Tanis a woman of many different paths.
Interview conducted on June 1, 2020
By Daniel Locke
Tanis is an exceptional composer and musician, completely immersed in the world of sounds and music since her early childhood, and with a keen ‘out-of-the-box’ …sense of musical illustration.
What is your upbringing?
My parents embraced the world and believed in making my older brother and I global citizens. We grew up in a mixed culture family in different places around the world: from the Bahamas climbing coconut trees, to the countryside of France near a tiny village. In calm and organized Switzerland and then in crowded Beijing. In addition, to finish the list, I went to study in an English boarding school in the UK and spent my college years in the melting pot of New York City.
You are a daughter of traveling parents. What did they do?
My father is a writer and entrepreneur and my mother was a model and is now the life force behind our family.
Out of all the places you have traveled, which country has been the most influential to your music career?
Music is the web of my life, linking all the places of my childhood and the key to my reassurance and stability, so I do not believe there is one single country that has been key to my love of music but instead, all of them have given me a little something to take with me.
How many languages do you speak?
I speak four languages: English, French, Mandarin (Chinese) and Italian.
How did you discover music?
As far back as I can remember, music and musical instruments are the one element that followed me everywhere I went from the first day of my life when my dad sang Nat King Cole’s “non-dementia” to me until today. I still have my first piano from France, which is with me in New York now. I was fortunate to be surrounded by music because my father could not afford to learn music as a child and dreamed of having his kids play and so, I suppose I discovered my love of music thanks to my dad.
How did you start to write music?
Music has always been a dominant presence in my life. As someone who was very shy and introverted as a child, music was my favorite emotional companion and narrated all the ups and downs of my life. In these moments, I would either go up to my room and listen to music for hours on end, or I would go to the piano, which I began to learn at the age of 5, and play out whatever I was feeling in that moment. One day my dad happened to hear me and asked me what it was that I was playing. I told him that it was just some improvised invention. “You should write it down” he told me. I was only 11 and was not entirely sure of what I was doing but that was the moment I began composing.
Do you remember how you got your first guitar? And do you still have it?
I actually got my first guitar as a hand-me-down from my brother. When he was 13, it was the cool trend to learn the electric guitar but after a little under a year, he started to lose interest and I was very quick to sweep it up. And yes, I still do have it! It is a Black and White Fender Stratocaster.
At 14 you composed the main theme for a Disney Film (Trail of the Panda). How were you able to get Disney to even hear what you did?
When I was 14 when I submitted a simple lullaby-like piano melody to Disney Asia, who were looking for a young composer to write the main theme that represented the friendship and story of a lost panda cub and abandoned young boy. I was very fortunate to have my theme chosen and I got to work on the score for “Trail of the Panda” with more established composers, arrangers and producers that helped me bring more simple melody to life within the context of the film. However, that experience also made me realize how much I needed to learn in order to actually work in this industry. So I began taking my music studies much more seriously after that moment, and went on to study music composition in university. It was only about a year prior to graduation where I felt I had the level to start working as a professional musician but I still learn every single day and have a lot more to learn!
How did you get the prestigious Elmer Bernstein Award for Film scoring?
The award was given to me through NYU Steinhardt. Each year it is given to one student graduating from the music composition degree and I was very honored to receive it.
In 2017 you started your our music production company TXC. And you have composed music for Killing Hope, Miximals, Empty, I’m Everywhere you Are, Cult, music for the TV series Miraculous: Chibi, soundtracks which included Ce N’Est Moi and videographer for Jungle Pocket. What would be the next thing you would like to do?
I hope to continue to write more music and work on more and more projects. A big goal me would be to score a feature film as the lead composer so I hope I would have to chance to make that leap soon.
What is the video of Ce N’Est Moi about?
“Ce n’est pas moi” literally translates to “it is not me”. The song and video shows a difficulty to speak of love and express your feeling towards someone and because you struggle to open up to them, you two always remain at a distance.
Tell me about your new single “Grow”?
“Grow” is a song quite close to my heart because it speaks of feeling behind the curve and needing more time to find yourself, which a lot of times I have felt myself due to following an unforgiving artistic path that is a slow climb with lots of stumbles and falls.
Some days, I feel so far away from where I would aspire to be, but I try to tell myself that if I keep my head down and stay the course, I will eventually get there. As I say in the lyrics, I just ask for you “to be patient with me”.
What is your favorite track of yours?
A song that I haven’t released yet. Hope to share it towards the end of this year.,
Are you still doing your reminiscing series on Facebook?
The “reminiscing series” was actually just a set of 3 photos I shared about some past travel highlights during my 2 weeks in quarantine upon arrival back home in the Bahamas. So no, it is no longer ongoing.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I am currently releasing my music digitally, but I do have quite a collection of Vinyl’s at home. Hope to add one of my own to it someday J.
Any plans to tour?
None at the moment, no.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you?
A few years ago, I wrote a song called “Losing my mind”. Waking up every morning to the realities of what has been 2020 so far, has definitely felt like I must be losing my mind for all this to be our current situation.
You have also become a photographer. Tell me about your project with the children in China? And where can one see your photography work showcased?
I began my journey in photography when I met Micky in Blue Sky Healing home in Beijing, China.
Micky was abandoned at birth. For reasons I can’t personally comprehend, he was left in the freezing cold on a hillside in Shandong Province. Micky was nearly completely frozen when he was found. As a result of frostbite, his left toes had to be amputated. Unfortunately, Micky was also diagnosed with a congenital complicated heart disease. Micky fought through all kind of illness in his first year of life. His little courage was my inspiration and my photography book project was my first step towards helping him get well.
Sadly he passed away few days before the delivery of the photography books. The total proceeds from the sale of my first book plus my subsequent book and exhibition went on to help other children at BlueSky Healing Home thanks to Micky. Micky set me on a path towards helping unwanted children, abandoned not only by their parents but also by society in search of the minimum responsibility and involvement and led me to be invited to Indonesia to produce my second photography book for the WADAH foundation.
Currently, I do not have any work being showcased as my focus has been primarily on music but I do sincerely hope to find time to return to photography in the near future.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I feel that music will definitely remain as a strong presence in our society, but Covid-19 will definitely push us heavily towards streaming as well as developing new and updated methods of interacting with musicians live through a digital medium since we may not be able to return to crowds and concerts for a little while.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have been extremely fortunate to be quite busy with both composition and songwriting work so for the most part I have just been working. Other than that, I have definitely spent quite a lot of time with my family who I don’t normally get to see very often so this has actually been a nice opportunity to reconnect.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I have always loved baking but living alone in an NYC apartment, I haven’t really had the opportunity to do much of it. So in fact, being back home in the Bahamas, I have definitely utilized my parents’ kitchen to the fullest to bake for everyone in my household whenever I have the time.
Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Are you planning to do something like that?
For the moment I am not. This is mostly due to the fact that since I am not at my own place at the moment, I don’t have any instruments. That being said, once I get back when the airport re-opens here, I would like to do some acoustic sets via Instagram Live.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
I don’t think it will be impossible but do believe that it will be a very challenging task to accomplish for musicians to really make any significant living from streamed concerts,especially if they are not established yet. That being said, if a platform could do virtual music festivals with a multitude of performers or artist with a strong following can feature other musicians as maybe an opening act, that could potentially give some opportunities but I am not entirely sure how the monetization could work.
First it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
Yes, that could be a likelihood. I think the primary concern is to keep people safe for now and that could very well mean waiting another year.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of music festivals for the next couple of years?
No, I don’t believe so. I have my fingers crossed that with modern medicine and time, we will not have to Social distance infinitely and hopefully be sometime next year, we can begin to see the return of music festivals.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
That would be a lot of fun as a new feature but I think nothing beats live music. The vibrations you feel and here when you are there in person so I do sincerely hope that there is a return to that in the not too far future J.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
I hope to still be writing music and living out all the ridiculous dreams I have in my head.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
I think we might have covered it all! Thank you for having me! Looking forward to sharing new music with you all soon. Hope everyone is well and safe. – T
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