Project Description
Interview with
DJ TIGERLILY
(November 2020)
Interviewer – James Bryan
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Tell us a bit about your most recent track “Me, You & Tequila”. Can you take us through the evolution of the song and the recording process?
I was really keen to branch out from just writing dance music, and I wanted to create something a little more universal that appealed to a wider audience. I wanted to create a bit of a “summer jam”, something that felt really good when you were listening to it. I also really wanted to collaborate with someone young and fun and upcoming. AYDEN, who is the incredible vocalist on this track, was that guy and he’s amazing. Unfortunately because of COVID a lot of the track was done over zoom and the internet.
I remember we sent him the track and he sent back his first recording and when I heard his voice on the track I was like “Yep, done and dusted, this is my guy”. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with him. He brings so much energy and good vibes to the song which I love and appreciate and I think everyone else seems to be loving it online!
It’s really cool to see that you’ve been branching out your sound!
Yeah it’s exciting, because when I first started DJing 10 years ago, you wouldn’t really see a DJ who plays dance music at their shows collaborating with pop or hip hop artists but these days we have the opportunity to branch out so much. This is the first time I’ve really done that and I’m really excited to continue to explore this element of my sound and my music. I love writing dance music and being able to play my songs out in the club but this is a totally different level of music.
When did you first realise that you could turn your talent as a DJ into a full career?
When I first started DJing 10 years ago I was doing it just for fun and I was also doing a media and communications degree. When I finished that degree, I thought ok well I’ve got 2 options: I can go get a job in an office like all my friends are doing or I can really give this music thing a crack. That’s when I started writing and releasing my own music and also when I started touring worldwide as opposed to just in Australia. I suppose I just sort of fell into it and I realised “Oh, I might be able to make this a full time thing”. I didn’t initially think being a DJ or a musician was a legitimate career choice. At the careers class in high school they would never say “you should be a DJ or a producer”, they were always saying things like “you should be a lawyer, or a doctor or a dentist” and so I never saw it as an option as a teenager, but I’m very grateful that I fell into it.
Now that you’re a well established artist, what tips would you give to smaller, upcoming artists who are trying to make it in the industry?
The first tip I would say is to really just practice your art, because when you’re performing live, anything can happen. You really need to be prepared for anything and be confident in yourself and your work, and trust your mind and your body to sometimes go into autopilot when you’re dealing with technology breaking down, high stress environments, last minute changes etc. The second tip I would give is to find a point of difference and really let your personality shine through. These days everything is super oversaturated with social media and we have really high accessibility to all different types of music and artists, so I think that people really want to get to know the artist they’re listening to; they want to get to know their personality and what they do on and off the stage. So yeah I would say let your personality shine through because people want to know what you’re about!
What would you say makes your sound unique?
I have a couple of different sounds I suppose, when I’m writing dance music it’s usually hardish house with a brazilian bass influence, but I’ve been really able to branch out and produce a more light poppy fun sound with this most recent record “Me, You & Tequila”. I think at the end of the day my sound is written for fun. When I’m DJing and performing I try to make the people in the crowd just have the best time, I play the music that me and my girlfriends would love to go out and listen to when were dancing in the club and my aim is to make everyone have the best night; I’m all about fun, good times and good vibes!
How did you come up with your artist name “Tigerlily”?
When I was a kid I wanted to be a pop star/dancer/singer and I always thought a really great stage name would be “Tigerlily”, I don’t know why, maybe I was slightly influenced by Peter Pan but I’m not sure as I wasn’t much of a Disney/TV kid. Anyway, I remember when I first started DJing I booked myself a show at a local pub and I had to give them a stage name. I said to my mum I had two different options: one being “Tigerlily” and the other one being “Bambi”; she very much disliked “Bambi” and loved “Tigerlily”, so a combination of my childhood and my mum helped me choose my stage name. It’s definitely stuck, I think it’s powerful but feminine and I’m very glad I went with it!
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What process do you go through when you’re writing a new song?
I always start on the piano, because I grew up playing piano. When I was 4 I started playing piano all the way up until I finished high school. Structuring a song from a chordal progression perspective for me is really important. Otherwise if I don’t have a piano with me I like to start with the beat and just layering different drums and sounds to get something that’s really funky and groovy that I like. I’ve had the pleasure of working with a whole heap of incredible top line writers and engineers and producers who take my ideas and work with me to take them to the next level which is awesome. There’s so many incredibly talented people out there, especially in Australia. That’s something that’s been really fun on my most recent track “Me, You & Tequila”, and AYDEN was just like the icing on the cake bringing his incredible vocal talent and timbre to the song and just giving it a fresh breath of life.
What are some of your favourite things to do when you’re not in the studio making music?
I’ve got so many funny random hobbies. I have a dog and I absolutely love going on adventures with him, we take him for really long hikes and go and find secret beaches and things like that. I love to cook vegan food and I’ve been trying to branch out especially this year with trying to get slightly better at cooking because I am not the best cook (laughs). I’m really into making natural home remedies and things like that; I make my own perfumes and things like that at home which is kind of weird but really fun!
How did you get into DJing and was there a steep learning curve from a technical perspective?
When I was in the last couple of years of high school I started going to house parties and I would see people playing at these parties and I was just in awe of what they were doing. When I turned 18 and I started going clubbing it was so epic for me to explore this new music scene that I didn’t know existed. I got my hands on a pair of decks around the same time that I signed up for a competition called “Your Shot” (which is actually still running to this day) and it pretty much gives young kids the opportunity to have a six week intense training course on how to mix, DJ and perform. So it was a combination of doing “Your Shot” and spending hours and hours in my bedroom practising away much to the annoyance of my parents.
I was classically trained in music and I played piano, guitar and trombone all throughout primary school and high school. Having that knowledge and understanding of music in general really helped me learn to DJ quite quickly because I knew what beats were, what harmonies sounded great, what keys sounded good together etc. Having a fundamental knowledge of how music works functionally really helped me hear what sounded good, and so it was more a matter of learning my way around all the equipment and learning what all the buttons did.
I remember looking at the pair of CD decks for the first time when I started learning and just thinking “Oh god, I am never going to know what all these buttons do”, but you really learn so quickly especially when you are as obsessed as I was about it. I would wake up in the morning and play, come home at lunch time and play and then come home from uni and play, so yeah I definitely spent a lot of time and effort perfecting my craft!
Are there any releases of yours that are your favourite or that you were particularly happy with?
I think to be honest this most recent track “Me, You & Tequila” is my favourite, because I’ve been able to collaborate with an awesome, young, aussie artist. It’s been a really hard tough year for so many people and we’ve been working on this record for quite some time now. It felt a bit exhausting but because of that it felt even more rewarding now that it’s out, so I’m really excited to see where it goes and where it takes off over the next coming months!
It’s been such a chaotic and stressful year for a lot of people because of COVID, how would you say the circumstances of this year have affected you and what you do?
I’ve actually been very lucky and I’m very grateful because I’ve been able to spend more time writing music, I’ve been able to do a lot of live streaming and I’ve been on social media heaps continuing to work with some brands that I ambassador for which has been awesome. It’s also given me a little bit of forced time off which I think that I definitely needed, and a bit of a reality check on how busy I was and how being that busy isn’t healthy. So it’s been quite positive for me, but bloody hell my heart does go out to so many of the artists, small businesses, companies and clubs in the music industry that are just hurting so badly right now. There are so many people who have been so poorly affected. It’s been a really rough year for everyone and I hope people are finding silver linings, but it might be too early for that at this stage.
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ME, YOU & TEQUILA feat. AYDAN IS OUT NOW
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Follow TIGERLILY
FACEBOOK – INSTAGRAM – YOUTUBE
SPOTIFY – APPLE MUSIC – SOUNDCLOUD
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TIGERLILY
returns with her new Summer-jam
‘ME, YOU & TEQUILA’
feat. AYDAN
LISTEN HERE
Check out the full news post HERE
AMNPLIFY – DB
CLICK THE PIC TO VIEW THE NEWS
