Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey J..
Hi Hailey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in the Ventura County area of southern California, and I’ve also lived in San Francisco and New York City. I currently reside with my husband and son in the Pacific Northwest.
As a kid, I took part in voice lessons, choir, and school plays, which later led to me studying classical singing at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
My college was down the street from the opera house, and San Francisco’s rich cultural opportunities were inspiring. However, I realized that I wasn’t going to pursue opera, despite my appreciation for classical music. While still living in San Francisco, I began to explore other creative mediums, such as modeling and performing backup vocals for pop/rock artists.
About a year after I graduated school, I moved back to SoCal, where I started learning more about the entertainment industry. I began working as an extra on TV shows and films, and I signed with an agency for fit and print modeling. I also ventured into songwriting and looked for opportunities to collaborate on music with other people.
While doing extra work on the TV show Masters of Sex, I met my future husband – kind of a funny way to find your spouse! Joe and I initially connected as friends, and we bonded over the fact that we were both classically trained musicians who were interested in creating pop songs.
Joe and I began to work on music together, and we stayed in touch even during my year-and-a-half stint of living in New York. When I returned to California, we began an alt-pop duo called JAY II (Jay the Second), with Joe as the music producer and me as the main vocalist. We still have this project, but we are focused on creating songs in the trance genre now. We work on tracks together, and also on separate songs with other artists.
In terms of our relationship, Joe and I started dating after about six years of friendship. We’re now married with an almost two-year-old. Music was the first thing to link Joe and me, and maybe it’ll be an important part of our son’s life too.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been a few obstacles, but with them came lessons and gratitude. One difficult situation took place back in 2015: I developed an injury on my vocal folds that required surgery. It was hard waiting for my voice to recover, but I focused on becoming stronger at playing the keyboard, and I continued to write lyrics.
When I was able to sing again, I didn’t take it for granted. In fact, I decided to drop most acting/modeling pursuits and focus on music. I stopped working on set, so that I would have a more regular schedule. I wanted to be able to plan songwriting and recording sessions more easily.
From the time I started writing songs, Joe has been my main music collaborator. However, we encountered some struggles in the beginning of our JAY II project. Due to communication issues and to some other circumstances, we didn’t work together for a few months after completing our first EP. Eventually, we talked things out and came to an agreement about how we wanted to do music with each other going forward. Having this conversation revived our musical collaboration and our personal relationship as well. I’m grateful we both made the effort to understand one another.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a vocalist and topliner (a songwriter who writes the vocal melody and lyrics). I work mostly on electronic music tracks. I made my debut in the trance world in 2025 with the release of the song “Lost in Sound,” a collaboration with artist John O’Callaghan. I was also the vocalist on John’s track “Music Takes Me Higher,” a song that is supported by Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance Radio and was in the ASOT Top 50 for Tune of the Year 2025.
Trance is a genre that seems to be a good fit for me, as the vocalists are often women who don’t have typical pop voices. I’ve found the trance community to be welcoming and kind.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I believe the music industry will utilize AI more and more in the future, but people will continue to crave human made songs, at least in certain genres. A lot of chill, “background” music, such as lo-fi, is already generated by AI. However, I think that as the world becomes increasingly technology focused, it will be important for songs that have more of an emotional arc than lo-fi tracks do to have been written by real musicians. People want connection and to know the person creating the music.
Social media will also keep defining the kind of art we consume. Even now, it appears as though people are less enthralled with a perfect, polished, industry shaped artist. Listeners today seem to be more invested in a performer who shares their creative process with their community, rather than an artist who is hidden “behind the curtain.” This speaks again to our human need for connection and authenticity, and this desire will most likely only get stronger as time goes on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.haileyjmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haileyjmusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@haileyjmusic/playlists
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/haileyjofficial/sets/featuring-hailey-j
Image Credits
Solomon Augusteyn. Joe Marquez.
