tarquin alexandra ~ representation in writing
24 year old Tarquin Alexandra is an "existential" indie pop artist, who draws inspiration from artists like Taylor Swift and Tessa Violet, and also pushes for the representation of chronic illness and mental health in her music.
RACHEL: So to start off, what's your name? Where are you from? And how old are you?
TARQUIN: My name is Tarquin Alexandra, I'm just shy of 24, and I'm from Canada.
R: How are you? Have you been doing anything special recently?
T: I'm pretty good, keeping busy, avoiding covid. I've been working on music a lot lately, I've got a couple projects in the works. Currently, I'm promoting a lead single that will be a part of an EP I'm releasing in the spring.
R: Who's your biggest inspiration? Non-music wise.
T: Oh that's a good question! The people I look up to in real life are all musicians, I think. People I know personally I'd say, definitely my friends inspire me a tremendous amount, my godmother too.
R: What made you want to get into music?
T: I'm not sure if there was a moment I knew or a decision I made, I was just always doing it. I think no matter what I end up doing in life, I'll always make music. I don't feel like I have much to say in the matter, I would deteriorate without it. Certainly, a lot of credit goes to Taylor Swift, though! Haha, she's the reason I started writing.
R: I guess the next question connects: What kind of impact would you like to have on the world?
T: Oh, that's such a good question. I would say that I want what I write about to be accessible regardless of your circumstances. More specifically, I want conversations about chronic illness, mental illness, disability, and neurodivergence to be normalized and I think that creating art about it is a really great way to do so.
R: What inspired your upcoming song "Ends Meet"?
T: I had recently started talking to someone new, and was having a lot of anxiety about that. It's about the venerability of allowing yourself to be close with a new person. The dissonance between the way you imagine it going and how your anxiety allows you to act when you're with them.
R: Is there anything you think people should know about you?
T: Oh, that's a hard question haha, I feel like all there is to know is in the music. Perhaps I'll say that I would like people to know that I am a big fan of soup, and am always open to soup recipe recommendations haha!
R: You already touched on this a bit, but who's your biggest inspiration music-wise? And how have they impacted your music?
T: Other than Taylor Swift who I previously mentioned, Dodie has also been an influence for sure, Tessa Violet, and Belle & Sebastian definitely inspire my writing and production in different ways, and more recently Greta Isaac. I've been told my music sounds theatrical, which isn't necessarily intentional, but I do love musical theatre so its likely a subconscious influence. I think they've all impacted my music in different ways, I feel like when you love someones writing or their art so much it starts to come out in your day to day life and that impacts how you create art in many ways.
R: What are your plans/dreams for the future?
T: Oh gosh, its hard to say with covid making things so unpredictable. I'm chronically ill, so I would say incorporating my experiences with chronic illness into my music is a big goal for me, I don't see a tremendous amount of these experiences represented in the music I listen to, and I want to take part in being the representation for that.
★ @tarquinalexandra on Instagram
★ "Ends Meet" coming on March 10th
★ "Symptom Song" and "Monsters with Mustaches" album out now on all streaming platforms
