#GIRLBOSS SPOTLIGHT: TAI AUGUST

Written by: Kabrea Thomas

Meet Tai August, she’s an up and coming singer who isn’t afraid of wearing her heart on her sleeve. After years of contemplating her talent she decides that her time is now! Read all about how this #girlboss is allowing herself to shine!

Kabrea Thomas: When did you discover your voice?

Tai August: I started singing pretty young. At first it was just for fun around the house lol, but I don’t think I realized I was actually good at it until high school. I went to a performing arts high school so I started doing talent shows and musicals, and having an environment where I could utilize my voice in different ways which opened my eyes to what I could do with it.

KT: What was your writing process like for “I Don't Do Lonely”?

TA: Writing “I Don’t Do Lonely” was actually really hard lol. I was participating in an artist development bootcamp with “The Voice Box”. There was a set date for our recording sessions so there was a deadline for me to meet. This was also my first complete song that I’d written, so needless to say I was feeling the pressure. The first thing I came up with was the name. I had been meditating on the song and that was the title that came to me. Shortly after that I found the hook. The verses were the hardest part, my coach Ekela actually wrote the first verse. For the song overall though I had to put myself back into a head space that I never wanted to reenter. The period of my life that the song is about was very dark for me. It was back before I started my self love journey. At that time I felt like I wasn’t of value and I let people use me because I was trying to use them to fill the void inside of me. But writing from that place taught me that it’s okay to revisit those feelings, and draw what I need to from them because I don’t have to stay there.

KT: Are there any artist(s) you would compare your music/style to?

TA: The only person that comes to mind is Jhené Aiko, and that’s because most of my best writing is shady as fuck and so is hers! Lol , all jokes aside I think she and I are similar because we draw from our pain and use it to create amazing works of art.

KT: Recently you completed a vocal boot camp retreat, tell us all about your experience. The good, bad and ugly.

TA: Boot camp was the hardest, most amazing thing I’ve ever done. It’s 4 weeks of straight you vs you. You deciding whether you’re going to show up for yourself that day, you deciding to ignore the voice in your head telling you can’t do it and do it anyway, you being surrounded by these beautiful and talented people and embracing all that they are without letting it make you feel less than by comparison. And it’s not easy, none of it is. I walked out of many vocal and dance classes in boot camp feeling so disappointed in myself for not being where I wanted to be, yet just to get out of bed the next morning and go to another class and kill it. It’s a roller coaster of emotions but I imagine that this what a career in entertainment is meant to feel like. There will be failures, there will be mistakes, there will be plenty of reasons to give up but there will also be moments when everything you’ve been working so hard for falls into place and it reminds you that all the blood, sweat, and tears was worth it.

KT: During your time at the Voice Box vocal boot camp retreat you vlogged some of your experiences. Why do you think it was important to share your journey to others?

TA: I think that we (myself included) tend to view the negatives as an ugly thing. Something we need to hide. Particularly on social media, I think that we as a society tend to try to show our best selves. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing except that not everyone right this moment is their “best self.” In fact a lot of us aren’t and we’re just portraying ourselves that way. But we’re human. We’re not perfect. We never will be. And I know from experience that only letting people in on the “good” parts of your life can be very isolating. We all experience the same feelings, and we experience a lot of the same situations but we’re not allowing ourselves to really connect because we don’t want people to see us cry, or fail, or feel bad about ourselves but those are the times when we need others the most. Those are the moments we need to share, because it will show other people that they too can ask for help and let people see when they’re hurting or when they need some guidance.

KT: Self care is a important routine to practice. As an artist why do you think it is an easy routine to undervalue at times?

TA: I don’t think that enough of us are being taught about self care at a young age. That’s something I learned about on my own over time as an adult. But like anything else having a solid foundation is key. So in my opinion I think for a lot of us the idea and practice of self care is still new and it’s easy to fall back into old habits.

KT: Would you recommend any up and coming singers to partake a vocal boot camp? If so, why?

TA: Definitely. My vocal coach Ekela who runs The Voice Box and facilitated the boot camp I was apart of is an artist herself, so she knows all of the skills that budding artists need to succeed. And even more than that her company has created a community of creatives from singers and songwriters, to musicians and engineers and just being surrounded by like-minded individuals changes everything. When I was in boot camp I was around so many different artists, some of whom have been singing and performing for years and some who had literally never performed on stage before and were taking a leap of faith in themselves. It’s so humbling and inspiring to watch all these different artists grow and evolve during boot camp alongside you. There’s so much that we all learned from one another.

KT: What are some tips and tricks you can share with other up and coming singers to keep their voice rejuvenated?

TA: I would highly recommend they come to The Voice Box. The classes are very affordable and they’re fun lol but even at home you could YouTube some vocal exercises and follow along with the video. You could choose a song to learn and record yourself singing it and play it back. It’ll give you a lot of insight into what you might need to work on.

KT: As up and coming singer, is there anything you want to improve on to become the artist you want to be?

TA: I think the biggest thing I want to work on as an artist is being vulnerable. I took a big step in that direction with “I Don’t Do Lonely” but I have a long way to go, and the career I’ve chosen is not one where you can hide. So all those things I mentioned earlier that we sometimes like to hide are things I still struggle with sharing, but I’m doing my best to take it day by day and consciously decide to push myself further outside of my comfort zone. This way I can really connect and let people get to know all of who I am and what I have to offer the world.

KT: What should we be looking forward to from Tai in 2020?

TA: More music! More vlogs, I actually miss doing that. Vlogging during boot camp was a great means for being transparent and letting people get to know me, and as uncomfortable as it was the first few times I actually started to enjoy it. And just more of me in general. My main goal for 2020 is to yes more than I say no and to just put myself out there more. These past few weeks I’ve been home because of the whole corona-virus epidemic, and it’s been a big reminder that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow and so we really have to utilize today and that’s what I want to focus on doing.

If Tai has inspired you as much as she’s inspired us, make sure you follow her on instagram, and listen to her new single ‘I Don’t Do Lonely’.