12 Questions with Tabitha Jade
NSG’s David Lancaster caught up with Merseyside’s multi-award-winning RnB princess Tabitha Jade, to talk about hanging out with Alexandra Burke, vintage shopping on Bold Street, and Queen Latifah the cat!
DL: Hiya Tabitha, thanks again for the interview opportunity. Thank you for your time, it really means a lot to us. I know that you grew up here on Merseyside and that you’ve had a great couple of years, rising steadily and you are now firmly established as part of our scene, making a splash nationally too! Please tell me a little bit about who you are. Also, can you tell us how you got into all this, and did you always want to be a musician? Which side of the river did you grow up on??
TJ: I am a singer-songwriter from Liverpool/Merseyside, living in Wirral, I’m in my final year at Goldsmith’s Uni. I’m one of 3 children, my older sister Harriet has followed in my dad’s footsteps and she’s an assistant buyer for Primark, she lives in Dublin now. My younger sister, Eliza Mai is also a musical artist. My parents are both into business, they currently support me with my music, my mum works on the financial side of things and my dad does the rest. We have 2 dogs, Dizzy and Teddy, and also 2 cats, Lady Leshur and Queen Latifah. I started singing and playing guitar after having some lessons aged about 12 and my parents encouraged my sister and me to write our own songs and I much preferred performing originals to doing covers. I started performing to family and friends and then in local cafe’s and school events. It developed from there and I started attending open mic nights, solo and with my sister. My playing, singing, and writing improved from there and eventually I met up with future band members at music nights and bigger shows, things started to really move then. For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a singer. I grew up watching and listening to Beyonce and Rihanna, which inspired me to be an artist. At the age of 12, I was like most kids, into lots of different things, and I was quite good at dance and ballet. I remember attending one of the end of year shows and seeing some really gifted dancers being recognised time and time again and I realised then that this wouldn’t be the career for me. I then felt music was something that I could compete with the best in and I made a pledge to myself to focus on honing my craft, basically being able to sing, play, perform, and write really well. I grew up on The Wirral, that’s where my parents settled. They’d moved around when I was younger as a baby, living down south then moving up here to the North West. So I have lived in Wirral most of my life and it has a lot of positives as a place to live and grow up in. I love Liverpool too, my two favorite things being visiting my fresh “Yog bar” in Hoylake and then vintage shopping on Bold Street in Liverpool.
(Tabitha Jade)
DL: So, as already mentioned you have had a meteoric rise really and you’ve achieved some amazing things so early on in your career, winning many awards, headlining big events, and opening for established acts like Rita Ora, Alexandra Burke, and Sigala at Manchester Pride, that must have been such a huge buzz, did you get to hang out with any of those guys? Any goss or funny stories??
TJ: If you asked my family and I, we’d say it hasn’t been a meteoric rise. We’ve been working as a team for 10 years now and it’s been a steady climb I think. Yes, Manchester Pride was mad, the higher the gig profile and the bigger the headliners are, then there is more of a buzz generally. I supported Alexandra Burke and we hung out with her in the green room backstage. She was so lovely and she’s an amazing performer, her professionalism and attention to detail were very impressive, you could see the work and dedication she puts into her shows, very inspirational! Needless to say, she killed it, the crowd loved her show. I love playing Pride, although only played at Liverpool once when I was a lot younger. I’d love to play the main stages one day, but the vibes are always great, friendly and so much fun. Gossip and funny stories.. er, not really, it was all so well run. The planning team did a great job, really precise in their work and everything fell into line, which doesn’t always happen!
DL: How did you handle 2020 and all the lockdowns? Did you keep active and creative??
TJ: Lockdowns 1 and 2 were tough but due to the great weather we had it wasn’t too bad, it was a bit of a novelty really.I missed going out and seeing my friends and going shopping, but we coped. I found it really difficult being cooped up for weeks, but I’m lucky though as I have access to a garden and I have my own bedroom and fortunately a home studio too, so I just emersed myself in my work, writing and putting the finishing touches to my debut EP, which is due out in April. I don’t really have a massive circle of friends so I’m fairly used to working away, I find a lot of artists are similar in that way. Also, I had my sisters with me for Lockdown 1, and when we are all together you forget what’s going on around you. In regards to the current lockdown, I’m finding it really tough, and I’ve been feeling anxious due to a lack of being around people and not being outdoors enough.
‘Intuition’ ft Prido
DL: Your latest single ‘Intuition’ ft Prido, (the rapper from Manchester), came out just this month. How did you end up working with Prido, was it fun recording together? It’s a great track btw.
TJ: Thanks, it came out really good, it’s a nice vibe! A few years ago he messaged me on Insta asking me to feature on one of his songs – ‘One Time‘ which is still out on YouTube.He shared the demo with me and I really liked it and I wrote a verse which he loved, we then shot a video and then met for the first time. With ‘Intuition’ the roles were reversed, I had a song that I thought he’d be great on, Prido liked it and recorded his bit and then we met up for the photoshoot.
DL: You play guitar and you have a bit of a ‘hands on’ approach to your music and your videos too. You work with your own band in the studio and on stage and it seems you really like to get in the middle of it all, rolling your sleeves up Tabi. Could you tell us a little about how the songs are crafted and what shapes the recordings?
TJ: I sometimes write a song over a beat either on my guitar or I just vibe in the studio with a producer. It depends really, there’s no strict method, it’s a creative process and it has to flow with what works best. Other times I’ll have an idea in my head and then build up that idea on Logic, then I’ll take it to my producers who will then take that idea and translate it into a decent demo. I’ll sometimes record guide vocals in the sessions with a producer and then any final tweaks are done at home and then sent back to the producer once again, to edit and finish. Once the songs are in a good place I listen to them for a while and get my family to let me know what they think too.
DL: Would you ever be tempted to do something outside the RnB genre, like guitar-based pop or maybe a rock song?
TJ: Yes absolutely, I have recently experimented with garage and dance and I really enjoyed it. Having grown up in and around Liverpool I will always appreciate guitar rock. I would bring my own interpretation to any genre, that’s the art of music.
DL: If you could travel back in time to any period, any event, where and when would you travel to? and why??
TJ: The 1990’s, I feel that I would love to have been a young adult growing up in that period. I just love the music that was prevalent and the fashion of that time. Being a millennium baby, I feel close to the ‘90s and feel a natural connection with 90’s pop, 90s US RnB, 90s fashion, and the whole subculture of that decade.
DL: What does TJ do in her downtime, how do you chill away from the music? Do you have a favourite hangout in Liverpool??
TJ: Styling, fashion, and vintage shopping are my passions outside of music. Also watching a great Netflix series or film. During the lockdown, there hasn’t been anything else to do, so I binged a lot, but after a night of TV I have to do music the next day! Keep-fit is then my next go to. I’ll be back at the gym soon, but whilst at home, I work out doing fitness classes, sometimes with my sister.
(Tabitha Jade)
DL: I hear you are planning to release 2 EPs soon, the first coming in April, then a summer EP to follow. Have you finished all the writing for those songs and will you be collaborating with anyone new? Any spoilers for us??
TJ: EP1 was ready at the end of last year, but due to Covid, I delayed its release till April. I’m glad I did that, as I feel there’s an end to the pandemic insight. The project has a mixture of influences, there’s something for everyone, pop, rap, hip-hop, and RnB. EP2 is not complete yet, I can’t really say too much but it’s an evolution really and I feel that all the songs are part of me. As your life changes, so do your musical preferences. Like we did with ‘Intuition’, I will have some other artists involved, as I feel it really adds something extra to the end product. So yes, there will be other featured artists that I’ll be working with, but I can’t say who just yet, we’ll just have to wait and see.
DL: Listening to your songs, you seem to sing about real issues and things that you have experienced personally, do you think it’s important to send out a positive message of support and encouragement to your fans, helping them with any issues and challenges that they may be facing in their daily lives?
TJ: Yes, 100% !!!, the songs have to mean something to me. I would rather write about a situation that has happened or write about something that I can relate to.
DL: Back in the time machine again now TJ. What advice would you give to 12-year-old Tabitha Jade, If you could spend 1 hour with her?
TJ: Ha, always make time to tidy your room so you don’t become a messy teenager! …lol Honestly, don’t take your situation for granted as there are always people not as fortunate as yourself. I’m very lucky to have a support structure around me, so many artists don’t.
(Tabitha Jade)
DL: So looking ahead, after your next couple of EPs are out, what live shows have you got planned? Where can we see you after the government allows us back out again??,(fingers crossed) What are your end of year plans, and is anything scheduled for early 2022 on the live scene?
TJ: At the moment I have no live shows planned. I don’t have a live agent, my dad mainly helps me arranging gigs with booking agents so we’ve just not felt it’s worth the effort at the moment. Just now my focus is on continuing to build quality music and widening my engagement through online streaming and social media. During the lockdowns I have performed some live streams and recorded several ‘live lounges’ but it’s just not the same as a real gig, as I’m an artist that really comes to life in front of a real live audience. I can’t wait to get back to that, it’s what I’ve missed the most over the last 12 months.
DL: Once again thank you for giving us the chance to interview you, anything else you’d like to add?
TJ: Thanks for the interview.
To follow Tabitha on social media click on any of their names in pink below.
Listen to Tabitha on Spotify below.
