FUNK ME HARD · Do West Fest
June · Toronto
Artist CV · 2026
JER
Artist & producer
01
Biography
JER is a Brazilian-Canadian artist and producer based in Toronto, whose music blends the sounds of Bahia with 808 kicks, synths, guitar pedals and experimental production.
JER first picked up a microphone at thirteen, at a cousin’s birthday party in Bahia. The guitarist that night was a local trovador who also sold chord magazines from a newsstand in town. She had spent years passing that stand and looking through the window, thinking: one day.
She later moved to Toronto, where she founded INFR Records to release and produce her own work, writing and singing in the Portuguese of her hometown while building her sound around drum machines, guitar pedals and studio experimentation.
02
Live
YearEvent / venueRole · location
LulaWorld
Toronto
Do West Fest
VJ and visual content for Afrique Like Me Collective · Toronto
LulaWorld
Toronto
TD Music Hall
Opening for Luedji Luna · solo and full-band set · Toronto · Dec 5
Harbourfront Centre
JER with band · Toronto
Festival Mémoire et Racines
With Maria and the Band · Joliette, Quebec
TD Toronto Jazz Festival · Lulaworld Showcase
As Jerusa Leão and 5Quintet; also with Maria and the Band · Toronto
Calgary Folk Music Festival
As Jerusa Leão · Calgary
03
Selected discography
2026
It’s Not a Joke
JER · album · October 30 · INFR Records
Angu is sung in the Portuguese of daily life in Bahia — the feira, Cidade Baixa, dendê, buses and atabaques — treating words such as angu, batuque, fubá and urucubaca as rhythmic material; MDMA turns to altered states; Rosa Sônica, co-written with Bruno Capinan in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods park, is a samba written far from Bahia. Borelson featured on Holy · Chibatinha, guitar · Pupillo, drums & beats · mixed by Mark Lawson (Grammy, Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs) · mastered by Justin Gray (Grammy, Immersed)
2026
Jia Má
JER · single · October 9 · INFR Records
Track 03 of It’s Not a Joke · written by Uyatã Rayra · Chibatinha (ÀTTØØXXÁ), guitar · produced by JER and João Leão · mixed by Mark Lawson · mastered by Justin Gray
2026
It’s Not a Joke
JER · single · September 18 · INFR Records
Track 02 of It’s Not a Joke · written by Uyatã Rayra · produced by JER and João Leão · beats by Pupillo · mixed by Mark Lawson · mastered by Justin Gray
2026
9 Rosas
Maria and the Band
2024
Live at the Tranzac
JER · cassette
2022
Broken
JER · single and video · December · Lulaworld Records
2022
Dark Farfisa
Brúxula · EP · 12th Isle (UK)
2021
Meu Interior
Maria and the Band · EP
04
Selected projects & research
Both Sides of the River / Saravah!
Cultural-exchange projects supported by the Secretaria de Cultura da Bahia. Activities included workshops with local youth and live performances; Saravah! centred on samba de roda from Bahia.
Brúxula
Electronic duo with Cosmic JD. JER: voice, guitar and production, with modular synthesis.
05
Support & recognition
Album support for It’s Not a Joke.
- Canada Council for the Arts
- Ontario Arts Council
- Government of Ontario
- Toronto Arts Council
06
Practice
- Artist / live
- Voice · guitar · percussion · solo, duo and band formats
- Production
- Electronic production · songwriting · sound design · modular synthesis
- DJ
- DJ sets · hybrid DJ/live formats
- Live image
- Live visuals · projection · audiovisual direction