Exclusive Interview - Tin

Tin, hello, hello! Welcome to Spill the Tea magazine. To start when did you first realise you wanted to make music?
It started with my brother asking me to sing a Spice Girls song with him on a cassette tape (2 Become 1 if you must know). But it was when I watched Mariah Carey sing Never Too Far in Glitter that I decided that music was going to be my life.

As an artist how do you decide what to write about?
There are many factors with the content of my songs. They usually start with either a hook or life experience but sometimes if I’m working on a body of work (like an EP or album), then I’ll look at what emotion might be missing from the project and write from there. Sometimes I’ll also want to copy the vibe of a song and go from there - still wanting to do something like Camila Cabello’s Crying in the Club!

“I wrote the song for those who are still discovering their sexuality. Given that that time can be daunting, I want to open up the possibility that it can be liberating and exciting too”

When making music how involved do you like to be in the process?
I like to have my hands on every single step of the way. Especially my songwriting, I am very protective of it. I’ll usually have a very clear image in my head about what I want and how I want the listener to feel and won’t stop until that vision becomes realised.

Let’s talk about your latest single release ‘Firm’. Tell us what the song is about?
Firm is about the moment that I realised I liked men and how I’ve framed the lyrics is that I am singing it to a former female lover. I wrote the song for those who are still discovering their sexuality. Given that that time can be daunting, I want to open up the possibility that it can be liberating and exciting too - hence the tongue in cheek approach to the lyrics and video.

Describe the track with 3 emoji’s.

🍆🌈🥵

You also filmed a steamy music video for the track where you look fantastic! What is the story behind the music video?
Thank you so much! I worked super hard on it. In the lyrics, I talk about colours and delving into the unknown and wanted to present a direct visual of that experience. Really it is just a bunch of liberated friends who are unafraid to flaunt their sexuality. I’ve worked with the underwear brand, Andrew Chrsitian, several times and was fortunate enough to have them sponsor all the outfits in the video.

You didn’t appear in the music video alone and had a group of guys wearing… not very much appearing alongside you. With the video dropping in pride month how did you go about casting your extras and did you consider trying to represent as many of LGBTQ+ community as possible?
Dropping it during pride month was actually a decision made later on due to some pre-existing delays with the release. When I was casting, there were many different things I had to consider (for example, I didn’t want to look super short next to someone really tall or they had to be able to dance on camera), and so once all criteria was met, it was a very small pool to cast from, let alone casting in a smaller city like Melbourne. I did reach out to many different people but most actually just didn’t respond to my DMs (I’m going to blame that pesky unknown sender fold on Insta). So three of them are actually my friends and the rest were the only ones who replied haha!

Is the track going to be part of a future EP or album? If so, can you tell us more?
It is! YOU MUST BE PSYCHIC. Firm is my first original track in three years (thank you pandemic) and is the first release from my EP titled Sex, Cologne & Cigarettes. This EP is about my fun times being a f*ckboy rolled into a ball of pop deliciousness.

With Covid restrictions easing do you plan on doing any live shows?
I have already started! In Australia, I find it extremely difficult to book shows but in the five weeks I’ve been in London, I have already booked six shows and a festival and am very excited to be performing new material.

Unfortunately, the world is still a racist place with Asian hate crimes increasing. Have you ever experienced this and what do you think can be done to help stop it?
I think it’s a lot more covert in Australia so I personally don’t experience it much outside of my difficulty being an artist there (even then, it might be an entertainment industry thing). I do consider myself very fortunate in that way but I am aware that many others don’t have it so easy. I think what makes the biggest difference is education and understanding. Not everyone will be as aware or knowledgeable about such issues and giving ourselves and others the space to make mistakes and learn will allow for peace between differences of opinions.

Any last shout outs?
Shout out to my boyfriend, Joe AKA Lostchild, who produces my music and will always be my champion and my Jay-Z to me being Beyonce haha!