Jazzygold Opens Up on Life as a Kenyan-Faroese Artist, Growing up a “Brown Girl” in a White Town on “Homerun,” and Writing Her Forthcoming EP

After playing in her namesake band JASMIN from 2017 through 2022, Jasmin Mote needed to shift gears and began working with a new sound, one percolating in R&B under the moniker Jazzygold. While temporarily relocating to London and Stockholm, Sweden in 2022, Mote detached from her home base on the Faroe Islands and wrote 10 new songs and the beginning of her 2025 EP.

With her first few singles since 2023, Mote was already exposing fragments of life as a 20-something-year-old—regretful hangovers, (“lonely afterparties”), dying her hair red (“dyed my hair red”), mental health (“day off”)—before penetrating something deeper on her new single “homerun” (Tutl Records), a tribute to her family, her Kenyan roots, and her struggles as a woman of color growing up in a predominantly small white town on the Faroe Islands.

Mote says ‘homerun” is “more than just a song.” She added, “It’s a piece of my heart. This track represents the journey, the struggles, and the dreams that have shaped me. It’s for everyone who’s ever felt like they had to push a little harder to make their voice heart. I poured my everything into this, and I hope it resonates with you.”

‘Cause there was only straight hair in the all-white neighborhood / Tried to fit in and do the best that I could / My brown skin got me misunderstood sings Mote in the revelatory track, accompanied by a music video directed by fellow Faroese artist Dania O. Tausen.

“‘Homerun’ is a song I’ve wanted to write forever, but I never felt ready to share my personal story until now,” said Mote in a previous statement. “After creating this beautiful song, I’ve never been more ready to reveal these layers in front of everyone.”

Though many of her fellow artists on the Faroe Islands perform in Faroese, Mote prefers to write and sing in English, from her debut 2023 single “boring like me” through “homerun.

Mote recently spoke to American Songwriter about making music as Jazzygold, songwriting, and some of the misconceptions of music from the Faroe Islands.

[RELATED: The Music of the Faroe Islands is Beyond What Anyone Expected]

American Songwriter: A change of scenery can be a necessity for creativity. What made you go to London and Stockholm to write?

Jasmin Mote:

When I was in London and Stockholm in 2022, I got to meet a lot of new people. I’ve been working with this one producer, Daniel Hedberg, in Stockholm because we connect and understand each other on a musical level. Normally I’m in different sessions, trying new stuff out, but it was nice just working with him alone.

AS: How did the new songs like “homerun” come together?

JM

: It’s been a special process because, for a few years, I’ve been struggling with a lot of anxiety and stuff like that. Last year, I finally agreed to go to a therapist, and I was lucky because we hit it off right away. So in the process of going to therapy, we have been opening a lot of things up from the past, like past traumas. We opened all of these little doors that I’ve been hiding and I was able to write about all of the things I’ve taken to therapy.

So when I went to Stockholm, I wasn’t thinking ‘I’m gonna write about all these things.’ It just happened naturally. It’s been a very special process of being able to talk about some things that I haven’t been able to talk about before.

AS: Now that you’ve transitioned from JASMIN to Jazzygold, how has songwriting shifted for you during this period?

JM: I was very young when I started with JASMIN and everything that I did was a first, like a learning process. Now, I’m more comfortable writing my own songs. The special thing about this EP is that it’s only me and Daniel [Hedberg]. He produced, I wrote my own lyrics, and he helped me—we helped each other. I feel like it’s my piece of art.

Normally, I was very dependent on another co-writer, so that’s been a big change. For the first time in forever, I’m comfortable with sitting in a session on my own.

AS: You write your lyrics in English. Is this how songs naturally come to you?

JM: I have written a bit in Faroese but not much. I actually feel way more comfortable writing in English because I’ve always done that. Writing in Faroese feels weird because I’m not used to it. And it is weird because that’s my language. That’s how I speak all day.

AS: Even when a song is in Faroese, or another language that is not your own, you can still feel it, and relate to it.

JM:

Yes, you can always still feel it.

AS: The more you get to perform some of these songs, do you feel them change in feeling or meaning?

JM: I’m always most excited about performing the songs live, because I know that it will add something. You often have to think in different ways when you perform a song live, to catch the audience, so it isn’t just a song they’re hearing on Spotify.

AS: What’s next for Jazzygold?

JM:

I’m focusing on the EP, getting it finished, and getting all of the visuals done so we can reach a higher level next year. I’m releasing two singles this year (including “homerun”). I’ve been so stressed about the name [for the EP], but it’s going to be [centered around the idea of] “nothing’s the same,” because I’m talking about my childhood, falling in love for the first time, ex-friends, and everything that built me.

AS: Sonically, what do you want to capture on the new EP?

JM: Different rhythms and drums are my thing right now. I love R&B. I grew up with R&B and pop, so I wanted it to be a mixture of those two as well. Growing up, my dad’s from Kenya, and he always played traditional Kenyan music, which has a lot of rhythm and drums, so I’m inspired by all of those things.

AS: R&B, pop, hip-hop, jazz, metal. These aren’t genres most people would associate with the Faroe Islands if they aren’t familiar with the music scene there. Do you still feel like there are misconceptions about music from the Faroe Islands?

JM: It’s more diverse now. I remember growing up and the sound on the Faroe Islands was mostly melancholic ballads, so I didn’t get my diversity from the Faroese music. I got it from MTV. I think in the last few years, there has been so much growth in the music industry on the islands, and there’s so much diverse music and different genres and people writing in Faroese and in English, and it’s awesome being a part of that.

Photos: Analogram