Attending the concert of any 2SLGBTQ+ artist in Toronto often feels like an unofficial queer meetup, but Jamie Fine’s shows are something entirely different.
Closing your eyes, her music makes you feel like you’re living in a movie. The main character in your own romcom – the kind that leaves you feeling hopeful about life and love at the end.
It’s impossible to not notice the unique makeup of the audience, with the crowd that gathered at the Axis Club for Fine’s Toronto concert earlier this month, truly reflecting the city.
Young and old, single and coupled, people from various backgrounds and generations swayed to the tunes and sang along as the Ottawa singer serenaded the crowd. As a Toronto girl and frequent concertgoer, I can truly say it was an experience of community like no other. Such a diverse audience may be an anomaly to most, but to Fine, it’s expected.
“I think it’s one of the things I love most about what I do and who I am attracting with my music. There’s everybody, from every walk of life,” Fine told Queer & Now in an interview.
“We have a [queer] community and I love that. But what I think [that] what we’re pushing towards, and what I’ve fought for my whole life, is to be part of community in general,” she continued, explaining that she enjoys seeing this come to life in her own audience.
“When I look out into the crowd and I see somebody who is like 75 years old with her daughter, standing next to like these two very queer folk who are rocking out, and they get to bond in the same atmosphere… isn’t that exactly what we’ve been fighting for all this time?”
“It doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter how you identify, it doesn’t matter who you love, it doesn’t matter what you look like, everybody is just there to have a friggin’ good time,” she explained. “So, to be able to provide that safe place, or hopefully what people see as a safe place, with my music? It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Fine broke onto the scene as part of a music duo alongside Elijah Woods around ten years ago, before taking a hiatus from music in 2020. After her break, Fine started to pave her way as a solo artist in 2022, before going viral with her 2023 hits “If Anything’s Left” and “Bulletproof.”
“I feel very fulfilled in a way that I never got to experience in my artist career. I get to tell my story and it doesn’t have to fit anyone else’s,” Fine said about working as a solo artist.
NOT UR THERAPIST POD
The singer has recently taken on a new venture: podcasting. Along with her girlfriend Victoria Sabovitch, and friends Carley Gonschior and Mercedes Stewart, Fine hosts the “not ur therapist pod,” with new episodes dropping every Tuesday.
The group pushes the envelope with discussions about taboo topics, talking about everything from sexual preferences to mental health. Fine says the feedback has been…. unhinged.
“When I released my latest song ‘Bulletproof’ I attracted some more religious people. It’s about family and connecting with emotions a little more and I think inevitably it attracted a different audience that I wasn’t used to,” Fine explained.
“Then we released this podcast where we’re talking about butts and sex and all these things and I think that shocked a lot of people,” she shared, explaining that the podcast received a lot of critical feedback.
Fine took it upon herself to investigate the source of this negative feedback, telling Queer & Now that she found the majority of the criticism came from people who don’t share the same values as she strives to be her authentic self.
“I’m unforgivably me, I swear like a trucker, I talk about sex very openly,” the singer explained. “I don’t mind talking about controversial things as long as there is a discussion where both people can talk about it and be part of the conversation as opposed to one of us sharing our opinion without listening to the other, and that’s what this podcast is about.”
She shared that despite some controversy, it’s been beautiful to see audiences finding even more ways to connect with her experiences.
“We posted this clip about my gender identity, and the way people connected to it was something I had never really experienced before.”
BEING UNFORGIVABLY HERSELF & TAKING UP SPACE
As an artist, content creator, and podcaster, it’s undeniable that Fine has a unique and important presence online. She told Queer & Now that she believes there are many important reasons that she has to take up space in the world, and it’s beyond being a member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
“I think it’s important for me to take up space for a lot of reasons. And I think if I say ‘as a queer woman,’ I almost find it limiting to what queer people can do in the world,” Fine explained, adding that she has always struggled to not overthink her own identity.
“I’m proud to be confident enough to live in the world being gay when I know there is still so much stigma against it and hate towards it, I’m proud of that. But I’m not proud because I love women.”
“I want to take up space as someone who is just unforgivably me and I hope that in turn that teaches people… it doesn’t really matter how you identify. It doesn’t matter how you identify with gender or sexual orientation or whatever it is,” Fine explained.
“Sense of community is so important for everybody. To find your community and to feel where you feel safe and comfortable, and you can say what you want and feel what you want, hoping that there is no judgement,” Fine added.
The singer shared that she hopes for a future where 2SLGBTQ+ community members can live as their authentic selves worldwide. However, she also acknowledged the valid fears that many people have about living their truth in a world that is not always kind.
“With social media so rampant and everyone on it, we’ve never dealt with such a high volume of hate, but we’ve also never dealt with such a high volume of love.”
But how does she continue to be her authentic self in the spotlight?
“You’ve got to put the work into falling madly in love with yourself,” Fine explained. “Then you find your people, and then you find your place in the world. And I promise, I promise that will happen.”
Despite feeling the pressure to conform in the pursuit of success, Fine shared that she has never experienced more success than when she is being authentic to who she is.
But she also admitted that it’s not always easy.
“Things can be very simple but not easy at the same time. For me I don’t take that route. I make sure that I stand firm in my place in the world,” Fine shared.
So, what is her goal? To make an impact.
“I write music to help people. I write music to make people feel a little less lonely in the world because that’s what music did for me. If I can do that for one person, beautiful. If I do that for 40 million people, even better.”
