Her face may be familiar, her voice certainly. Born and raised in Gortin, County Tyrone, and now living in London, Janet’s musical journey took off after she secured fifth place on The X Factor in 2011. She was 17 years old.
Since then, there have been singles, two albums, a book, many mental health struggles, and a stint in rehab.
Earlier this month she released her new album, Emotional Rodeo, to rave reviews. “For me having Borderline Personality Disorder is literally like living in an emotional rodeo, ups and downs constantly,” she tells us exclusively, here. “Making an album is also an emotional rodeo and life, in general,” she laughs “is an emotional rodeo.”
Indeed, it is Janet, indeed it is.
Emerging as a distinct new voice in the country music world, using her life experiences to deliver an honest, authentic collection of songs – we talk to the singer/songwriter about her X Factor experiences, her struggles with mental health and her connection to horses.
Congratulations on the new album, Janet, it’s had a great reaction. Also, to the single Red Flag, which has been added to BBC Two’s playlist. You must be over the moon?
It is just surreal, I cried! There is so much music out there so getting playlisted feels like a massive victory. The album being out is a terrifying concept, but I’m excited for people to hear it, even if it is my most personal record yet.
You’re only just 30 but still, you’ve been on quite the journey so far, both emotionally and musically. Why did it take so long to make this country album that has always been in your heart?
I put my first country song out in 2021, it just took longer to make the album, because I’m independent, there’s no major label here. Everything’s done by an incredibly small team. When I first started working on the material, I was going through some personal stuff, and it was just really hard to write anything good. And then, basically, when I came out of that, I hit my swing with it. Then I didn’t want to release half the songs that I’d already written so I re-wrote 30 more!
And what is it about country music that you love so much?
Definitely being from county Tyrone, there had to be country in the veins! I love the storytelling in country songs, I’m a bit of a word nerd, I love writing. I mean, I wrote a book! I think that there is just so much clever word-play in country music.
This album was recorded in Nashville, that must have been cool?
Yeah, they have a way of working out there that’s very different to how we work. They do everything in the room. It’s all live. Everybody plays together. It’s great. And I fell in love with how quick that was, because on my last album, we did it segment by segment. Let’s go back to the start. This musical journey began for you, Janet, on X Factor 13 years ago.
Did you feel supported back in 2011 when you were on that show?
Actually, I did. I got kind of overwhelmed a couple of weeks in, and I reached out to one of the people who looked after us, and I said, I think I might need a wee bit of help here, and literally, the next day, I was in Harley Street and had seen psychiatrists, psychologists, you name it. I think my only thing, and I’ve said this before, I wish that they had made it clear to people that they could have help
because apparently the other people were getting help too, but nobody was talking about it.
You have been very open about your struggles with mental health. Is it important for you to share?
It’s a funny one when people say, thank you for your honesty, thank you for sharing your story. Whenever they say that I’m like, ‘Oh, well, that’s part of one of the conditions I have, that I am an over-sharer.’
Do explain more – if you can.
I’ve never been one to act as though my life is perfect. Like, if something’s not going right, I’m happy enough to share it. But, the over-sharing is from the Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) I have, where it’s like you have no control whatsoever, you just tend to over-share.
Does this get you in trouble?
Yes. There was one time when I was dating somebody and I over-shared on the internet. But, whenever I got my BPD diagnosis, I was like, okay, this is very clear now, I have to create boundaries to protect the people I love. And that means not talking about everything going on in my life. You can talk about what’s going on in your sphere. But you can’t be sharing about family or others.
Did this condition aid and abet your alcohol issues, do you think?
Oh, yeah. Seeing the symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder was the most validating thing in my life because it was like, “symptoms may include self-harm, anorexia, bulimia, alcoholism, drug addiction.” I was like, oh my god, it’s like a laundry list because people have made me feel bad at points, like you can’t have all these things, you can’t be an alcoholic and an anorexic and this and that and the other. And I’d be like, ‘Well, I don’t know what to tell you!’ I’ve been through all these things and then my relapse was because of my BPD and my Bipolar, where I just lost access to my feelings, and I was kind of trying anything just to get my feelings back, and my last resort was to drink. I know that for some getting a diagnosis is hard, but for me, it was a relief. Because at one point it was quite literally ruining my life.
To the point that when you did fall off the wagon again you decided to use your house deposit you had saved to go to rehab.
I was three and a half years sober and I relapsed. It wasn’t the craziest relapse in comparison to where my drinking was before, but it was enough of a sign to me to be like, okay, clearly something isn’t right here, and we need to do something about it. So, I withdrew that money from the Credit Union and flew home. I’m pretty sure I was in the airport calling rehab.
What do you do today to maintain your mental health?
I wake up an hour before I have to so that I can just sit in bed and go on eBay or listen to a podcast or whatever. Sometimes I go horse riding, I could be at the horse-share stables at 8 am and then be at the studio at 9.30. And then in the evenings, I take an hour to myself before I go to bed so that I can wind down. But the hour before work is the most important because otherwise, you feel like you’re getting up and your day is owning you. I was in regular therapy weekly for two years and I got to the point where I felt like I got everything off my chest, but now I spend the money I would spend on therapy on horses.
We’re talking to you from London, where you’ve been living for the last 13 years. But for the photoshoot, we brought you home, to the stunning Castle Leslie in Monaghan, to the horses.
I’ve been horse riding since I was 10 years old and was a competitive show jumper for six years. I was always obsessed with horses. The kind of patience I have with a horse is the kind of patience I wish I had with myself, and I wish that humans had for each other. As a child having a horse gave me great responsibility and freedom. From 10 years old, I was up the mountains, I would just be gone for hours at a time. No matter how nervous or scared you are, you cannot show the horse. You must fake it, even if petrified, you have to convince yourself you’re confident, otherwise, you’re in trouble.
Did you use that skill when you went on the X Factor to audition for the first time?
I wish I did! I hadn’t quite got to that point of maturity to know that.
Weren’t you in Dublin during the summer supporting Russell Crowe? How did this relationship come about? Was Ed Sheeran involved, too?
I’ve a YouTube channel where I post covers regularly, I have a bit of fun with it. When Ed Sheeran released his last album, I decided to do a cover of Bad Habits, recorded it, posted it, whatever. Then a couple of months later, Ed shared a video of my version, and I was like, holy crap. So obviously I was over the moon. But then Russell Crowe quote tweeted that tweet and then Ryan Reynolds liked that tweet. I was just like, ‘What the frick is going on here!?’ Then a couple of months later, Russell asked me if I would do a show.
Wow! It’s been a colourful life, Janet, there have been battles for sure, but have the struggles given you deeper roots?
I feel like I have such knowledge of myself now, aged 30. I got to learn a lot of hard lessons early on, I got to spend my entire 20s sober, trying to better myself and understand myself. I’m at a point now where I can offer help to others struggling. One of the most important things in my life is to be there and be of service to others.
So you’re in a good place now, a happy place. It sounds like the sky’s the limit, what is the grand plan, the ultimate dream?
I want to make more music, I want to tour and travel the world, and I want to have a house in Ireland – with a horse! But the main goal would be to have enough money that I can provide for my family and the people I love and care about.
Emotional Rodeo is the name of the album, is that a reference to life in general?
For me having BPD is literally like living in an emotional rodeo, ups and downs constantly. Making an album is also an emotional rodeo and there was a breakup in the middle of the album but also I was writing these songs of me being super happy, having the best time of my life. Life is an emotional rodeo, you just have to hang on!
Janet’s album Emotional Rodeo is released via OK! Good Records and is out now. Give her a follow on @janetdevlinofficial
