Jade Street on Their Formation, New Music, and Collaborating with Apple Martin

Jade Street moves like a band with a head start. Formed in May 2025, the Los Angeles duo—guitarists/vocalists Eli Meyuhas and Zachary Zwelling—arrived with a pair of sharp, unfussy singles (“Bad Man” and “Politics”) that put their priorities in plain view: guitars forward, melodies that bite, and a lived-in sensibility that nods to the UK alternative lineage without feeling pinned to nostalgia. New to the scene but quick to define their lane, they’ve sketched out a push-pull between reckless freedom and quiet introspection that already feels purposeful.

That effortless musicality drives “Satellites,” the duo’s latest release and first major collaboration, introducing Apple Martin in her debut. It’s a deliberate swerve from their louder openings—stripped back, closer to the mic, more about contour than punch. Martin’s vocal fits with unforced clarity, nudging the song toward intimacy and letting the guitar work frame a conversation instead of a shout. It reads like a band thinking in albums and arcs, not one-off singles.

If “Bad Man” and “Politics” opened the door, “Satellite” steps through it with a quieter confidence, pointing to a near future where the band’s range expands without losing the spine that made their first tracks land.

You formed Jade Street in May 2025 and moved fast with two singles—what clicked between you that made this partnership feel organic? 

Zachary Zwelling: At its core, Jade Street works because we share an almost obsessive sense of drive. We’re both deeply ambitious and meticulous about every detail, but that intensity only works because it’s grounded in genuine trust. Since May, we’ve spent nearly every day writing, recording, or planning what comes next. We don’t always agree; in fact, we often don’t, but the respect and friendship behind the process allow our project to always take precedence. We consider ourselves lucky to have found a partnership with such a high level of shared purpose; it’s exactly what forms the backbone of this band. 

Considering that you’ve found inspiration in the UK alt scene—who are the touchstones, and how did those influences specifically shape your sound/style? 

Eli Meyuhas: Radiohead is sort of our north star in terms of songwriting. The Bends and In Rainbows are two records we constantly return to, and we hope to approach our own sound with a similar penchant for experimentation. Zach and I initially bonded over a shared love for the 1975, and that sense of atmosphere and pure style has always lingered in how we approach music. Lately, we’ve been drawn towards artists like Wunderhorse and Fontaines D.C. Romance has been on repeat for the better part of a year. As a guitar-driven band striving to refine our sound, we are seeking an equilibrium between stripped-back minimalism and wide, cinematic soundscapes. 

“Bad Man” and “Politics” felt bigger and brasher; “Satellites” is described as more stripped-down. What did you take off the table sonically to make that shift work? 

Eli Meyuhas: We’ve produced everything ourselves up to this point, and given that we had virtually no real production experience before this summer, it’s been a process defined by constant trial, error, and learning opportunities. We were fortunate to cross paths with Andrew Maury, who has mixed all of our releases, and under his guidance, we’ve started to refine our instincts in the studio. 

Before “Satellites”, we had a bit of a ‘more is more’ complex. We’d hard double almost every part, convinced that the sheer density of sound would equate to depth and make our music more interesting. Andrew was the first to put his foot down on the Jade Street doubling epidemic, and challenged us to strip everything back and make every layer earn its place. For “Satellites”, we focused less on stacking and more on intention. We recorded way fewer parts, but each one distinct, deliberate, and full of character. The result felt lighter and refreshing yet somehow more dimensional, full of the shape and color we had always been striving for. 

How did Apple Martin come into the picture for her music debut?

Zachary Zwelling: Apple’s a good friend of mine from school, and we’ve always connected over a shared love of film and music. We were grabbing coffee to talk about a short film we were both involved in, and naturally, the conversation drifted toward music. I played her a demo of an unreleased song we’d been struggling to figure out, and she immediately took an interest, suggesting she try some backing vocals. That same day, feeling newly inspired, we went over to our manager Tal’s house with a guitar and started experimenting. The moment she sang, it completely reframed the song, giving it a new center we were unable to reach prior. I called Zach right away, he rushed over, and within days, we were in the studio. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time trading ideas and talking about what’s next. Apple’s incredibly gifted, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share a record with her. 

What did Apple bring vocally or texturally that changed the song’s center of gravity? Any moments in the booth that surprised you? 

Zachary Zwelling: Given the delicate and atmospheric nature of “Satellites”, which contrasts a lot of our more grounded and energetic material, Apple’s vocals completely shifted the song’s gravity. Her tone brought this dreamlike weightlessness that we’d been missing. Having a female voice in that space opened it up, giving the track an expansiveness and emotional depth it had always been reaching for. Apple’s voice is fascinating in how it bridges two extremes. She has this resonant, lower register that grounds the song, but she moves into a falsetto with so much ease that it almost blurs the boundary between the two. That duality added a texture we couldn’t have achieved otherwise. 

We didn’t have much studio time, and Apple was understandably nervous at first. But the moment she settled in, everything just clicked. Watching her find her footing and then completely own the performance was incredible, both as friends and as musicians. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. 

As a new indie act, what’s been the biggest win—and the toughest hurdle—so far? 

Zachary Zwelling: Our biggest win so far has been witnessing the music start to find its audience. There’s a quiet kind of satisfaction in seeing people not only listen but engage—to watch something that began as an internal concept between the two of us evolve into a shared experience. 

The greater challenge has been constructing the entire framework ourselves. We’ve had to become fluent in every dimension of what we do—from songwriting and production to visual direction and the logistics that hold it all together. It’s a lot to shoulder, but it’s also forced us to develop a real discipline. From the beginning, it was just the two of us, guided more by instinct than infrastructure, and now we’ve built a small but exceptional team around that vision, which we couldn’t be more grateful for. We’re intent on doing things properly and immersing ourselves in the slow work of building something with integrity and longevity. 

What’s next in the pipeline: left-turn experiments, or a refinement of the lane you’re already carving? 

Eli Meyuhas: We’re hoping to release our debut EP at the top of the year. Right now, we’re in the thick of refining our sound—pulling things apart and rebuilding them with more intention. The longer view is the first album, of course, but for now, we’re using every session as an internal investigation of our sonic identity. We’ve been playing a lot, and plan to play even more. We’ve found that being on stage is probably the most honest testing ground there is. As for what’s next, we’re less interested in reinvention for its own sake than in deepening and expanding upon what already feels true to us. The goal is to keep evolving without losing the thread.