Q+A WITH CARLIANE TAMARA
If you like Remi Wolfe, Mazie, or are a frequent listener of Spotify’s Lorem playlist, then you’ll love Carliane Tamara’s debut single “FRIENDS.” The 19-year-old singer/songwriter is from Ponce, Puerto Rico and is currently based in New York City studying at the NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. We spoke with her about her experience creating music, her background, and how she envisions her musical future. Keep reading to get to know Carliane!
How are you?
I just moved to New York, and it's been insane; the city is so different now. I'm not sure how I'm doing, I'm not gonna lie. I'm doing school, trying to keep up with music, and that's pretty much it.
How did “FRIENDS” (both the song itself and the music video) come about?
I actually wrote it for my songwriting class. We had to topline a beat, so my friend Nick sent me the beat, and I kind of just wrote [the song] in my room by myself. And I was thinking about pre-COVID life and going out, being able to get drunk, drive around with my friends, and just be in big crowds. That kind of inspired it, and also my childhood; playing just dance and eating ice cream, which I say in the song. When I was writing, I had the video in my head already, basically. I rented my friend's camera, and I got my five friends together, and I was like, okay we're making a video. I kind of just pulled it out of my ass, I'm not gonna lie. I had never done that before. We just got together, and I was running back and forwards from behind the camera to being in the front of the camera. It was messy but it worked out.
What inspired you to start playing music and writing songs?
I grew up in the church, basically. My church obviously was super musical, so I started performing and singing at church, and that's what interested me in performing and doing music. And then in eighth grade, I saw this TED talk of this Puerto Rican artist, and he was like – it doesn't make sense in English, but – he basically said “if it fits in your brain it fits in your world.” And I was like, okay, I can do music if I want to do music. I can do it. Since then, I've been wanting to make music for a living.
What’s your songwriting/producing process?
Right now, I've been toplining a lot, so I kind of just record a random melody and then I write the lyrics to it. That’s kind of how I've been doing it lately.
What are your favorite songs and artists?
Right now, I've been into Frank Ocean a lot because I just heard the dissect podcast season on him [where] they basically break down albums. I’ve [also] been into Sam Truth a lot; he’s not that big. Overall, I think Rihanna is my biggest inspiration. She's right there behind me.
How has the environment you grew up in and live in influenced your music?
I grew up on reggaeton and salsa music. … I think it reflects vocally mostly, because I write music in English and I feel like writing in Spanish and English are two completely different things. I think it reflects on like the way I sing and the way I write melodies.
What are you working on now music-wise?
I'm working on an EP; I want to release it some time during the summer, maybe September — that's what I'm doing right now. I'm really trying to build my sound and find what I like and what I don't like. So yeah, that's what's really in the works.
Who are some of your biggest art and music inspirations?
I really like Basquiat. Obviously Rihanna, like, aside from her music, everything she's done, she's branched out to all these different industries, [which] is something that I'm interested in doing. I think, off the top of my head, Don Omar, [who’s] a reggaeton singer from Puerto Rico; I grew up on him. I just admire him a lot and everything he's done.
What are your plans/aspirations for the future?
I want to really build an audience; that's my main goal right now. To really build an audience, not just get streams through playlisting and stuff, if that makes sense. I want to create a solid group of people that will continue to grow with me as I grow.
Connect with Carliane on instagram @carlianetamara
