By: Lisa Steinberg
Photo By Lucia O’Connor McCarthy/Stylist Tona Stell/MUA & Hair Terri Caplin
Q) How would you describe your sound?
A) A little alternative fused with some indie synth-pop finished off with a dash of cinematic sounds.
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) I try to stay as true to myself as possible, while constantly learning and being inspired by artists and musicians across all genres. I am influenced by Bon Iver and Daft Punk just as much as I am influenced by Metallica or Pink Floyd. I think there is so much to analyse and break down in great songs and then hopefully you can digest all that and use it in your own creations that tell the story you are trying to tell in your songs.
Q) How have you evolved as an artist since your 2025 EP Just Some Stories?
A) My EP in 2025 was me finally releasing five songs that I had held onto for quite some time. Those songs represented sounds and stories that I was exploring and living through over the past four years and, although I am proud of them, in a strange way I couldn’t really start something new without releasing those songs that I had held so close to my chest for so long. Now that they are finally out in the world, I feel that I can finally move forward to a new phase and I’m honestly really enjoying developing this next phase of my music!
Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “The Bad One.”
A) “The Bad One” is ultimately all about perspectives. The reality is that we all remember events through our personal lens and worldview and, although many experiences overlap, our recollections of the same events can differ dramatically. We can be the hero of our story and be the villain in someone else’s. “The Bad One” was inspired by me finding out I was indeed a villain in someone’s story, unbeknownst to me.
Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?
A) I’d imagine that most of us have been misunderstood or mislabelled at least once in our lives, whether it is romantically or just with friends and colleagues. And I think the reality is that as much as we would like, we cannot change someone’s opinions. Sometimes the path of least resistance is to let someone keep their perspectives and your keep yours and just move on with your life and hopefully people can connect to that idea.
Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) My song writing process varies quite a lot, mostly because I try my best to explore new ideas so it is helpful to try and start a song from a new source as often as possible. Sometimes I do just have a lyrical melody that pops into my head that I then set to music and at other times I absolutely need to build out a rough arrangement before I can even think of writing lyrics. It really depends but I personally like to change it up as much as I can.
Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?
A) I would say I have a pretty significant hand in my music production. On my EP, my song “Priority” I actually wrote, arranged, produced, mixed and mastered it all myself because the song just came together quite smoothly and it felt really good the way I had originally produced it. On some of my other tracks, like my latest single “The Bad One,” I produced a relatively structured demo with all my musical ideas down, but I did feel that it lacked something more and I was too close to it to figure it out on my own and that’s when I was introduced to Danny Monk who helped me produce the final version of the track that is out now.
Q) With the release of “The Bad One” will there be a full album or EP coming soon?
A) For 2026 we will see a few more songs coming out in the fall but no fully fledged plans for an album yet, but we shall see…
Q) What can fans expect from a live Tanis performance?
A) I love an intimate set and being able to see everyone’s face in the audience because there’s nothing lovelier than getting real time feedback and being able to talk to your audience. In a live performance you’ll get to hear a little bit about me, you’ll get to listen to some unique arrangements of my songs that differ quite a bit from the recordings and you won’t hear anywhere else and I’ll often learn a little bit about whoever wants to answer some questions mid set, too.
Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?
A) I think Rockwood Music Hall in New York will always be very dear to me as a performance space because I played my first ever gig there. My voice coach at the time, Wendy Parr, booked me to sing four songs supporting one of her other artists and I was so nervous that my hands were shaking while I tried to hit the right notes on the piano. But as scary as it was, I will never forget how excited I was too and I hope I can perform there again one day soon.
Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?
A) Tough question, but right at this particular moment, I will say collaborating with The Midnight, Bon Iver or The 1975 would be very cool.
Q) What artist/musician are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?
A) I am really into St. Lucia at the moment. Their music is warm, upbeat and summer-y, so it feels right for the season we are in right now!
Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?
A) I make music because I really love it. It makes me inexplicably happy and hearing that people resonate with something I made is honestly the most rewarding feeling. I cannot quite put it into words, but thank you so very much. I really hope you stick around because I have so much more to share in the coming months!