TeZATalks, Seattle’s shining star of the Alternative scene, released Black Girl American Horror Story in October. The question now is: What’s next for her? Between back-to-back performances, album cycles, and transitional stages of life, I got to speak with TeZA. Here’s what she had to say about her perspective as an artist from the place where she wrote her album.
“The Movement”
TeZA is more than an artist; she dedicates her fandom to part of what she calls “the movement.” Each performance is an opportunity to create a space dedicated to the visibility of marginalized people. Expanding her platform through Seattle’s punk scene, music to TeZA is political and powerful.
TeZA takes a humble approach to acknowledging the representation she puts forth as an artist: “I think I’m a small player in all of it. I am just someone who has been given the opportunity to pay it forward or continue a long fight and a long — road that was paved long before I got here.” TeZA emphasizes that her platform is part of a larger effort for visibility. “It’s not my voice, it’s about the voices that are not able to get heard.”
“This is the story / Telling their story” – COPS, Track 18
“The Horror”
“It’s not easy being back here,” said TeZA from the couch of her Washington home. “There’s so much that has been difficult to confront.” The impact of creating her album is lasting, as the growth she continues to experience comes full circle: “I ran away and wrote the album for four and a half years to deal with the chapter of my adolescence. That was Black Girl American Horror Story; I’m a Black woman now.”
“One of the hardest things in the world was actually saying it was done,” said TeZA. “Realizing ‘wow, this has been my life source for the past four and a half years’ — and the fear of ‘who am I now when we finish it?’” TeZA said that after a few years and 17 songs, something still felt missing. After collaborating with guitarist Jack Gravails, “PERLA NERA” was born.
“PERLA” was inspired by the song “Black Pearl” by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates. Passed down through women in her family, the last song to make the album is an emblem of Black beauty and femininity. Alongside the significance of TeZA’s family, “PERLA” draws on TeZA’s experience as an operatic singer in high school. Rounding out the varying emotions on the album, listeners come full circle with TeZA in a ballad honoring her upbringing.
“Black pearl, pretty little girl / You’ve been in the background much too long” – Black Pearl by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates
“Let light fill the empty spaces / Our bodies meet / If I too could be seen / Perla Nera” – PERLA NERA by TeZATalks
TeZA and I bonded over our shared appreciation for her song “BOTH SIDES.” TeZA describes the song as viewing morality on a spectrum. “It all comes down to this minuscule thing of: ‘Is it bad? Is it good?’ It’s so much more than that.” Duality thrives throughout the tracklist of Horror Story, from the electro-pop “MONSTER STRUT” to the emotional ballad “THE REVENGE.”
“The Revenge”
TeZA recalls a time in 2019 when she was met with acknowledgment of her impact:
“I didn’t know I was doing something until somebody came up to me and said ‘thank you for allowing me to feel like I can do it too’ — I just made it my mission to never change.”
“I don’t make the rules / Break them if I do” – OXYGEN , Track 12
TeZA had a previous life in LA, where she felt misrepresented. “I got put in this box because of the way that I look to be RnB,” said TeZA, “it just was not me.” Her latest album is nothing short of a self-declaration and a reinvention of her sound: “Me taking on the coining of hardcore pop and blending nu-metal, punk, electro-pop, and hip-hop was my focus as far as cultivating that sound.”
Between enthusiastic analysis of her album, TeZA and I fangirled over one of her biggest influences: Hayley Williams. “That is somebody who really gave me wings —to feel like I had a place vocally,” said TeZA. The genre versatility demonstrated by Williams throughout her career is evident in TeZA’s album. One song in particular that TeZA said holds inspiration from Williams is “EMOTIONAL O.D.”
The scene is set with a growling guitar on “O.D” and many other songs on the record. Suddenly, as if peaking through the fog, TeZA appears. She begins songs like the slow-motion song, “RIGHT BRAIN” and the strutting anthem, “GOODGRRL” with a cocky and haunting whisper. Or, she sneaks up on you with a whining yell on “DONT CALL MY PHONE” and “BREAKSHIT.” “I’m so sick of the racists!” and “Lord knows that I fucking hate you!” laments TeZA on tracks “SILYMI” and “THE REVENGE.”
TeZATalks Takes the Stage
On stage, TeZA opens space in the mosh pit for a vogue session. She calls for women in the audience to come front and center. She creates space in both her lyrics and her audience for marginalized people. TeZA on stage is less of a performance and more of a cult-like ritual in dance, expression, and empowerment.
TeZA said she doesn’t “shy away from the dominating, raw, unyielding, relentless, authentic truth” of her character. When she recalls the many faces in the crowd, she thinks of the women there who deserve a safe space. “The power in just feeling good about yourself is a constant struggle — I want to create a space and cultivate a truth in the fact that we all deserve a chance to experience our power.”
What’s Next for TeZA?
TeZA has come a long way in her journey as an artist. Through re-invention of herself and her vision, her music has only become more honest and soul-crushingly moving. Whether you are a fan of 90’s Nu-Metal, Drill, and Hip-Hop beats or just generally into hearing someone unapologetically speak, TeZA is for you. Want your life changed in a tear-jerking and eye-opening ballad? Start with “COPS.” Want to turn your bedroom into a makeshift mosh pit? Try “SILYMI.” Just want to dance? “MONSTER STRUT.”
TeZA approaches genre “very intentionally” in her creative process. “I have always been an alternative girlie” said TeZA. “I have always been drawn to — the orchestral side of things” as heard by the album’s end. However, Horror Story was only the first of many tricks up her sleeve. “The record that is going to come out later is going to be a new form, a new animal, and an evolved version” of that sound. Along with new music, TeZA has teased “TeZA’s Closet” which allows fans to explore her fashion.
Despite my efforts, my words will fail to fully encapsulate the compelling and electrifying energy of TeZATalks. Still not convinced to add her to your playlists or see her at a show in Seattle? Watch her cover of “Break Stuff” here!
