Music Video funding enables TYA to share an authentic side of herself with “Josephine” release

A self-identified anxious indie pop artist based in Lions Bay, BC, TYA makes use of music as both a mental health coping mechanism and a unique exploration of identity in the context of their gender and sexuality.

Why?

As TYA explains it in their characteristically straightforward style, “Because it’s what keeps me going. It calms me, energizes me, and inspires me.”

Recent support from the Music Video program has enabled TYA to push these explorations further through the creation of a music video dedicated to their newest single, “Josephine”, which drops on June 1, 2023. The single is both TYA’s inaugural openly-Queer song, and also an unabashed celebration of the interconnections that make up Queer relationships. The final product is joyous, reflective, and unapologetic in its storytelling.

The original Some Like It Hot movie poster from 1959.

As TYA explains, “‘Josephine’ was inspired by my own sexual and gender identity journey. The single combines my own interpretation of childhood experiences with a formative movie of mine, Some Like It Hot, starring Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis. I had the privilege of becoming unlikely friends with Tony in his later years as I traveled along with my parents, who were working on the film’s adapted Broadway musical tour. Revolutionary in its presentation of gender on screen for the time – 1959 – the movie really inspired me. Through  this new music video, I want to continue to push boundaries and modernize the ideas in the original movie with this song and video displaying a boundless love and a fluid, binary-less gender expression.”

To make good on these aspirations, TYA engaged East Cherry Production Company. They also collaborated with local director Miranda MacDougall, and actor and Queer TV icon Katie Findlay. Filming occurred in April 2023 in Chilliwack and Vancouver. The careful combination of plans and personnel – bringing a potent alchemy of practical skills and lived experiences to bear – resulted in a quality final product.

As TYA elaborates, “Between renting out flower parlors for my on-screen wedding vows, and having the use of a green screen ‘boat’ that recreated one of my favorite scenes of all time from Some Like It Hot, the support that Creative BC provided through the Music Video program was integral to how this video came to life.”

Collaboration with East Cherry Production Studio enabled TYA’s final “Josephine” music video to come to life.

A comprehensive approach to planning and logistics that supports a quality final product has served TYA well before. As she explains, “Having produced my debut music video independently for my song ‘Hydrogen Peroxide‘ in 2021, I know the kind of positive effect a good music video can have on the performance of the song – both in terms of engagement metrics like streams and views, and also connecting more deeply with my listeners in general. A lot of people found the song through the video first, and then added it to their playlists: to this day, it is my most-streamed release, nearing 50,000 unique streams. Because it was so heavily inspired by a specific film, I loved the idea of having a visual aspect to ‘Josephine’. A cinematic music video, unafraid of an unabashed reference to something else that I love, was something the song deserved in my heart.”

A still from “Josephine”.

When asked to reflect on the personal and professional inspirations that have underpinned her efforts in music to date, TYA considers, and offers, “Ugh, I have so many inspirations – both as an artist, and as a person. We would be here for literal days if I was to name them all, but top billing goes to my family, for sure. They are the most whimsical, tenacious, kindhearted people I have ever met. As artists – which they all are, in their own rights – anything is possible for them, no matter how implausible or wildly dippy the concept. They are my heart, my spine, and my collective brain cell.”

Bringing the conversation to a close, TYA offered her own advice to those who might also be contemplating a future application to Creative BC in support of a project of their own.

Do it. *insert Shia Labeouf meme here* LITERALLY just do it. Get off your butt – or, as a matter of fact, you can even stay on your butt and apply. It’s once you get funded that you’ve gotta get off your butt, and show ’em what you’re made of! Creative BC is incredibly friendly to people who don’t have as much experience writing grants (like me), and are supportive through the whole process. The willingness to take a chance on a new artist and their vision is what sets them apart. For the amount of effort it took for me to apply for this grant, the reward was unmatched in the feeling of affirmation it gave to me and my music.”

You can learn more about TYA, and experience her music, here.

Watch the “Josephine” music video here.

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Artwork and photos courtesy of TYA, and United Artists.