Tiana Kocher
Tiana Kocher says that “she’s nervous every time she releases any song”, which only leaves us asking: “How could she be?” The artist’s powerhouse vocals are up there with the great artists of our time, and with a growing resume, her career continues to blossom. The Philippines native attended Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts before moving to Los Angeles. It was here that she quickly became accustomed to a life as a pop artist: Kocher has already worked with “several GRAMMY award-winning” hitmakers including TLC, Faith Evans, and Sage the Gemini. Her music has a heavy r&b influence, with the artist crediting names like Brandy, Aliyah, and Ciara in shaping her sound. This was masterfully encapsulated in her debut, self-titled EP released in November of last year. Her ability to conquer multiple genres also came to light in 2020 through her collaboration with Latin-hitmaker J. Alvarez. We spoke to Tiana about her evolving sound, the new EP, and more!
Let’s get started by telling us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the industry.
I was born in Manila, in the Philippines, and on graduating high school I attended Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts in the United Kingdom. I took a two-year accelerated course in acting, voice, and dance.
In 2018 I transitioned to Los Angeles and began collaborating with several GRAMMY award-winning recording artists including TLC, Faith Evans, Sage the Gemini, and Latin reggaeton J. Álvarez amongst others, as well as multiple award-winning record producers. It has taken a hot minute to create the perfect EP, but here it is!
Were you nervous at all before releasing your first songs? Have you overcome this overtime?
I’m nervous every time I release any song because I always end up doubting myself. This time I just gave myself no excuses and basically forced myself to release my EP. After all, I did put in a lot of time and dedication to the EP so I eventually tricked myself into doing it.
"Just My Type" came out in 2018, marking your first solo release to Spotify. What is the biggest thing in your life that has changed since?
So much has changed since! I’m finally able to release music that is authentically me so that’s always exciting and since then I’ve been able to take my music to different cities all over the world.
Who were some of the artists and you looked up to growing up? Has their sound influenced yours at all? How so?
I grew up listening to Brandy, Tamia, Aaliyah, SWV, TLC, Ashanti, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Monica and I can keep going. I’d say you can definitely hear some influences in terms of vocal delivery and songwriting. It’s definitely up to interpretation though, but I’d say my writing is heavily influenced by the 90’s and early 2000’s R&B.
You've collaborated with some fantastic artists in J. Alvarez and Sage the Gemini. What was it like working with either artist?
It was really great working with veterans in the industry. Sage quickly became my industry big bro and has guided me through a lot in my career! He’s definitely become family and even has my mom’s number haha!
Congrats on your debut EP-- a huge accomplishment, and it's fantastic. How long did this take you to put together and how does it feel that it's finally out?
Thank you, it took me roughly a year and a half! It feels great. Releasing a project that has my name all over it writing-wise is very liberating for me.
Was there any song that was harder to complete than the others?
We spent a total of 26 hours in the studio making sure “Dive” was perfect!
Do you have a favorite from the project? (I know it can be hard to choose haha)
It’s definitely between “Dive” and “Woah” for me! Both songs mean a lot to me and the process of creating it was definitely most memorable!
Would you say your music style has changed since your start? How so?
Absolutely, my early releases is not a great representation of the artist that I truly am. I played no hand in the creation of my first three singles so anything after that is a better representation/testament to my writing and vocal arranging abilities. This EP is 100% authentic and as “Tiana” as it can get.
What are some things you like to do outside of the studio?
I love creating, apart from writing music for myself and other artists I just find myself drawn to other mediums of art. I’m a big photography girl and practiced photography a lot in high school and in my time in the UK. I also love arts and crafts! You often find me doodling or even doing origami. It’s also no secret that I love to dance so whenever I have free time I like to take classes online or in-person when I can. Apart from that, I enjoy meditating and attending church virtually due to the pandemic.
If you could create a "Mount Olympus" of singer/songwriters, who would be on it and why?
I could go on and on but if you had to make me pick my top three songwriters it would be Ne-Yo, Snoh Aalegra, and H.E.R. There’s just something about their pocket that I love so much. Apart from writing absolute bangers everything that they put their hands on is a work of art, I am also a big fan of all their visuals.
Lastly, what's next for Tiana Kocher?
I plan on releasing more new music, I have a couple of singles lined up with features but nothing solidified yet. Definitely, some sort of visual to represent Dive off the EP and hopefully am able to revisit the stage again soon!