Tash – VOLUME 1

By starrymag | December 23, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) My sound is a blend of singer-songwriter/RnB/indie pop.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) When I first began songwriting I was heavily influenced by Tori Kelly and Ed Sheeran. Some of my most recent musical influences are: HER, Noname, Mac Demarco, Billie Eilish, Kaytranada and Raveena.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “The Signs.”

 

A) “The Signs” was written about a feeling of fear relating to superstition and whether karma and fate play parts in our lives. I don’t actually believe in black cats, but I liked the imagery in some of those superstitions (opening an umbrella indoors, four leaf clovers, etc.) and thought they’d sound interesting lyrically. At the time of writing it I was being skeptical about whether my own doing was the reason behind my own bad luck, which led me to create the concept.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) The first thing that comes to mind is the chords. They’re quite jazzy but they loop over and over, similar to lo-fi music, which has grown in popularity quite recently. The lyrics also could be what people like about it. Even though not everyone believes in superstition, we can all relate to feeling afraid or having continuous bad luck.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) The video conceptually doesn’t have too much to do with the lyrics. I just wanted some dark/moody visuals to match the tone of the song. We decided to have the fancy car in it because we thought it looked cool.

 

Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) Yes, I normally fumble around on the guitar for some chords before I start composing lyrics. However, sometimes I’ll have a concept or a phrase that starts an idea and then I start writing a chord progression to go with it. Later on, I might add vocal arrangement if I feel like it.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) My producer/manager Mark Feist and I work pretty closely and visualize what we want together, but when he’s producing he does it by himself. I never sit in the room looking over his shoulder because I trust him to do a good job, just like he trusts me to write something worth recording.

 

Q) You had sold out shows at SoHo House, Sayer’s Club Los Angeles, Hotel Cafe and more. What can fans expect from a live Tash performance?

 

A) Fans can expect to hear the songs in a new, energetic form. The band I play with is super tight and they always give the songs a whole new life.

 

Q) What songs off your Volume 1 EP are you looking forward to performing live?

 

A) I haven’t performed “What A Lovely Mess” yet and it’s really grown on me since the EP came out. Hopefully, I’ll get to do that one soon.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new EP as a whole?

 

A) I hope that they hear the growth from songs like “Bite Back” to something more recently recorded like “The Signs.” Every track on that EP was recorded in a different phase of my writing and shares a different side of me as a writer. So, I hope people appreciate the transition I’ve had over the last couple of years.

 

Q) You were recently featured on 15 Spotify playlists. How does that make you feel?

 

A) Pretty awesome. Spotify have continuously been gracious to me in adding me to so many high-profile playlists. I am truly grateful for their support.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

A) Honestly, I haven’t done many live shows yet, but I would love to perform at Soho House again and see how I’d do it now. That was the first live show I ever did and I didn’t have a full four-piece band with me, just a cajon player and myself. It’d be quite sentimental to go back there and perform again.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I’d love to collaborate with Kaytranada, Khalid, Finneas or Bruno Major. Each of them have inspired me in different ways and make sense musically for me.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

A) At the moment I’ve been listening to a lot of BENEE. She’s an indie-pop artist from New Zealand and every song of hers I’ve discovered I’ve enjoyed listening to. The writing on every song is well thought out and her voice has such a nice soulful quality to it. If you haven’t checked her out you definitely should.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) Social media has become a fundamental tool in sharing my music. It allows you to determine the demographic you’re suited to and target that demographic at the push of a button. Without it, I wouldn’t have the audience that I have now, or even be able to constantly communicate with that audience on a personal level, no matter where they are.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) Thank you for sticking around, whether you’ve just discovered me or been listening for a while. I am so grateful for all of you who have shared my music, streamed my music, or encouraged me in any sort of way. You allow me to do the thing that I love and do it all the time, and I’ll never take that for granted.