Meet TAY: artist, producer, songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with TAY and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi TAY, what inspires you?
I am inspired by my past, present, and future. The music I write is usually about something I have already experienced or watched someone close to me experience, my relationships with those in my life currently or previously, and the vast unknown that is the years ahead. Inspiration can come from anywhere and anytime. Whenever I have an idea that hits me or go through something that I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about I almost instantly write it down or voice note. The gears in my brain are constantly processing, so if you see someone humming a melody into their phone while walking down the street, it’s probably me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a self-made artist who handles everything surrounding my music & creative. My debut EP released February of this year, every track 100% written, produced, and mixed by me. I’ve sought out so many of my own opportunities and opened my own doors – I got my start learning how to engineer by calling almost every recording studio in LA until one took me in as an intern. This led to assistant engineering work, running recording sessions, plus sound designing countless student & indie films. I’ve been a pianist practically my whole life, and used songwriting as a way to journal all my thoughts, so this combined with the technical skills I learned really is the foundation of all my music.

One of the biggest challenges was getting past my own inner doubt. Being able to confidently tell myself “yes, you CAN do this” despite any fears of failure or judgement from others. This has been key in being able to keep persisting and pursuing my career. Once I ripped the band-aid off and released my first single, I immediately started to work on affirming myself that if you go make something happen, it’ll happen. It’s crazy seeing your music live in such a public space – it’s a very vulnerable feeling but you can’t let other people’s opinions bring you down. Music is so subjective, you have to keep you head high and keep doing you and trusting your gut and your vision.

I’d love to see more women, especially starting at a young age, get into producing, songwriting, and engineering/mixing/mastering. I want to help instill this idea in young adults, teens, even elementary school kids! When I was in high school, I viewed the music industry as this unobtainable object that I couldn’t take my eyes off of but thought “eh, could never happen.” I want to lead by example, provide mentorship, and show that if it’s something you truly want – go after it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
OMG everywhere!! I love all pockets of LA, but I live for the ocean so the west side would definitely be my very first go-to. A perfect summer day is picking up sandwiches from Bay Cities in Santa Monica and driving up the coast to Malibu for a beach day, ending with sunset at Point Dume. Some other daytime activities I’d take a friend on would be hiking Solstice Canyon, Griffith Observatory, or Temescal Canyon. I’m super into all things outdoors, but for a little breather some other cool spots to go to would be Melrose Trading Post on a Sunday, thrift shopping along Melrose, and checking out modern art at The Broad and Hammer Museum. For nightlife, Weho and downtown arts district are a couple of my favorite areas to go out! Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my parents. I wouldn’t have even started playing piano or stuck with it for as long as I did if it wasn’t for my mom, and my dad always inspires me to aim high and think big in everything I do. Both their love, motivation, and support over the years has definitely gotten me to where I am today.

Website: https://taysounds.com/

Instagram: instagram.com/taysounds

Twitter: https://twitter.com/taysounds

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taysoundsofficial

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCejeUHVOUmuwSPvWNSb6LYQ

Image Credits
Jahmario Bent