The Reklaws: Inspiration, Isolation and New Single "Where I’m From"

Interview by Mallory Thompson

Graphic by Emily Lantzy

It’s been a crazy few weeks in the world, and in the midst of this weird time, I had the chance to talk to Jenna Walker, who makes up half of brother-sister duo The Reklaws. Hailing from Cambridge, Ontario, Jenna and her brother Stu have been making a name for themselves in the country music scene. They share a mutual love for partying and bringing people together with powerful music that is sure to get you up off your feet. Throughout the interview, we chatted about inspiration, advice, and their new single “Where I’m From” and why it’s the perfect time to release it.

First off, how are you doing with all the craziness in the world right now?

It has been something you could never even try to plan for. There’s a part of me that doesn’t like it and there’s a part of me that’s like wow, the world kind of needed this pause button for a minute, and I think it’s taking us back and reminding us of what really is important in life. I felt like for Stu and I, we’re on such a fast pace, that I was enjoying things but I was always on to the next thing. Finally I’m like, “Woah, I took a lot for granted.” On a personal level, I think I’ve been trying to work out, which is tough from home. We have to get outside, there is no way of stopping that because then people would go psycho.

Since you obviously can’t tour right now, what have you been doing to engage and connect with your fans?

I mean, it’s been tough; I know Instagram Live is the thing to do right now. But we’ve been trying to just keep updating posts. We have stuff planned to release which is gonna help keep things rolling.

Has this time inside inspired any creativity or created any inspiration for song-writing?

Yeah, I don’t usually play guitar on stage, but I’ve really been playing guitar a lot more. I’ve [also] been writing on my own because Stu and I are not living together, so that's different too. I feel like it’s given me time to be like “Ok, I really gotta try this now,” and it scares me to do that, but also excites me to maybe think that I could play the guitar on stage if I get the confidence right.

It’s definitely the time to practice.

We have a little balcony in Toronto with all these apartment buildings around us, and it would be awesome if we could set up a stage down in the middle and play for all the people in the surrounding condos!

You should do it on your balcony!

I know! So I think we’re going to try and do that once Stu wants to come over. I mean, Stu and I see each other because we have to for work, but we’re going to do it at some point! Once the weather gets a little nicer. 

You should Instagram live it, that would be a lot of fun! 

I know, we’re going to, we have to! 

You could call it Balcony Sessions, maybe make some content for YouTube or something like that.

I know! I was like, maybe we should put up a bedsheet on the deck down here that has our name!

Yes, that would be so fun!

Right? We’re going to do it. 

Switching gears a little bit, I’ve heard you have a rather large family. Do any of them sing besides you and your brother?

They all are pretty musical, like they can all sing. Our older sister, who’s a chiropractor now, so she got the brains of the family, she could always sing harmony. That kind of got us going on everything, like we all would have different parts and we would sing together. Everybody loves to entertain; you can’t come to my family's house without being like “Okay, they’ve lost their minds” or “I love this;” there’s no in between. We are very, very crazy. But I mean, they all love to sing [and] they all love to entertain, but I feel they’ve seen how much work it can be, and it kind of deters them from really going for it, I think. 

How did you decide to break off, just you and Stu? Out of everyone else in your family?

It just kind of happened so naturally; I was the one singing for so long, and then I needed a guitar player, and Stewart was learning how to play guitar, so I was like “Perfect, you’ll come and play guitar and we’ll practice together and I’ll sing.” Slowly, Stu started to sing and then he started to outsing me, and I was like “Okay, wait a sec!” It just worked out perfectly and we’ve always just been great buddies and we always kind of needed each other to get through everything. I think we’re lucky; there’s times where I’m like, “How often can you hang out with your brother?” But at the end of the day, it’s been awesome, because you just always have another person to fall back on and to talk to. 

Your new song “Where I’m From” comes out on April 17th. I heard a clip from it and I loved it, but I wanted to know, what’s the significance of this song and what does it mean to you?

I am so excited, we’ve been going through old home videos and trying to find stuff to put together to make a video for it, and this video is an explanation of everything that’s ever happened from when we were born to right now, and it's just like every person that’s watched it has cried. It’s been so magical and so cool, and I feel like it’s such a great song to come out during this time, because people are all taken back to where they come from. I mean, you’re in your own little house and the only people that are really important to you are your mom and dad and your brothers and sisters and your neighbours, and that’s how you started, and now we’re all back in that spot; it’s so funny. It’s going to be so awesome. We’ve been holding onto this song for a while now, so it’s going to be so exciting to finally get it out and get people to hear it and make it their own.

I think it’ll be really cool once you’re able to perform it, because I feel like it’s a song that can bring people together!

Totally, I feel like every person has their own “Where I’m From,” and what makes them who they are, and every time we’ve played it for someone, they’ve gone “Oh, this song reminds me of me,” and we’re like “Oh that's so good, that's exactly how we want you to look at it.” Your “Where I’m From” is different and unique for every person at every age, and it’ll just be awesome to see how people make it their own.

Why does now feel like the right time to release it? If this wasn’t going on and there wasn’t a pandemic, would you still want to release it now? 

We’ve thought about it and you know what, maybe not. We were between two songs. We were between this one that was very upbeat and fun and dancey, but then we were like, “No one can go out and do what they wanna do with this song.” We need a song that people can sit back and really listen to, and this is the time where they’re actually gonna listen to it. “Where I’m From” seemed to be one that was just perfect timing. I feel like everything that’s happened in our careers when I look back, knock on wood, is pretty perfect timing. I mean with everything, it’s just crazy. Everything lines up the way it’s supposed to. Not that this pandemic is great or anything, but we have to see the bright side in it somehow and hopefully this song can bring some brightness to people. 

How would you describe the music you make in a few words?

Real, relatable, family, party. That’s exactly what it is.

What is the most important thing about making music?

I’ve thought about this; I feel like my mind has changed a lot with it. I feel like when we were first starting out, it was like “Ugh, I just wanna be famous,” which is the stupidest thing in the world. But I remember, this year especially, I feel like I’ve really gotten to see what’s important in what you’re saying and who you’re talking to. I guess as a female in the country music world or in the songwriting world, you are outnumbered for sure, and you kind of have to just go to bat every single day and try to be as confident as you possibly can. I remember going into rooms and thinking, “What am I doing this for? Am I doing this to prove something for myself?” And then I realized that the only reason why I wanted to do it is because I wanted to show other girls that they can show up and not be scared and that those scary situations are situations that if you face can be really awesome things. But a lot of people can’t face them, and I think that's our whole perspective on why we write music and why we do what we do is just to allow everyone to just bring happiness, brightness and confidence to people in everyday life. That should be the outcome of everything, because if you’re not doing it for somebody else, why are we doing it? I would hate to look at it and be like “I'm doing this just for me.” I wouldn’t want to do it if that was the case. 

Do you have any advice for young musicians or young women based on the knowledge you’ve gained? 

Be persistent, and you almost have to be annoying. You have to be okay with people being annoyed with you, because at some point they’re gonna go “Well, they’re not leaving, [so] we have to kind of start acknowledging them.” Just don’t give up. That drive that you feel in your heart is something, if you still have that drive even on the worst days [and] there’s still that inkling [of] “I have to go back,” even if you sometimes hate it, that feeling is so important. I think when you’ve lost that feeling is when it’s like “Okay, time to move on. If that little feeling is there, just hold onto it and continue to chase it, because there’s a reason why it’s there. 

I know you can’t really perform right now, but what is your favorite song to perform live and why? 

This summer is going to be interesting because we have a whole bunch of new songs out. The one with Dean Brody, “Can’t Help Myself,” that we just put out; we’re looking forward to playing it so bad because it’s just going to get everybody going. We think we’re going to make it the last song of the set, so that will be exciting. The encore song where we leave and then come back out with that song. Woo, it’s gonna be hot. Right now, “Long Live The Night” is just epic; everybody, no matter what, is out of their seats having a great time. That one is really fun to perform. And then “I Do Too” has been one that kind of came out of the woodwork and we never really thought it was going to do anything, because we weren’t sure. But we went through with it, and it was just so epic to see the amount of people that it touched, and we were like “Oh my gosh, if all this song does is allow people to feel that they’re not alone in situations, then that's the most amazing thing it could ever do.” And then it ended up going gold, so it’s just crazy. You really never know.

Congrats! That’s awesome, and you’re definitely right, you do really never know how something is going to relate to someone until it’s played.

Thank you so much, exactly.

Wrapping up with the last few questions; how has your music changed since you first started?

We were talking about this, I feel like our first couple of songs were like “We’re new, we’re party animals,” and I mean, we’re still party animals, but the new stuff is a little more grown-up. I feel like we’re trying to grow with our fans; we’re trying to let them know that we’re just like them and we’re growing up and we have the questions that they have when [they] grow up. We also still love to have a good time. But it’s funny how your conversations change and the longer you’re in it, the more you’re allowed to kind of branch off and do different things.

To finish off, if someone reading had never heard of you, what are some tracks they should listen to?

I’m going to say, “Where I’m From” number one, because the video is a full sum-up of exactly who we are. I’m so excited for people to see it. If you have any questions about who we are, where we came from, this is it. And definitely “Long Live The Night,” because long live every good night. Then I would say “Feels Like That,” because that was just such a good feel-good song. I feel like it really changed the pace of our career a bit. And then we have another new song [coming out] called “Beer Can.” It's a party, and it’s gonna make this summer awesome. Also, “I Do Too.”

Be sure to check out “Where I’m From” by The Reklaws, out as of April 17th! The video will for sure make you emotional, and hopefully provide you with some comfort and joy during this crazy time. Thank you to Jenna for spending some time with me! I can’t wait to see what’s next for The Reklaws; they’ve definitely gained a new fan.