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AIKO TOMI On the Making Of ‘Animal's Awake’

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Can you share any interesting or unique stories or perspectives in this album ‘Animal's Awake?’

Of course! I wrote this album during the Covid lockdown — there was a lot of time for self-reflection. I had written Handful (my IBTC anthem) and I was playing it for my producer, Andrew. There was this section: “I can be a handful for you to handle / Anymore’s a waste, though, if you want me say so.” He misheard “anymore’s a waste” and asked me if I said ‘Animal’s Awake’ — when I heard this, I immediately identified that this was *exactly* how I was feeling, and wrote an entire song that evening around the sentiment. ‘Animal’s Awake’ resonated with me so powerfully, it became my album title.

I had this amazing moment performing “Mute Me”. It’s a song is about the people on social media whose posts we can’t stand but secretly keep watching because it’s weirdly fun to see how far the cringe can go — the perspective of the lyrics is flipped, so that I’m singing about other people looking at me in this way. I once performed the song, and two people in the audience were actual inspirations for the lyrics — unknowingly, they loved the song and started singing along “O.M. effing G. what a dumb bitch / Do you think you’re cool? Do you think you’re funny? Do you think you’re hot shit?!” We were looking in each other’s eyes screaming these lyrics at each other, ironically-unironically. It really highlighted the power of art to bring people together and provide strange but powerful catharsis.

How do you feel 'Animal's Awake' represents your artistic identity or musical evolution?

‘Animal’s Awake’ is the most artistically aligned I’ve ever felt sonically, energetically and lyrically. I feel completely present when I perform these tunes and I’m very connected to the feelings in the every song — the album accurately represents different parts of my personality.

My had some trouble describing the album’s sound and my friend called it “hyper-acute, internet-tinged Asian diaspora-pop” — which surprised me in its accuracy. ‘Animal’s Awake’ is written from an underrepresented perspective in pop music, and refreshes the narrative on diasporic experiences — it’s a little spicy, a lot of fun and acknowledges our shared absurdity. Producer Andrew Rasmussen and I worked on it seriously, but the album doesn’t take itself too seriously. We’re really happy it’s finally out and have already started writing the sequel!

What role do you feel emotions play in your music, and how do you channel them into your performances?

My emotional responses to life experiences are the inspiration behind most, if not all my songs. I usually just let go and let myself feel things in the moment when I’m playing live — the lyrics are very real to me, and singing them automatically lets me connect to the inspiration. That being said, my relationship with the feelings and experiences evolve, so there is naturally always some variation in how the emotions are channeled in my performances.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as a musician, and how did you overcome them?

As a classically trained pianist and composer, and I am used to writing from a particular physicality (and from behind a piano). It took a lot of experimenting and a pandemic to arrive at my current sound. I’m writing from a very different emotional space and I’m very excited to see how it evolves.

I often find it challenging to stay on top of all the roles an independent artist needs to play. From working on new material, practising songs to stay performance-ready, keeping inspired, working on content, promoting releases, maintaining social media presence, finding and maintaining relationships with current and potential collaborators, general admin… while being a human being living life in the world.

I think we just have to do the best we can, accept that there’s only so much we are able to do ourselves and build a team. I’m still learning to let go — of my sense of control, expectations, and excess, to name a few things.

Can you share a memorable experience that enriched your music?

I wrote a song on my birthday a few years ago and I showed it to someone who said, “The music is very beautiful, but if you only say things that are comfortable, they’re probably not worth saying.” That hit me like a ton of bricks, and that night, some vulnerable shit spewed out in writing, and immediately turned into fully-formed song. That was the best birthday present ever.

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