She’s cool, she’s witty, she’s gorgeous, she’s insanely talented, and she has the coolest name on the planet, it’s Blu DeTiger. 💙🐅Hold onto your bass guitars, honeybees, because we got to sit down with the lovely Blu DeTiger and discuss everything from her debut album, All I Want Is Everything, to being the face of Gen Z bassists and transcending the traditional genres of music, Blu dished all the deets.
THP: We’re going to be talking about your new album, but first, for our readers who might not know who you are, what are three adjectives your friends would use to describe you?
Blu: I feel like they would say artistic, funny; I’m pretty funny, and cool, or iconic. Just being humble, I’m super humble over here.
THP: Music aside, do you have any other creative outlets? Whether that’s on tour or when you are at home, kind of outside of music.
Blu: It’s still music, but I DJ a lot. I grew up DJing, and I was DJing before I put my own music out, and I still do it sometimes more just for fun to be able to play music and not have it be taken so seriously, and just play songs I like. Other stuff – I’ve always liked visual art and drawing. I don’t do it as much, but like if I’m really stressed out I’ll do some watercolors or something or draw with crayons. Just the most basic stuff to get my mind moving and off of music for a sec.
THP: Nice! Do you find with DJing, even though it’s still technically music, but it’s not your own personal experiences, that you find it [Djing] kind of helps you when you go back into the studio?
Blu: Yeah, I think everything informs each other, which I’m always really inspired by. I like DJing and DJ sets because you’ve got to know so much music and you get to be a tastemaker and see what makes people move and dance. Sometimes I’ll play a song in a set and be like “oh, that groove is sick,” and I’ll go into the studio and be like “oh, I was playing this song last night, let’s try to make something like this.” Definitely informs each other, for sure.
THP: Some may argue that you are the face of Gen Z female bass players. How do you feel about having that label attached to you?
Blu: I mean, that’s dope! Do people say that? That’s sick! That’s awesome, that’s so cool to carry that, if that’s what people are saying. That’s amazing. I think that’s always been one of my goals, I just really love the instrument and I put a lot of work into it. I’ve been playing since I was 7, practicing every day for hours and really studying the instrument. So, I think it’s cool that any hard work that I’ve put in is inspiring people to pick up the instrument and learn it themselves. I just want to showcase what the instrument can do and educate people on it.
THP: That’s super cool. I don’t see very many female bass players. You see more guitarists when they are in a band, so that’s actually really cool that you play bass because even though they are string instruments, it’s still different with that different feel to it.
‘I’ll Never Tell’ is a song about taking the high road and being the bigger person. What is one secret about the creative process of this album that you’d never tell or that we’d never guess?
Blu: Ha, that’s a good question. Hm, what’s a secret? I mean, I don’t really know what’s a secret because I feel like it’s all normal stuff people do. One thing is that I go really ham on the mixing process, like I get really into it. For me sometimes I’ll do production moves in the mixing process, you know what I’m saying? I’ll be like “oh, let’s change it completely” [the vocal process]. I’ll get kind of creative with the mixer in collaboration. I’m a super perfectionist with everything so there’s some songs I get so in detail to and I’ll redo the bass part like a million times and I’ll rewrite the chorus a million times and there’s some songs on the album where the demo for the day is the one that you are hearing on the record. It’s all over the place. I definitely go really ham on the bass parts. Something that could be a secret is I go back in and do a take of just fills and put the fills in there to add some spice, but I guess that’s not really a secret because I tell people I do that anyways. I’m just a perfectionist crazy person, ha.
THP: That’s so cool because everyone is so different. I mean, it’s similar, but everyone has their own little things that they do, so it’s always fascinating to hear about the behind-the-scenes. There’s some people who are not super involved in the mixing process, and there’s some who are like “no, I want to be in the room with the producer putting it together.”
‘Imposter Syndrome’ hits pretty hard for us. Could you describe your experience with imposter syndrome and how you’ve navigated it in different stages of your career?
Blu: When I was writing the song I was dealing with it a lot because it was right after the pandemic and during the pandemic I had my audience grow pretty drastically. I was coming out of the pandemic with this newfound audience and I was able to play sold out shows and I suddenly had a lot of people listening to my music. I was dealing with a lot of imposter syndrome then just because it happened very fast. I had signed my record deal and suddenly I had all these producers and songwriters accessible and I could work with anyone if I really wanted to set it up. It happened pretty quickly and you get a sense of “oh damn, why is this happening to me and not someone else? Do I deserve this?” You feel almost guilty, but that was happening at the beginning when I wrote the song and it happens again too from time to time. Now, I’ve settled more into my artistry and I’ve been doing it for a few years now and putting out music consistently and growing my fanbase at a more normal trajectory where it’s building slowly and slowly. It’s easier to be grounded now that I’ve settled into it. I’ve figured out where to fit in and how to be an artist. Making a first album was a big part of that process – how to be present and how to be in the moment.
THP: We feel that 100%. The imposter syndrome is always there in the back of your mind, and I think that’s normal for a creative.
Blu: Totally. It’s cool that it’s such a relatable topic, so it’s awesome to hear that you relate to it. Everyone feels that on some level.
THP: Even the people at the top of the top, the people you think would never have imposter syndrome, they have imposter syndrome.
Blu: Yeah! And you’re like “how?” and “why?”
THP: It sucks that you feel that, but it’s normal. And it seems like you’re in a good place, and I love that for you. You don’t want anyone to ever feel like they are an imposter. We’re all creative and we have our things, and we’re all talented, and there’s room for everyone.
With this album, it is bass heavy, but is there any other sounds that you would like to explore in the future?
Blu: I listen to so much music and I grew up playing a lot of different styles of music. I feel like this album is pretty versatile, it has a lot of different genres mixed in and I think that’s what’s cool about it. Only I could make this type of music, it’s an amalgamation of all my musical influences. The rockier sound was really cool to explore on this album. The song ‘Latency’ was really fun because that’s such a part of my core and I haven’t really shared it with my audience so that was super cool to do.
THP: My personal music taste is genre-bending. I like all music pretty much, and I love when people mix ‘em. It makes it so much more fun. Put some country in there! Put some pop! Put some rap and hip-hop!
Blu: Yeah! It’s cool, it’s keeping it fresh, you know?
THP: And it’s nice for the creative person because you are working really hard to create something that is so different. It’s super fun from the fan side too because it’s like “wow, you are the only one who could make this song!”
You are currently on tour! What is your favorite part of touring, whether that’s opening for people or headlining your own?
Blu: I love headlining, I think that’s the best thing ever because people are there for you. You assume they know the music, of course, and they are there to have a good time and to share the love of the music. I love tour! We are almost done with this one. It was a short run, like two weeks. We have a few shows left. It’s been amazing. It’s been my favorite tour, so far, just because the fans are so engaged and singing every word and screaming. You can feel the love. Like I was saying before, you put out an album and all you can really feel from it is online. Reading comments or reading tweets, and that’s awesome, but you can’t get a sense of how the music is impacting people until you are playing at a show in front of them and you see the audience reacting and singing along. I feel like I didn’t put the album out until I started playing. It didn’t feel real to me until I started playing the music live. Tour is so important to me and I love performing, it’s my favorite thing in the world.
THP: You’re getting to put a face to the number behind the screen!
Blu: And a face to the name! I recognize so many people, I love my fans. I talk to them on a regular basis, I know their Twitter handles, I know their Instagram handles, so it’s fun to actually see them in person and be like “thank you so much for supporting and listening.” Getting to know them is awesome.
THP: That makes me so happy. That’s what The Honey Pop is. It’s a fan-run publication, it’s so fun. We are all fans of music, that’s why we are here. That’s why we are doing what we are doing.
Blu: Totally, and that’s what the shows are. People who love music are just coming together to experience the joy of hearing music live. It’s just been awesome.
THP: For young women in the music industry who might be nervous to come in. What advice do you have for them?
Blu: I would say, just do it. It sounds stupid, but you’ve got to take the first step. For me, at least, if I’m ever nervous about anything or if I’m every apprehensive or I don’t want to do something, usually 9 times out of 10, once I get in there all of those nerves go away. So it’s just getting past that first little step and then it feels good. You’ve got to just do it and not let anyone give you any sh*t for it. Everyone you look up to and all of your favorites had to start somewhere too. Even the best songwriters make a million horrible songs until they make a good one. Everyone starts from the same place.
THP: We are coming to the end. Is there anything else you’d like The Honey Pop readers to know about you or know about your music or anything coming up?
Blu: Just listen to the album! Tell me if you like it. Make some TikToks with it and share it.
Man, how cool is Blu! Many thanks again to her for chatting with us, and we wish her the best of luck on the rest of her tour stops. Want to groove out with Blu? Grab your copy of All I Want Is Everything, stream it on Spotify, and spend that ‘Expensive Money,’ baby! Let us know why you love Blu in the comments below or by finding us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook 🐝
Eager for more interview content? We’ve got you.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BLU DETIGER:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Featured Image Source: Capitol Records, Edited by Carol Maximo for THP