Words by Anika Trotman
Streamer, singer, and global multi-hyphenate Talia Mar has taken the world by storm with her prowess. A self-grown creative, Talia began her journey in the music industry by producing and releasing her first single in her early teens all by herself. Since then, she has become a creator, known worldwide for her lifestyle, beauty, and gaming content, and candid approach. A lot has happened since she started her career; she is now a mother, had a platinum record with Sigala, and has toured her music with some of the biggest names in pop music. Before the release of her latest EP ‘Not Worth The Wait’, Talia took Karma! Magazine down memory lane.
Talia’s many talents mean that she wasn’t always pursuing music full time. As her artistry evolved from being a young teen producing her own music to an independent, successful artist, alongside her budding career as a creator, she admits that things weren’t as planned out as they may seem. “To be honest it was kind of like, I was “winging” it at every single stage, not gonna lie. Like you said I started in my bedroom producing music, I released my first song when I was, 13 or 14, and then I kind of decided I wanted to post online, because I had a tweet go viral, and I was like ‘This is my in – this is how I can do it! I can utilize this for music,’ and music was always in the forefront of my mind.”
“Honestly, it kind of snowballed a little bit from there and I found an amazing community online. And while some of them may watch me online for socials, some of them only watch me for music as well – it was all somewhat of a happy accident, that kind of worked.”
The payoff has been even greater than Talia could have imagined. While her creative beginnings started in the visual space as a makeup artist, she quickly transitioned into platforming her personality online and putting her true passion out there – her music. Talia is a creative that is deeply invested and involved in every step of the creative process of a song from pre to post production. She takes pride in knowing and executing her vision exactly the way she has planned, and prioritizes working with individuals whose goals align with hers.
In 2022, Talia became a sensation when her hit with Sigala, ‘Stay the Night’ dropped. Is she in pursuit of recreating that success now? She reveals, “I don’t have anything specific in the works, and I definitely have been in sessions and in conversations over the years; but nothing felt right for me. While I love that song, and I really love Sigala, dance wasn’t something I necessarily wanted to break into. But I just loved the song and I think when you really like the producer and the artist you’re working with, it’s just different. If that happened again, and I met a producer and thought ‘This isn’t the genre I normally go for, but I really like the song’, that’s different.”
“I’m not that closed off to it, but I’m never gonna try to replicate it. It was a really quick turn around, out of nowhere, and I think you can’t replicate something like that so i’m not going to go ahead and try.”
This level of craftsmanship and steadfast pursuit of dedicating oneself to their craft and not settling is deeply admirable. When considering that Talia is additionally an independent artist, this sentiment is thereby doubled.
“I think for me the things that are the hardest [about being an independent artist] also become the things that are the best. The freedom is like, ‘Oh my gosh! I get to make every decision, and choose everything!’ But on the other side it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh…. I have to make all the decisions and choose everything. I’m in control of everything.’ The responsibility is so heavy. While it’s exciting, it’s terrifying. If something doesn’t do well, that’s on me- I don’t have anyone I can blame anymore. I do love it, but it’s definitely all consuming.”
Shortly following the interview, Talia performed at one of the largest shows in her musical career; one that rippled through social media and the UK’s soundscape. Although she’s currently taking a hiatus of sorts from music, she has reminded us time and time again exactly of who she is and how she’s been able to so successfully hold her place in pop music.
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