tiLLie Interview

tiLLie is a rising star with tons of potential for success. She has a new EP out titled Loud Mouth, and is currently touring with Canadian pop singer Lights on the Skin & Earth Acoustic Tour. I got a chance to talk to tiLLie about all things feminism and music before she took the stage at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto.

What is your favourite part of touring?

I find that it really forces me to be present in the moment, which I think all of us have trouble doing. Like when I’m at home, I’m usually recording, but also thinking about everything else I should be doing as well in the future and planning. But when you’re on the road, you kinda know where you’re going to be everyday, and you’re doing the same thing, and you can’t really be doing something else. You just have to be in the moment, and I love it because it just makes me feel so centred and calm. Even though you’re moving, I feel more calm in a weird way; more steady.

Who is your dream collaboration?

I would love to work with obviously just some females that I really love. I love Kacey Musgraves… that would definitely be a weird one, but I’ve known about her for a few years now. I found her because of this TV show Nashville, and she was a songwriter for a lot of those songs and I found a video of her singing that had just like 500 views, and I was like, “This girl is insane!” Then she blew up and I was like, “Yes! I saw this coming!” I’d love to work with Lana Del Rey, I love her; or Hayley Williams, Gwen Stefani or Shania Twain.

Your music is very inspiring and very feministbased. As a woman in the industry, what are some struggles that you’ve had to face?

Even the other day something happened — someone at the venue, some guy working there, was like “Oh, I met your little friend earlier,” and I was like, “Who?” He’s like “Your little friend,” and I’m like, “You mean my tour manager?” You know, just shit like that, which is annoying. I guess when I was younger too, you’d find a lot of guys that would approach you under the guise of wanting to work with you and then would make a move, and then when you would reject them, they wouldn’t wanna work with you again. That was definitely upsetting in the beginning because it makes you question if your art is good enough, but then I realized that it’s bullshit and I think now I’ve gotten to a point where — maybe because of the topics I sing about or whatever — people don’t really fuck with me anymore. Then I guess there’s also people that assume that because you’re a girl, you don’t know about your gear or you don’t know how to play instruments. They try to talk down to you and you have to try to prove yourself ten times more when you walk into a room than a guy does.

How did you overcome and deal with these issues?

I guess growing up helped to become more sure of myself and learn how to just say fuck them and not let that get into my head, because when I walk into a venue it’s definitely there a little bit. Like all of these people, these men on these stages are gonna call people “My little friend” or make me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, but I just have to tune that out and be confident in my abilities. In a way it’s kinda fun, because then you get to see them be really impressed, which is stupid, but you’re like “Yeah motherfucker!” You know, you just gotta stay in your own world a little bit.

Who are your biggest inspirations in music?

I think Talking Heads, Shania Twain, No Doubt… I would say probably Paramore too, when I was younger and I first started writing. And Third Eye Blind.

What is your goal as a woman in music?

I don’t know… I also produce and write my own music and play multiple instruments, and I just want to continue to pave a path for women who have those abilities, because there are so many women who are amazing producers and engineers and people just don’t give them the chance. They don’t take them seriously and my goal is, hopefully as I get more successful, I can hire those people and give them platforms, you know the way that Lights has given me this opportunity. I hope that I can do that for other upcoming female artists, and eventually I would love to produce other female artists and just continue to pave a path for bold women in music.

How did the tour with Lights come about?

At first I wasn’t really sure, and then I tweeted at her and I was like “Thank you so much,” and she was like “Girl of course, you were the only person I thought of for this. You blow me away all the time with the videos that you post.” So I guess she had been following me. We’d followed each other on Twitter for a couple of years, and I guess she just saw some of my acoustic videos and hand selected me personally for this tour. They’ve been taking great care of me; she’s amazing, her whole crew is amazing. I feel so blessed to be here.

What is your biggest accomplishment thus far?

The fact that I’m still doing it. To a lot of people, it seems like I’m just getting started, and in a way as tiLLie I am, but I’ve been writing songs and playing guitar for like twelve years and I’ve always known that this is what I wanted to do. But it’s hard; it’s so hard and I know that I love it because I feel like I’m insane to want to do this. Some days I wish I could quit but I can’t, you know, it’s like there’s this machine inside of me that just keeps going even when I’m so fed up with the music industry. So I guess I’m proud of myself for sticking it out this long and throughout years of rejection or things just not quite clicking and finally being able to really organically build a fanbase, because I’ve never really gotten much support from the music industry. I think it’s especially because my music is different. I’ve had a lot of people, like old dudes at record labels, be like, “Is it pop or is it alternative,” or “I thought she was pop but she plays guitar with a band.” It’s so bizarre, like I don’t think it’s that hard to wrap

your head around, but for some reason to them it is. For a while that made me second-guess myself like “Maybe I shouldn’t play guitar,” “Maybe I shouldn’t do this,” and eventually I was like, “Fuck it, this is who I am.” I’m gonna be loud, I’m gonna be bold with that, and it started to pay off. I think that’s the thing that people like most about me. It’s really just a lesson for everyone; the world has some cruel ways of taking people’s things. I guess maybe in school or the industry, people criticize you for being loud or being different, but as you get older you realize that those are your best or strongest assets.

Your song “Faith” is very empowering, what was the inspiration behind it?

So “Faith” is about my ex who I was in an abusive relationship with, and after getting out of that relationship, he stole one of my songs and released it on his band’s album and didn’t give me credit for it. I was having a really hard time coping with that and I have looked into legal options, I’m still working on that, but it’s a lot of money to do that, and as a starting upcoming artist, you don’t necessarily have excessive funds lying around. So “Faith” was my way of letting go of letting that consume me, and just trusting that people like that always eventually show their true colours and they do a better job at ruining their reputation than you could ever do, and so it’s about kind of letting that go and having faith that they’ll show the world who they really are and you don’t need to drag yourself down with them.

What made you decide you wanted to pursue music?

Touching on what I said earlier, I don’t know, it’s just something that’s always been in me. It’s like there’s a little machine inside of me that’s just been chugging, and no one in my family makes music, no one was ever like “Hey, play this,” it’s just something that I always felt like I gravitated to. In a weird way, it doesn’t really feel like I had a choice, it was just like “Okay, this is what I’m doing.”

What advice do you have for someone who wants to get their start in the industry?

Strap in. Really buckle in, because it is challenging and I feel like I see a lot of people give up too soon. You know, it really takes time to build something and to reach people, and I’ve seen a lot of people where it’s like, they were so close, but to them it feels further and they give up and they change their band name or they remarket it and they come up with a new thing and I think that has the opposite effect. So just stick with it, persevere, especially when you’re getting started — say yes to everything, because you never know who you might meet at a show or writing with someone, and that also allows you to find out what you don’t like to do. I think knowing what you don’t want to do and knowing what to say no to is more powerful than knowing what to say yes to, so that’s a really good way to figure that out. Put yourself out there.

tiLLie has a bright future ahead of her and she will definitely continue to make her mark on the music industry while simultaneously paving a path for females who want to pursue careers within this industry. She is bold, brave, talented, and strongwilled, and the future looks very promising for the leader of the Glitter Gang. Check out tiLLie on social media at @whoistillie and look for her music on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.

Hosted by: Cris Rulli

Photos courtesy of: Mallory Turner