An Interview With The LA-Based Musician, TRISHES On Her Brand New EP ‘Ego’ and More!

Meet the LA-based artist TRISHES! She is an ethereal pop singer/songwriter/musician and fine artist/painter.
http://www.trishes.com

TRISHES has a very unique sensibility and extremely intellectual. Atypical for an artist and definitely a thought leader.

Her EP ‘Ego’ was released on March 1st.  Check it out here-
https://soundcloud.com/trishesmusic/sets/ego/s-pJFch

Here are two previously released music videos-

“Money” – https://youtu.be/Q7XUk3P2RDs
“Language” – https://youtu.be/uXSfSQdSjWw

Music Connection Podcast-
https://player.fm/series/series-1931592/trish-hosein-aka-trishes-singer-songwriterdeep-thinking-human

Learn more about TRISHES in the following All Access interview:

Now that 2019 has started, what musical goals do you have for yourself and your music this new year? Did you make any new year’s resolutions?

I didn’t really make any goals regarding music in terms of career goals because for me that can be stifling to the art. This year I would like to explore different tonalities, scales and dissonant harmonic arrangements.

My new year’s resolution was taken out of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

To live deliberately, cut a broad swath, shave close and suck the marrow out of life.

Growing up, how important has music been in your life? Can you recall the moment when you decided that you wanted to be a musician? Was it an easy or difficult choice to make?

I’ve been singing and putting on little shows for my family since I was a very young child. As a South Asian/Trinidadian American I was sorely underrepresented in the media (and popular music) so I didn’t understand that being a musician, as a career, was an option for me. In that way I suppose it was a difficult because how can you make a decision when you don’t know there is one to be made? Once I began performing in public around age 12 it just became my life. There wasn’t a crossroads or anything dramatic about it, but that first performance took courage. Oddly enough the person that encouraged me to do it was kind of an acquaintance of my mom who heard me practicing piano in our living room. I don’t know what her name was. A testament to what a big impact we can make in seemingly inconsequential moments.

Was there ever a time when you thought about doing something else? If you weren’t a musician today, what could you see yourself doing?

I love anthropology, philosophy psychology and I love making little documentaries on my phone. A friend of mine makes documentaries and I really admire his life. I think that’s what I would do.

What has been the biggest surprise so far about making music your career? What has been an unexpected or welcome challenge to it all?

The biggest surprise is hearing how many amazing artists and songs go unheard and never really break through the noise. Some of my friends are the most incredible artists I know and i’m baffled that they haven’t seen mainstream success yet.

Independent touring has been a welcomed challenge because it’s allowed me to see so much human kindness. So many people help me on the way. Crashing on couches, reconnecting with old friends, exploring new towns, riding Greyhound buses, meeting new friends. A lot of experiences I don’t think I would get to have on bigger tours.

Let’s talk about your newest music. What is the inspiration for your latest songs? What has been inspiring you and your music lately?

“Ego” is what Freud called the conscious self that is constantly pulled between the primal self or “The Id” and the higher self or the “Superego.” I based “Ego” on structures that we’ve developed to separate ourselves from the primal self. The topics I narrowed it down to were: money, creativity, language, government and self awareness. Each of the songs from the EP started with the intention to tackle one of those topics. I’m inspired a lot by psychology, anthropology, theology, myth and philosophy.

Lately I’ve been really inspired by Carnatic music and Bulgarian choral arrangements and I think “Superego” will have a lot of elements of that.

What is it like putting your music videos together? How creatively involved are you with the overall process?

I love making music videos. I’ve been lucky that directors have sort of magically appeared in my life at the right times for the right projects. Usually I come up with a concept (or with the “Money” video the producer First Born actually suggested the idea to me) and then I’m involved in pretty much every creative aspect from wardrobe to set design after that.

On the Hydra video I put together the makeup and wardrobe boards, hired hair, makeup, dancers and choreographer and location scouted with director Tamara Arroba. My creative assistant Daumante Kaveckaite and I designed the set, building the shrine as well as the white paneling you see in some of the dance sequences.

In “Money” director Danny Drysdale and I got all of the set pieces from thrift stores and Daumante and I made the money sushi and oragami. Neither of us knew how to even make rice before that video!

What was it like putting together your EP, “Ego”? Did anything surprise you about the making of this collection?

I didn’t begin “Ego” as a multimedia album, but there was so much to unpack in these five ideas that I just kept creating more and more, so that’s how the art pieces, spoken word and music videos came about. I was surprised that I could draw decently. I was surprised at how much I loved performing spoken word. I was surprised at how much I loved creating mini documentaries and how much I enjoyed editing film. I’m thankful to this project for showing me all of these creative outlets I never knew I loved.

What has it been like keeping up with your social media accounts and all of the different platforms? Is it hard to stay up to date on it all? What would you say is your favorite way to connect with your fans now?

Yeah social media is such a tough thing on the psyche. I love creating a world for this project to live in so in that way making content that fits into that world aesthetically is artistically fulfilling. But it’s stressful thinking about numbers and interaction and all that bullshit. And yeah keeping up and making enough content to be posting constantly. It’s a lot. I just want to create I don’t want to think about that stuff.

Really I connect most with my fans through my live show.

Who are some of your favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music? Who would you absolutely still love to work with in the future?

My biggest inspirations have probably been Regina Spektor, Bjork and St. Vincent. I would love to work with FINNEAS in the future I really love his production work for Billie.

Where can fans see you perform next? Do you have any kind of a 2019 tour scheduled yet?

I have a series of museum style pop ups called “The Ego Experience” that I’ll be doing in select cities over the summer in leu of a tour.

If you had an unlimited budget and your schedule was free, what would your dream music video look like?

It would be the story of Exodus and I would be the golden calf.

If you were going to be stranded on a deserted island, what musical item would you take with you and why? 

Man I’m bad at these questions because I think about it too logistically. I would take a piano but it would go out of tune so quickly with the sea air and anticipated humidity of said island.

If your music was going to be featured on any TV show that is currently on right now, which would you love it to be on? Or if you prefer, what is a movie that you love that you wish your music was featured in?

Probably Shameless or Handmaids Tale.

At the end of the day, what do you hope people take away from your music?

My goal is to help people address internal struggle because I think internal struggle is the reason for all external conflict. Society has associated so much shame with internal struggle so we learn to suppress those emotions instead of addressing them, and then they appear out of our subconscious in violent and destructive ways. I think it’s honestly the core of all of our problems. I hope my music and message can help people sort through the tough, dark, hidden things inside themselves.