiences through your live shows in Sydney. How do you translate a song as intimate and confessional as ‘DUMB’ into a live setting, and what kind of reaction have you seen so far?

I think the reason DUMB translates so well live is because even though the lyrics are incredibly intimate and confessional, the energy of the song still feels chaotic, playful and emotionally explosive. People can scream the lyrics, dance, laugh and completely crash out to it while still connecting to the vulnerability underneath it. I never wanted honesty in my music to feel quiet or delicate, I wanted it to feel loud, messy, self aware and cathartic.

One of the most surreal parts of performing the song live has been realising how many people genuinely see themselves in it. There’s something really powerful about watching an entire room scream lyrics about validation, insecurity, loneliness and self sabotage back at you while simultaneously having the time of their lives. It almost turns the song into this shared emotional release rather than just a performance.

I think people also connect to the fact that DUMB doesn’t try to romanticise or glamorise those experiences either. The song is very self aware and pretty confronting at times, but there’s still humour in it, which makes it feel human. A lot of people have told me it feels like I’m saying thoughts they’ve had before but were too embarrassed to admit out loud themselves, and honestly that’s probably the biggest compliment I could receive as a writer.