Tatiana DeMaria – American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rule

By starrymag | December 8, 2020

By: Paige Zinaman

 

 

Q) What are some of the recent projects that you have coming up? 

 

A) My debut EP and album, coming in 2021! The EP in early 2021, which I’m excited about. I’m also about to release an Acoustic EP, which I have a few singles out for at the moment.

 

Q) Who were some of your musical influences growing up?

 

A) 2Pac, The Clash, Nas, The Police, NoFX, MJ…

 

Q) You’ve just released new music that is featured in American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rule. How were you approached to write music for the film?

 

A) The director of the film Mike Elliot called me and asked me to do it. I had worked with him before when I worked on the soundtrack for Blue Crush 2 and he told me that he wanted me to work on the soundtrack for this too when he signed up to do it. The initial introduction came when he heard my music somewhere and had reached out to me for Blue Crush 2, so it was all fairly organic.

 

Q) Your song “I Don’t Want to Love You” (which is amazing) is on this soundtrack as well as a few others. What was the process like to create these songs that were going to be placed on a soundtrack? 

 

A) Thanks! Glad you dig it. “I Don’t Want to Love You” is actually one of two tracks that was already recorded that I added to the soundtrack. There is a song I wrote in my band TAT that the director found a home for here, too. It’s off my debut album with TAT called Soho Lights.

With that said, the process is a little different for every set up. Sometimes I’ll create to a specific scene that I’m sent; I focus on the mood, the intention of the scene and emotion along with what the director’s vision might be for it.

It’s different to writing for yourself because exposing parts of yourself or tapping into your own current emotions, you’re connecting to emotion on screen and translating that. So, there’s less personal emotional attachment to it in a way, but connecting to the scene also puts me in the emotion to then translate it. The process has similarities to acting in that it’s not you you’re exposing per se, but you’re connecting to parts of you that exist to translate what someone else or a moment is expressing.

The other part of this was recording a couple of covers, which was totally different. I had to bang them each out in a matter of hours because we had the songs cleared right before shooting the scenes with the songs in them, including “American Girl” live at the prom scene. I ended up recording covers in my hotel room the night before the shoot and learning all the words in the am so I could perform them, along with my band hearing the parts and interpretations. One of the covers we didn’t use in the final film.

 

Q) You also got to be a part of the movie as well. Talk about the role you play. 

 

A) I play myself which was easy and fun. It’s nice to stretch and fit roles, but I also love just being able to do what I do and that be what is needed.

 

Q) What is it you feel that makes your music stand out?

 

A) You tell me…

 

Q) When you go into the studio to record what do you do to prepare? 

 

A) It depends what I’m going in to record on any given day, but overall if I’m at my own studio, I warm up my voice. If going to another studio, I bring a fuck ton of snacks and I’ll also warm up my voice.

 

Q) You’re not only a singer, you’re also a songwriter and producer. How do you manage multi-tasking all of these roles? 

 

A) Great question. Honestly, it’s been a long process to figure that out. It’s been as frustrating as it has been wonderful. I love to work alone and be immersed in my own world, but I also value honing in on one skill and becoming a beast at it.

I’m lucky to have started as an early teen, so I’ve had some time to grow in various areas. Now it’s just a matter of knowing what is right for any given day and being clear about what my goals are and what work I need to focus on at any given time to get there.

The writing has to remain a constant though. The lyrics are constantly piling up. Finding the time to then give them all a home is the process too.

 

Q) Being a part of social media, do you like being able to see your fans instant reactions to your work? 

 

A) Yes, I love the real time connection aspect of it.

 

Q) Has it changed for you since you first started out?

 

A) Yes. I hated it.

The truth is to a degree it’s a good idea to embrace it these days. Whether it’s pictures on Instagram or dropping incessant content on SoundCloud, it is free marketing and exposure if you can keep it pushing.

It is how you connect to the people listening to your music these days off the bat and also how you can introduce new people to your music without needing any kind of team or label. It is vital to build that relationship and I’ve grown to love the communication and I see the sharing as a fun part of it. Would I love to just spend my time focusing on the music? Yeah, absolutely. It can be time consuming to create online content and staying on top of it, but I love the autonomy and the ability to grow my business and connect with the fans directly.

 

Q) If you could collab with anyone, who would you love to work with?

 

A) Honestly, I love writing alone, being in my own world and connecting to myself to pull stuff out of me. It’s actually something I seek; that quiet and alone time, so I don’t actively seek collaborations or have anyone in mind. If I connect with people and magic happens, great, I’m stoked and that does happen, but generally organically.

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters of your work? 

A) I can’t thank you guys enough for blasting my music and spreading the love. It gives me the platform and means to do what I love and to continue doing it. You guys are also wild at live shows. I can’t wait to see you all on the road again sometime. Stay tuned for more music and videos!