Bad record deals can often be the demise of an aspiring artist, but Australian singer-songwriter TIAAN wasn’t about to let a bad contract take her down.
The now LA-based singer found herself unable to further her solo career after “butting heads” with her label four years ago, which is when she turned her efforts to co-writing, leading to some serious collaborations with the likes of Charli XCX, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea and more.
“No one wanted to move forward with doing anything, including myself, but instead of them letting me go, [the label] held on for dear life,” Tiaan tells The Music.
“I’m not really sure why, but it unfortunately happens to too many artists.
“Because I was stuck in that deal, no one really wanted to touch me [in LA], so I had to really put myself on the backburner, suck it up and work with other people. Which is fine, it’s fun and I enjoyed it, but it definitely got to the point where I wanted the focus to be back on myself and my own music.”
Finally breaking free from her deal, she was able to release a new solo single, Ruin It, earlier this year.
“It started off as a bit of a sad love song about ruining a friendship that had developed into more than just a friendship,” she explains.
“We decided to make it a little more exciting and flip into just saying, ‘Fuck it, let’s ruin it, let’s have fun. If we ruin it, who cares.’"
Although her time spent in LA led gave her the urge to write in a “slightly more commercial” style, Ruin It still pertains the classic traits the artist became known for while in Australia.
“I’ve stayed true to who I am musically; I haven’t really changed that much, to be quite honest,” she says.
TIAAN describes the Australian music scene as more indie than LA, which also translates to its songwriting scene.
“I feel like it’s a bit more organic back home in Aus,” she tells.
“I’ve stayed true to who I am musically; I haven’t really changed that much."
“A lot of people in Australia, in my experience, seem to play instruments, but a lot of people here seem to just make beats. That’s one big difference that I find difficult because I love writing on piano or guitar.
“People will go into a session back home with the intention of writing a tune, here it’s kind of to hang out and connect and meet, and not necessarily write. I definitely miss writing with people back home.”
It’s that networking mentality that initially drew TIAAN to the States, and being in "circles of these top celebs and top name writers and producers”.
It’s through these various relationships that the Aussie writer managed to score a #1 Billboard Dance Chart hit, with her Bleona co-write I Don't Need Your Love.
“Honestly, I wrote a song that I really didn’t think would do much, but it hit #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart, so that’s been the highlight so far.”
With a focus on releasing more original material, Australian fans will hopefully be seeing more of TIAAN over the next 12 months.
“It feels good to be free and to have a say over what I’m releasing, which is amazing,” she says.
“I would love to jump on a tour after releasing a few more songs, I have obviously collected an insane amount of songs over the past few years, but yeah, I’m just writing and I’d love to travel and perform alongside some epic acts, just to get around.”
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