I have had ‘You Like To Play With Fire’ on repeat ever since I heard it – it is so relatable! What was the songwriting process like for this song?
Tea: Thank you so much that means a lot, I am so touched that the song has gotten such a positive response! I wrote this song when I was 19 at Stargate’s music school in Norway called LIMPI. The process of this song was very hectic. The song started out completely different and then I wanted to make it more me. We made it more of a pop punk vibe reminiscent of a 2000’s teen movie intro. I had been up all night when we started laying down lyrics so I was just really just saying whatever came to mind. I really wanted to write a song about having a person in your life who amplifies the worst parts of yourself and takes everything to the extremes, cause I may be the fire but you sure like to play with it.
The visualizer for this track is so vibrant and fun! How did you decide what you wanted the visualizer to look like?
Tea: I am obsessed with Pinterest so I make a board for each song I write depicting different ideas of things I think that fit the song. I then worked with my amazing videography Jaqueline Day (@jacquelineday) to form a vision and plan for the visualizer. My management Rico and Vanessa at Grassfed Music helped keep everything organized and on track.
If ‘You Like To Play With Fire’ could be included in any movie or TV show, which one do you think it would be and why?
Tea: That’s so hard for me to choose this song was very inspired by 2000’s movies. I would have to say the 2006 movie She’s the Man starring Amanda Bynes during the montage scene where they are transforming her character Viola into her brother Sebastian. I just think this song screams teen movie montage scene it fits so well.
Which city would you love to perform in? Or a specific venue?
Tea: New York City, I lived there for a few months and I loved the city so much. I can imagine preforming at the Bowery Ballroom, Market Hotel, or the Mercury Lounge.
Who would you say have been some of your biggest influences?
Tea: Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, and Lana Del Rey fundamentally though Nat “King” Cole, Elvis Priestly, and Frank Sinatra when I was in about 5th grade I loved listening to vinyls and I still collect them today.
What is some of the best advice you have received?
Tea: The best advice I’ve ever received is to take things one sentence at a time. I struggled a lot with dyslexia and visual processing disorder as a kid so school was hard for me. When it came to writing essays I would always get so overwhelmed until someone told me to just take it one sentence at a time. I pretty much apply that to everything in my life.
Interviewed By Kendall Koval
FOLLOW TEA: