Ahead of the release of her third EP, “i asked the stars for this. x,” neo soul songstress Tia Gordon teases the project with a new introspective single, “should i give it up?”. In the current fast-paced industry, Gordon suggests trusting yourself, taking your time, and not rushing art.

The equivalent of Shakespeare’s existential query, “to be, or not to be,” for creatives is the mentally relentless doubt of whether to give up the quest to become a successful, self-sustaining artist. For Tia Gordon and her anxious brain, this is a daily conversation, and her new single “should i give it up?” makes for a sonically soothing empathy exercise and a gentle reminder of her worthiness and deservingness of the fruits of her labour.

With her soulful sound, Gordon’s immaculate capture of everyday intricacies draws you in with tender simplicity, yet multi-layered emotional depth, bound to connect with those who need it. As a self-proclaimed fan girl and One Direction stan, making music didn’t feel like love at first sight. “I didn’t do it for music,” she reveals to Wonderland. “I didn’t even do it for myself.” 

Since her 2022 debut single, “Call Me”, Tia Gordon has been riding a steady wave of quality sonic capsules, gradually elevating to eloquent neo soul, crystallising into her effortless wordplay and deeper vocal range. Using a quirky title signature, Gordon’s main hope is to share music with love and positivity, and her upcoming, 6th May-set EP, “i asked the stars for this. x” is set out to be an extension of her personal growth and new collaborations, proving once again that music brings people together every time.

As the tables in Camden’s Lyttleton Arms slowly but surely fill up, and the pints begin to spill, Tia Gordon chats about her new single, “should i give it up?,” her not-favourable creative process, dealing with anxiety, gratitude, the detriment of negative self-talk, and believing in yourself even despite creative hiatus. 

Listen to latest single “should i give it up?”

Read the interview…

You’re about to go to see Samm Henshaw perform at KOKO. Do you go to gigs often?

I have chronic anxiety, so I used to never do anything without someone else. But the first thing to get myself back outside was going to gigs and going to gigs by myself.

Is there anything that helps you with anxiety when you go to gigs alone?

I make sure I drive so I don’t drink. I also wear a nice outfit, so I feel good. I just take it slow. If it’s one of those days where I do feel anxious and it gets the better of me, then I just go home.

Do you remember a concert that changed or altered your brain chemistry?

It was One Direction at the O2, maybe in 2012. I was mesmerised by how many people were there to watch them.

So you were a big One Direction fan?

I had super glue posters on every wall of my bedroom of One Direction.

Who was your favourite?

 Harry. Still is.

In the early days, what inspired you to post covers every Wednesday on Instagram?

My parents were going through a divorce, so I said to myself, I’ll get a record label and I’ll give all the money to my dad, so we won’t lose our house. That’s why I started doing the covers. It was a way that I could get recognised and then my dad doesn’t need to struggle. I wasn’t actually doing it for myself. It was a lot of pressure and I hate singing covers, because I never think I do the covers any justice. Also, I was running out of covers, as I was posting every Wednesday for two years. I didn’t do it for music. I didn’t even do it for myself. But in so, I found that people enjoyed what I was doing and then I started doing live streams. I started actually getting into music, because the songs I was writing at the time, people really liked. I carried on and I knew I couldn’t stop there.

Would you say consistency should be a top priority for aspiring musicians?

It’s the hardest part. I think the love of it will always separate the people who really truly want it and the people that maybe don’t. I think when you truly love it, even if your consistency drops off, you always find yourself coming back to it. I think that’s what I found for me. I had years where I didn’t do music, but it’s always come back to me. I’ll never be able to go without it.

What would be your advice?

Just do it, post as much as you can and want. Show people your art. I wish I started taking singing seriously sooner.

If you had to choose one moment from your life without which you wouldn’t be able to be the artist you are today, what would it be?

There was this girl who messaged me and she said ‘you need to make a music Instagram for your covers.’ Without her telling me to do that and without me doing it, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have dedicated my time to this thing.

What’s your creative process?

Sadly I’m a Notes app girl, and I hate it. I just think that it looks a little rude. I always have to say in a session, ‘I’m not on my phone, I’m writing lyrics.’ I’m trying to get into writing things down.

You mentioned your new single, “should I give it up,” as well as your struggle with anxiety. Is the song a response to how you’ve been feeling recently or in general?

This isn’t me saying I don’t want to do this anymore. I have raging anxiety, and it’s the conversations I have with myself, daily, weekly, when I can’t believe I’m here. Every single time I go on stage, or every time someone messages me, I can’t believe it. You have to get into the mindset that you are worthy of these things, but it doesn’t come naturally for me. I’m so grateful for every single thing. I think it does have everything to do with the fact that I’m just so anxious. “should i give it up?” is a very recurring conversation my anxious brain has.

Which brain is winning now? Is it your anxious brain?

Depends what day it is. I think every day I’ve proved to myself that the space that’s been created through not just my hard work, but my team’s hard work is exactly the reason why I won’t give up music.

Why did you choose to open your upcoming EP with “should i give it up”?

It’s the make or break of the EP. People will think she’s opening up the EP saying that she is not too sure whether or not she should continue her music career, but there’s five songs left, so she must have. Also, it didn’t feel right to end the EP with it. I wanted to start with that and show people that these are the songs I can still create, while still having that wobble in my mind, whereas if I ended it, it would feel like I was confessing to leaving the music industry.

Do you think the role of the trend-chasing current state of the music industry plays a role in your anxiety?

Music has become a really fast paced industry and so people don’t have the patience to stick with one artist. I think it means as an artist you have to take your time and make sure you’re giving yourself time, rather than everyone wanting you to be releasing music every single second so you will do that and you will completely deplete yourself of any nourishment and start making rubbish songs because you’ve got no passion for it. You have to stay true to yourself and if you are true to yourself then hopefully people will find you and they will support you.

Could we talk about the message behind the EP title ‘“i asked the stars for this.x”?

It was meant in a sense of what a blessing that I am on my third EP. Even though these are things that I speak out to the universe and I manifest but I don’t really believe will happen. I feel like with this EP I’ve paved such a solid platform for myself. I really did ask to be here and I’m grateful that I’m here. The songs in the EP are just a representative of the growth of me as an artist.

The new EP was developed between LA and London. How did you find collaborating with new people?

I met amazing people out there. The songs that are on the EP are representative of us spending one day together. It’s crazy how music can really bring people together, considering two completely different countries, lots of different people. It was a really great experience.

While being in LA did you feel inspired or were your creative pathways blocked?

On the plane there, I was really anxious because the expectation of me was that I need to do the same thing as I do in London. Even though no one had explicitly said that to me, I knew that I had to be able to get something out of this trip. Writing can be a really intimate process, so then to share that with a complete stranger in an environment that I have no clue of, I didn’t know how I was going to react to it. It was completely fine.

Would you say you’re a very big self-critic?

I think you have to be. At the end of the day, it’s my art that’s going to go out. You have to make sure that I approve of it. I think sometimes you have to find the balance of not picking it apart and also taking my hands off when my team thinks it’s good.

As a self-critic, what do you envision for the future of your career?

I’d love to play Glastonbury. I’d love to sell out my next headline. I’d love to do a headline in a different country. To make better music, connect to more people. I want my music to push out to as many people that need it as possible. Not even people that like it. I think people really need it.

What was the main lesson you took away from working oaths EP?

That I’m good at what I do, and I’m getting better at it. To trust the people around me and make sure that it doesn’t always have to end with me. It can end with my manager or my team.

Words – Karolina Kramplova