Feature Friday - Tachie Menson
Name
Tachie Menson
Pronouns
She/Her
Bio
Nia Blankson, now under the new moniker Tachie Menson, is a multi-instrumentalist and inter-disciplinary creative hailing from London, England and currently splitting her time between Queens, New York and Montreal, Canada. Not only is Tachie Menson a classical pianist by trade, she also finds the time to be the mind responsible for Scatterbrain, an ever-expanding print magazine highlighting up-and-coming creatives in Montréal and NYC. As if running a 20+ member magazine isn’t hard enough, Tachie Menson is finally letting the world see into her creative mind with her debut single “Another Day.”
Instagram
@niafromouterspace
Where in Montreal are you located?
Milton Parc.
What do you love about your neighborhood?
The thing I love about it most right now is how close I am to school (lol). I can wake up at 8am, watch YouTube and dilly-dally for a few hours, check the time and start to panic, rush to get ready, sprint about 200 metres to the Schulich School of Music and just about make it on time. Its brilliant.
What’s your favourite art space in Montreal and why?
My favourite art space was this rehearsal space that my band use to use on Ave d'Orleans and Rue de Rouen. This was where my bandmate, Jack Kelley, first invited me to join his jam sessions some time in 2023, which was terrifying for me at the time as I had never really jammed with people like that before. Typical "classical musician has to play in a non-classical context for the first time" sort of thing. I remember Jack being extremely encouraging and helped me to just enjoy the jam and not panic so much about having to improvise. Later down the line, when my now-bandmate, Isaac, asked me if I was interested in starting a band with him, I jumped at the offer. The band consisted of Isaac, Jack, Parker and I, and we started rehearsing at the same jam space. We spent hours upon hours rehearsing there in preparation for our first show and I have a lot of fun memories of us trekking the 13 minute icy winter hike from the train station to the rehearsal space. And of course, memories from actually practicing as well (little bit of practicing, little bit of messing around). What made it more special was the fact that we shared this particular rehearsal room in the building with Jack's favourite band, Gulfer. This was where we first showed each other our ideas for our original music, notably Jack sharing his song, "Third Time," which we just released as a band, and me showing them "Another Day." I remember Jack explaining the parts to his song, and when we played it together for the first time, instantly falling in love with it! But then immediately being nervous about showing them my song, as I was nervous that it wouldn't be something impressive. They ended up loving it, and it was a very special moment showing them my ideas for the song and then playing it all together for the first time. There were a lot of milestones that happened at this rehearsal space, both as a band and for myself personally – like I sang properly for the first time there (I was extremely unconfident and self conscious about my voice). Unfortunately, Gulfer broke up and moved their equipment from the jam space, and wouldn't be using it anymore, so we wouldn't be able to use the rehearsal space anymore. However, that space is my favourite art space in Montreal and it holds a lot of memories and was a place where I had a lot of musical milestones!
Describe your art in your own words.
I use my art to try and make sense of different situations and mindsets I find myself in.
What have you been working on recently?
The biggest thing aside from “Another Day”, that just came out, is the music video accompanying it, which comes out on February 14th. This has been in the works since June, and was initially spearheaded by myself, and two friends who are well versed in video production, Sofía Andrade as a producer and assistant director, and Sam Li as a DP. We made an attempt was made to try and shoot it after a month of planning, but it ended up falling through, and we only got one shot that we called our "proof of concept." We went back to the drawing board, got a director on the project, Rachel Moghrabi, called in every favour to source two cars worth of equipment, 20 people as a part of the cast/extras and filmed during October and November of 2024. This has been the biggest thing recently, but almost all of the work post-November, has been done by the director, Rachel, who has been editing and colour grading the video. Other than this, I've been working on a few more singles, and am planning on recording one in the next month, to release within the next few months. The idea is to put out a few singles, and ultimately work towards my first solo EP! I'm also working on music with the rest of my band that we'll release as Pyjama Day, so I have two sets of music projects to work on. As a band, we put out our first single "Third Time," which I mastered.
What sparked your passion for music?
Music has been a part of my life since day one. My parents put me in classical piano lessons when I was 4 years old. Like most kids who are put into music lessons, I hated it, or at least I thought I did. My older brother started at the same time as me, and when looking back, he's confident that I mostly "hated piano" because he hated it, and this is probably mostly true, because if he did/thought/liked something, I would of course copy him. In retrospect, I remember outwardly disliking it, but the only disdain I had was for practicing, because piano benches lack a back-rest, and I claimed it would hurt my back. I do remember secretly liking the pieces I would learn, but I was far too embarrassed to admit it and give my parents that win. That said, I am eternally grateful to my parents for starting me in piano lessons so young, specifically to my mum, who would sit on a chair next to me while I practiced to keep me on task. It turns out I didn't end up hating piano, since I'm studying classical piano at McGill.
My autonomous passion for music started freshman year of high school in orchestra. I picked up violin in 7th grade for middle school orchestra on my own volition, but I realized I had a passion for music in high school. My first year of high school I stopped taking piano lessons, and the only music I was doing was orchestra in high school, and I almost immediately regretted it. Being surrounded by other kids my age, and older, who also played different instruments and were enthusiastic about it, made me realize how much I loved it as well. I also started watching YouTube videos where kids in university studying music would analyze music I would listen to from a theoretical lens, and I remember being envious that I was unable to describe music with as much articulation as them, as I was lacking knowledge in music theory. And of course, when the things you learn are related to things you personally enjoy – like applying music theory to pop music – it appeals to you more. I would, however, grow to love classical music during my freshman year, and wanted to be able to apply music theory to that, and not just pop music. I asked my mum if I could re-register for piano lessons, and start taking music theory lessons, and had soon decided I wanted to pursue music in university. I really tried songwriting for the first time around my third year at McGill, but I wouldn't end up writing a song I was proud of until my fourth year, when I first wrote “Another Day” in fall of 2023. That was what really sparked my songwriting journey, and was the point where I started the process of finding and developing my songwriting voice.
Describe your sound.
In terms of describing my sound literally, and trying to categorize it in a genre, I think I lie somewhere in the realm of indie/alternative R&B, but with influences from other genres as well. Anyone who engages with music (so everyone) knows how tricky it is to try and prescribe genre to a song or artist, and it can be even more difficult when it's your own music. But I think indie/alternative R&B makes sense for what my sound is, at least for now. I have other songs in the vault that I'm planning on releasing soon that take this "genre" in different directions than “Another Day”, tapping into other adjacent genres.
A few words that come to mind (that I hope apply to my art) are dynamic, colourful, and rich. Dynamic is the word that resonates most. I want to have my music sound like it's always going somewhere, never staying stagnant or in the same spot for too long. Almost like the sound is taking you on a journey, meandering around, sometimes returning to the same spot, but never staying in one place (if that at all makes sense). I also would like to think I have a rich and colourful sound. I don't have synesthesia, but I do strongly associate different colours with whatever it is that I'm listening to, and the colours I associate with a particular song are unchanging. When I hear my own music, I see different colours all layered together, and I feel this is mostly achieved with the chords and the progressions. The songs that inspire me the most are ones that I find to have a rich texture and colourful chords, and I try to emulate that with my music. That's the goal, at least!
What does your creative process look like?
As much as I would like to give myself flowers for having an inspiring creative process, the reality is that I have what is perhaps one of the least efficient and most sporadic creative processes of anyone I know. But then again, everyone might say that about themselves. I envy artists who can wake up on any given day, engage with their medium and freely play around with ideas stress-free, just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. I do not believe I have this ability! I can usually only start playing around with music if there is already a somewhat developed idea in my head. A lot of the time. ideas come to me when I'm on the subway at home in NYC. I'm not sure why specifically only at home, but I've had quite a few ideas down there. Usually, I'll be listening to a song, and a short motif will pop into my head, so I have to stop the music and play it over and over again in my head so I don't lose it. As soon as it's possible, I open the voice memo app and disjointedly sing the melodic idea into my phone and try to explain the rhythm, or any other elements I was thinking of. The idea typically goes untouched for a few days, but when I have the time and am in the right mood, I'll try elaborate the idea either on the piano or on my guitar. Lyrics are normally an afterthought, and come about once I pretty much have the whole song fleshed out. I'll often get stuck on lyrics, and will end up getting around to writing them weeks, or even months after I figure out the instrumental. I initially will try and sit down and do a writing session, but forcing it doesn't get me anywhere. Ideas for lyrics come randomly – I'll be doing something, going somewhere etc. and will be thinking about a particular situation, and a phrase will come to mind that has a slight ring to it. I immediately go to notes app, write it down, and the rest normally comes naturally from there. My creative process tends to be sporadic sparks of ideas, which has its benefits and downsides.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
My biggest musical influences are (and this is no surprise to my friends) Declan McKenna, BADBADNOTGOOD, Nick Drake, Steve Lacy, and Tyler, the Creator. Declan McKenna is actually the reason I started playing guitar back in high school – the Brazil riff being the first riff I learned. He is one of two artists where I know every single lyric, harmony, and musical intricacy to every song (the other being Nick Drake, but this was much easier to achieve with his tragically small discography). I've been to 3 Declan concerts so far, and at the first one, met him after the show and had him sign my McGill ID. His sound scratches my brain in a particular way that's hard to articulate, but he has a very distinctive and unique sonic fingerprint that I aspire to have with my own music. I also am very inspired by his songwriting abilities, as his lyrics have a particular cadence that stands out from other artists I listen to – it’s layered, playful, whimsical, and can be arbitrary at times, but it also cuts deep once you let the meaning sink in. Every song he releases is so fresh and new, and is genuinely something I can say I've never heard before, and he is my all-round top musical influence. Many of my friends know that I am Tyler, the Creator's biggest fan. It takes everything to not just turn into a full-on Tyler impersonator. My brother, who is 4 years older than me, grew up on Odd Future and Tyler, so by osmosis, I was destined to be a Tyler fan. Personally, Tyler uses synthesizers better than any other artist I know. His instrumentals are so colourful and rich, and he is also another artist who has such a unique fingerprint on his songs. BADBADNOTGOOD, Nick Drake, and Steve Lacy are also massive influences in my music, and I definitely turn to them for inspiration, and draw from different components of their respective sounds.
What do you love about playing live?
One of the best parts about playing live is seeing people move to your music. The first few times I played live in front of larger audiences were truly special feelings, as they were the first times I saw people embracing my music physically – connecting with something that I wrote. It was extremely validating seeing people's live physical reactions to something that I created, seeing them bop their heads, do a little grove, or dance around. To me, this is one of the most rewarding aspects of playing live. Another thing I love about playing live is getting to experiment with new ways of performing. Sometimes you get the urge to try a different vocal line, or do something slightly different with the rhythm (not in a way that messes up the rest of the band, of course). I have an unreleased song called "What's She Got," that I've played live quite a few times, and the first few times I played it, I sang in a lower register, and it didn't feel completely right. During one performance when I was feeling energized by the crowd, and slightly more confident in my voice, I tried singing it an octave higher with a rasp to my voice, and it ended up working. Now I always sing it in that higher register, and am planning on recording it in that register as well – but I likely wouldn't have had that confidence if I wasn't feeling the energy from the crowd that gave me the urge to try something different with the performance.
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