Tempo Talks: A Conversation with Talia Grace

THE RELEASE

Austin-based singer-songwriter Talia Grace is a lone wolf in the vibrant Texan music scene. Known for her distinctive "slice-of-life" approach to music, her heartfelt compositions reflect universal sentiments and shared experiences, ensuring her art touches people across diverse backgrounds. Her music aims to bridge the emotional gaps between individuals, encouraging her listeners to feel understood and less isolated in their personal experiences. As an independent artist, Talia fully embraces the demanding nature of the industry; she personally writes, funds, and promotes her work. This committed, do-it-yourself approach imbues her music with a deep sense of authenticity and passion that is clearly perceptible in each note and lyric.

Talia's latest single, "Soliloquy," is a poignant reflection of the solitary experiences that birthed it. Written during an introspective moment at the Austin staple, Radio Coffee and Beer, she found herself as the sole solitary patron in a sea of companionship. This solitary moment sparked the inception of "Soliloquy" - a song that, with surprising simplicity, explores the essence of life's worth amidst its adversities. Composed in a spontaneous burst of inspiration, it took Talia all of 30 minutes to pen this track, and it has remained almost unchanged from its initial draft. Resonating with the personal yet universal ethos of her music, "Soliloquy" is yet another testament to Talia's ability to translate common human experiences into moving, relatable music. The song encapsulates her ethos as an artist, making it a must-listen for anyone seeking comfort, understanding, and companionship in their music.

THE INTERVIEW

What song or moment in time sparked your passion for music?
I don’t remember a time before I was obsessed, to be perfectly honest. All of my siblings are musicians, and there was always music playing at home and in the car growing up. I wrote my first (horrendous and cheesy) song when I was 5. My siblings and I started a classic rock cover band when I was 9. I played shows solo starting at 12 and posted my original songs on MySpace Music. I sang in choir and played in band throughout middle and high school. I spent all of college honing my songwriting skills. I released my first single at 21. There is a piano tattooed on the inside of my arm. The fact that I am a musician and songwriter is the first thing I mention when someone says, “So, tell me about yourself.” It’s the thing I come back to every time I try to figure out what the hell I’m going to do with my life. It’s not a satisfying answer, but there isn’t one moment or one song that ignited the passion. I don’t think I picked music. I think music picked me.

If you had to create a Mount Rushmore of inspiration, what four individuals molded the artist you are today?

Bill Withers - I listened to his 1981 Greatest Hits album front to back countless times. If I could sing with anyone, living or dead, Bill would win by a wide margin. Few artists can make me want to get up and dance AND move me to tears the way that he can. My dad wrote him a letter when I was in high school, and he responded with an autographed photo, on which he wrote, “Talia, thanks for everything. -Bill”

Kelly Clarkson - “Breakaway” was the first CD I ever owned, and for the longest time, almost all of the music on my iPod shuffle was Kelly Clarkson. I listen to her less now, but she’s one of the best singers in the game. Her prowess is aspirational, and I think I make a lot of subconscious decisions vocally that are directly as a result of how much time I spent listening to her music.

Noah Gundersen - I started listening to Noah when I was 17. His music changed my perspective on what songwriting could/should be. Sometimes hard, sometimes dark, but always truthful.

Don McLean - Vincent is a masterpiece of inimitable magnitude, in my opinion. The American Troubadour taught me the balance between simplicity and complexity. I can’t count the number of times I’ve legitimately said, “if I ever write something even half as good as Don McLean, I’ll die happy.”

How does your creative process work from the moment you develop the idea to the completion of the record?

That sort of changes depending on the project. It almost always starts with one specific concept or event or even object that really sticks out to me, and then I let the rest sort of come to me naturally. For example, Soliloquy started as a very real and sudden sense of awareness that every other person out having drinks at a local venue was there with someone, and my own aloneness was immediately so heavy and obvious it felt suffocating. Soliloquy only exists because I was trying to make sense of the state of my life at the time. On the other hand, I have an unreleased song called Lavender Latte that exists almost solely because I could not put the thought out of my head to write a song with my go-to coffee order as the title. It ended up becoming something of a torch song about unrequited love and resignation, but it started as a silly idea that I couldn’t shake. One common thread between every song, though, is that they all begin in my bedroom, almost always very late at night. I take the song as far as I can go by myself, then I send my producer a demo I’ve made on GarageBand, and we set up a time to record, usually within a week. That’s when it surpasses my wildest dreams in terms of just how complete it can sound. Every time, I’m taken aback by the way it transforms into something that’s equal parts exactly how I’d imagined and nothing I could have expected. As a rule of thumb, I don’t force the creative process. I do try to make sure that I’m flexing the muscle by writing something every day, but that might be two lines of lyrics or a new harmony on an existing song or a three-chord progression. I also recognize that Inspiration strikes at odd times and from unexpected sources. My role as an artist is that of a conduit more than a creator; as woo-woo and pretentious as it sounds, I think the songs write themselves and just sort of pass through me on their way into the world.

As for this release, who is the producer and what about the production moved you?

The producer I’ve been working with since 2019 is Taylor Webb here in Austin. I have been so impressed by the quality of his work since I first heard it, and I was dead-set on working in a home studio, so he seemed like the perfect fit from the start. What I was not anticipating was his kindness and the similarity of some of our life experiences, and it’s truly been an honor working with him. He was the only person I considered for Soliloquy, because the vulnerability of that song really necessitates a safe space. Taylor possesses the rare ability to show restraint in production rather than showing everything he’s capable of in every project, and I was very clear that Soliloquy needed to feel like the listener was in the room with me as I played specifically for them. I’m so proud of and grateful for the finished product, because it’s exactly that. Stripped down. Soul-baring. Simple.

When it comes to the songwriting on this record, what is the message you want to get across to your listeners?

It’s okay to feel really lost. And lonely. It’s okay to recognize that your life looks different than how you’d imagined it, and it’s okay if that makes you sad. You are worth a whole lot more than the sum of the worst things about you. Grief points us in the direction of love, be it from those we’ve lost or those still with us. Time is currency. If you are looking for something, you will find it, for better or for worse. And life is always worth living.

KEEP UP WITH TALIA GRACE BELOW: