Tays

Can you remember the first time music felt like more than just something you listened to, when it became something you wanted to create?

That was in the summer of 2019 while I was going through one of the most difficult periods of my life. A year earlier I had graduated from high school and enrolled in a Software Engineering program but I dropped out after just six months. After that, I started working in scaffolding. I spent months doing physically demanding work, only to realize in the end that I was never going to be paid for the work I had done. At the same time, I was trying to earn my driver's license, which I had to pay for myself. Instead of going on the vacation I had been saving up for, I spent the entire summer working at a flower farm, tying bouquets just to make enough money.

The one thing that made those long workdays bearable was that I was allowed to wear earbuds. After the first few days, I discovered good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar. I listened to that album on repeat every single day for the rest of the summer.

By the time summer was over, one thing had become crystal clear to me: I had to make music.

Growing up, what sounds, places, or experiences have had the biggest influence on the way you hear and make music today?

Before I turned eighteen I moved around a lot. Constantly having to put down roots and then leave them behind, adapting to new homes, schools, and friendships, not only shaped who I became but also the way I make music today.

My earliest memory of music is watching the music video for Eminem's "When I'm Gone" on TMF. My home life wasn't always an easy place for a child, and even at that young age, I felt an immediate and profound connection to his story. From that moment on, Eminem was almost the only artist I listened to until I was fourteen.

At the same time, I was exposed to very different musical worlds at home. My mother listened to Acda & De Munnik, while my stepfather, both consciously and unconsciously introduced me to bands like Dire Straits, Golden Earring, and Rage Against the Machine. Looking back, I think it's the combination of those influences: the urgency of rock and hip-hop, together with the storytelling tradition of Dutch music, that shaped the sound I make today.

Your music feels deeply personal. How do you navigate the process of turning thoughts and experiences into something you're willing to share with the world?

Honesty is the most important thing to me when I make music. In everyday life, I still find it difficult to fully open up and share what's in my heart. Writing songs is how I find my way to that honesty.

I'm always trying to write from a place that's genuinely personal, while keeping it nuanced and approachable. I want people to be able to recognize themselves in the songs, not just hear my story. It's about finding a balance between being vulnerable and keeping enough perspective so that it does not feel like a trauma dump.

Throughout our lives, we pick up lessons from many places, sometimes from friends, sometimes from more difficult encounters. Can you share one lesson you learned from a friend, and one you learned from a foe?

One lesson I’ve learned from a friend is that the only moment we ever truly have is the present. That realization has helped me a lot in letting go of constantly living in the future or getting stuck in the past.

Another lesson, from a “foe,” is that everything I despise in someone else also exists within me in some form. It’s a difficult truth, but one that has made me more self-aware.