Tiny is not here to be softened, posed or rearranged into someone else’s idea of acceptable. In this interview, the Future Sounds Award winner opens up about her upcoming single, Not Your Barbie (N.Y.B.), a ferocious act of queer, mixed-race, feminine rage born from being treated like an accessory instead of an equal. She talks about waking up with the chorus in her head, building the track’s wall-smashing industrial force with James Parker, Ash Goulden, Joel Chalk, Mills J. Smith and Alejandro Padilla, and using musical theatre training to push her vocals into raw, personal confrontation.
Tiny, welcome to A&R Factory! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your upcoming single, Not Your Barbie (N.Y.B.), the anger behind it, and the ferocious world you’re building around your sound. N.Y.B. started with you waking up at midnight with the chorus in your head, then shelving it before realising it needed more space to become what it was meant to be. What changed when you returned to it after playing it live at Troubadour?
Over the past year, I really had to remind myself that not all songs I will write in one sitting, which is what I’m used to. N.Y.B. was one of those songs that just needed longer to cook. Coming back to it, the only difference was, I knew what I wanted to convey and how to do so – before I wasn’t sure where this song was meant to go.
Barbie is such a loaded metaphor here: beauty, control, perfection, disposability, performance. When did that image start to feel like the right way to talk about being treated as an accessory instead of an equal?
I was fed up of being told what I wasn’t, rather than being celebrated for who I was and the work I have done. Being queer and mixed race, I don’t fit into this Western ideal that has been created by a patriarchy over decades of racism and sexism. The image of being a Barbie doll – an object that can be manipulated – felt perfect as a metaphor having had people treat me as such in the past.
The industrial beats became a visualisation of knocking down walls to get away from certain people. What was it like to work with James Parker, Ash Goulden, Joel Chalk, Mills J. Smith and Alejandro Padilla to make that anger feel physical in the track?
Having a team that understands your music and sonic aesthetic really takes a lot of stress out of the recording process. Being able to bounce ideas off each other I found incredibly valuable; it was awesome to be able to play around with different suggestions, which of course eventually led to the final product. James plays a lot of heavy metal which was something I really wanted to draw on, as my music already sits in a heavy rock, maximalist style and sound. I gave Joel free reign on guitar as I wanted to lean into the chaos that comes with anger. The main thing was not to strive for perfection with this track, to make it feel raw and unfiltered.
The line between theatricality and emotional truth can be thin, but N.Y.B. feels like all-too-relatable feminine rage rather than performative. How did your musical theatre training help you push the vocals to that furious place without losing the real person underneath it?
Having a strong technique can be a blessing and a curse. You know how to use your voice properly and keep it safe but sometimes you can lose the emotional side because of being worried about sounding “perfect”. I drew from my training to create the story feel realistic and authentic. Whilst recording the vocals I really had to picture the people that treated me like this standing in front of me, as if I was screaming at them– this is something that is very personal, so faking the emotion didn’t even cross my mind.
You’ve been told you are “too much”, which feels painfully familiar to so many women who refuse to shrink themselves. When you scream “Not Your Barbie”, who are you screaming it for besides yourself?
Anyone that has been made to feel less than who they are. Simple as that.
Your voice has been compared to Kate Bush, Linda Perry and Alanis Morissette, while your influences stretch through Björk, Lady Gaga, FKA Twigs, Prince and Joan Jett. But beyond the reminiscences, what do you want your voice to be remembered for?
I want my voice to be remembered for its raw power and giving a voice to those feelings that you may know all too well but struggle to describe outside of your head. I may be called Tiny but nothing about me is.
If N.Y.B. was a room instead of a song, what would be on the walls, what would be broken on the floor, and what would be playing on the old TV in the corner?
What a cool question. I’d have posters of the people that have treated me like a Barbie doll on the walls with their eyes scratched out. There’d probably be broken mirrors on the floor. Instead of the TV, there would be a radio playing 80s rock songs like Metallica. I don’t think the lights would be working either; it’d just be a scene of destruction. Scratches down the wall – that kind of thing.
You’ve performed at the Palladium, shared stages with major names and won the Future Sounds Award at Bush Hall, but N.Y.B. feels like a real personal declaration. What kind of artistic skin do you see yourself stepping into now?
One where I don’t compromise any aspect of myself – where I can express myself unapologetically. Being able to continue developing my music and collaborate with artists that inspire me like Lady Gaga and Joan Jett. I want to be able to step onto stages as myself rather than something people want me to be. It’s also to show the next generation of artists shrinking yourself down is never an option.
–
Discover more about Tiny via her official website, where you can also find links to her music on all major streaming services.
Interview by Amelia Vandergast
No Comments