TIFFANY DARWISHExclusive Interview is now available!
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>>FULL PAGE EDITORIAL<<
80’s Icon, Tiffany Darwish, simply known as ‘Tiffany’, has given audiences across the world music for decades. From her smash hit “I Think We’re Alone Now” to newer projects like “Pieces of Me”, Tiffany has shown the world that she has a something to say and will use her voice to say it. Tiffany was gracious enough to have a sit down with TWELV Magazine and Tamaj Amir to discuss her upcoming projects, creating process, career plans moving forward and how she’s never lost passion after 30+ years of creating and performing.
------- Tiffany DarwishInterview -------
A little birdie has told us that you are working on a new project. Can you tell us a little about that?
Tiffany (T): “I don’t have a title for the album yet...but it’ll come to me. It’s finished now, as far as the body of songs. But as (I) live with it, it’ll come to me”.
Tiffany would continue to discuss her time in the UK, where she received much of her inspiration for the upcoming album.
T: “I spent a lot of time in the UK, working in a studio called ‘Rockfield’, which has quite a history from Black Sabbath, to Led Zeppelin, to Oasis, to Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody was (written and recorded) there. It’s a very if the walls could talk kind of place. I’m addicted to being there and doing the process and saturating (myself) in the music. They also have a kitchen to die for in there... I’d go in there, the studio is right next door and I’d be cooking and coming up with great sauces and great titles and great lyrics, (all of that together makes me feel) heightened and it comes pouring out me”.
Are you looking towards primarily a rock album, or a mixture of sounds?
T: “‘Pieces of Me’, I released that album last year... and ‘Pieces of Me’ was really about my story, and where I’m at now as a musician and as a songwriter. It was sort of my heartbreak album. Coming out of that now, I’m kind of going into cheeky, and fun, and flirty, and even telling my story again. Working that album, and doing it live, really gave us a chance to engage with the fans, and while they loved ‘Pieces of Me’, they took on the songs like ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Lost Inside’ and they love that, what I’m calling, ‘Rock Retro’ sound.
Tiffany uses the term “Rock Retro” as her album sounds modern and is very much inspired by the artists she is working with, but also reminiscent of the fun of the 80’s. We would begin to talk about Tiffany’s work habit’s and how she gives herself and her music to the world.
T: “I’m not a fan about talking about music. I’m a fan of showing music, where I would say, ‘no I have to perform the single live. I have to perform the single live’. Then the fans get it and they get to know me and say ‘oh you’re pretty edgy and saucy and sassy’. Back in the day it was pretty quiet.
She would continue to discuss her career in her early years and how she’s grown and changed.
T: “I don’t think we that were really trying to make me a celebrity, if that makes sense. Now we’ve refined the whole aspect of celebrity, getting to know the musician and having a personality. That was more for rockstars, but for popstars, especially young like me, it was your music and ‘what do you think you’re gonna be in 10 years and all these serious questions, that I didn’t feel comfortable enough in my skin yet and I didn’t really feel encouraged to just be a personality. Over time, it was just having fun. This is what I do, this is my life; so I’m gonna have to show all the different aspects of myself”.
You have a career that spans a generation and then some, so how does it feel to constantly be giving your all and showing the world who ‘Tiffany’ is?
T: “Well, I don’t know any different. I’m grateful to, for 30 years, be doing my dream... I think after 30 years of living in the industry, I do have to do things that are me and I know kind of what that is and what doesn’t work, because, I did try things that have crashed and burned. You do have to know who you are. People can’t really tell you. They can manufacture it all, but if you’re not happy... so I encourage any artist to find their voice and finding those who will work with it...
What do you want your fans to know from your new projects?
T: “(What I want from my fans is) to know I’m a real musician and to come out to live shows. The live shows are where I’m in my element. Recording is ok. Interviews are great. Photoshoots are pretty, but being on stage is what I’ve been doing since I was nine years old... I love that and I still do the interaction. Nothing has changed. I’m still the same Tiffany.
Your career has not only spanned music, but also film and television...
T: “My crazy sci-fi film? How funny is this? I would never get a chance to sit down and watch TV... I haven’t had a television. I’ve always been in a plane or bus or van and I would go to venues and they would have TV’s and they would never work, or I would get to the hotel, turn on something and fall asleep in ten minutes. (This one time,) we were ahead of schedule, and the band was like, let’s chill for a little bit. We decided we were gonna sit down and watch a movie. What movie did we end up watching? I’m in the kitchen about to serve the food and I hear my drummer go ‘that looks like Tiffany’. I just go ‘whatever’ and the other guy goes, ‘yeah man, that does look like Tiffany. I think that’s Tiffany’. I ask what’s happening and they go ‘there’s this movie called ‘Mega Piranha’, are you in it?’ I go ‘No, no, no. This is my day of television? We can’t watching this’. Yes, we sat down and watched ‘Mega Piranha’ and had a great laugh. Oh my god, I did not want to give the band that ammo at all”.
T: “I was given the chance to work with the ‘Sy-Fy' channel and I took it. So, if my fans let me do cheesy stuff, and goofy stuff, and reality TV, it’s whatever interests me and what I think I can grow (from)… and I do grow, the (shows were) stupid, but you learn your strengths, and you learn to work with a team and you learn to work out of your environment and it’s a whole different thing than music, but you gotta learn yourself a little bit... I don’t know if there is more reality TV in my future, because I’m so busy with touring and I can’t take my eye off the ball, but I would like to do more acting, and I would love to do maybe more drama. There’s a lot inside of me. It comes through my music, and I think as an actress as well I could give it a go and try to do something”.
T: I’m so lucky because my fans really look at me and go ‘what do you do next?’ and they’re also fun and they get it, as long as it’s real. I’m very honest and if they see that I’m happy, they’re very supportive.
When does Tiffany finally say, I’ve said everything I want to and I can ride off into the sunset?
T: Well really, never. I’ve relaxed already. I want to keep at this pace for the next 2-3 years, at least. I’m back you know, but there’s (also) balance and finding a balance. I don’t know if there will be tours every year, but I would like to stay consistent with making albums and making good music. I’m in this for the long haul.
For fans who would like to keep up with Tiffany, they are encouraged to check out her podcast “Pieces of Me” available wherever podcasts are found.Tiffany plans to release her, currently unnamed, album in 2020 and continue to tour. If nothing else, she wants fans to continue to see her live where she loves to interact with and perform for her fans.
INTERVIEWED&WRITTEN BY TAMAJ AMIR NICHOLSON
PHOTOGRAPHY: CARISSA LANCASTER
STYLING: JONZU
HAIR: WADE LEE
MAKE UP: KUMA
MUSICIAN:TIFFANY DARWISH
AGENCY: BIG MACHINE RECORDS
