Finding Daylight With Tigerlily

 INTERVIEW 

Exclusive Interview With Tigerlily 

She claims to be half-mermaid and half-DJ, has a passion for Harry Potter, and rumours say she is also the lead singer in a boy band… rainbow locked Sydney vixen has stormed into the public eye in a whirlwind of colour and glitter,  the Australian electronic music scene has fallen in love. Crowned In The Mix’s Australian #1 Female DJ, her prowess claws anyone’s dancing shoes. This young little kitty is one to watch.   

Hello Dara, Welcome to think IN electronic. It is such an honour to be interviewing you thank you so much for taking time out to do this interview with us.

Thank you so much for having me, likewise, it’s a pleasure! 

1. How are you doing and who is your celebrity crush at the moment?

I’m very well thank you. At the moment I’m crushing on Emma Watson (from Harry Potter). She just presented this amazing speech on feminism to the UN and wowed me, not only is she beautiful and can act, but she is also incredibly intelligent.

2. Can you tell us who you are, what you do, where you come from and if you weren’t in music what would you be doing?

My name is Dara Hayes but most people know me as DJ Tigerlily. I’m a 22-year-old DJ/Producer from Sydney, Australia. To be honest I’ve been playing music my whole life whether it be on stage in clubs, in choirs, or in various bands and orchestras. I suppose if I wasn’t doing this then I’d be doing something in a similarly creative field, maybe arts, films, or radio.

3. We are from South Africa and we ask everyone this what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear South Africa?

I spent some time in South Africa two years ago and loved it! Two things come to mind, the amazing safari adventures that my family and I went on, and Die Antwoord of course (I love them!)

4. You claim to be half mermaid half DJ and rumours say you the lead singer in a boy band. Tell us more about this..

I love everything colourful and crazy, and the bigger your imagination the better. I like to have lots of fun with my hair and my appearance and I think that reflects the mermaid/unicorn side of things. In regards to the boy band, I’m secretly the backup singer for the BackStreet Boys.

5. You go by the name Tigerlily as far as we know tigerlilies are bright bold and beautiful. What’s the story behind your name?

I used to make up crazy stories to tell at different interviews, but now I just kinda stick to the truth. When I was younger I always wanted to be a pop star, and my pop-star name was always going to be ‘Tigerlily’, so I suppose it was just a natural thing that I didn’t have to spend too much time thinking about!

6. It’s no secret that DJ’n was your hobby a few years ago and now it’s turned into your job. Where does your love for electronic music stem from, how much do you actually love it?

I’ve always loved music and started learning piano and music theory from the age of four. From then on, I learnt to sing and play the piano and trombone, and was in heaps of band etc. My family is also super musical which helped me really enjoy my music. When I left school I started to listen to dance music as I began to go to all the clubs, and my eyes (and ears) were opened up to a whole new world and I fell in love! I suppose the rest is history!

7. Music has been in your blood pretty much since you were a child. You are classically trained in music, you can play the piano, guitar and trombone how has this helped your career?

Learning music from a classical point of view helps so much in regards to DJing and Producing. I learn music aurally (by ear) so when I’m writing or playing it’s just natural when something doesn’t sound right rhythmically or harmonically. A lot of people have to train their ears for years, but because I learnt music at such a young age it’s in my blood and is very much second nature.

8. Where do you get the sexy voice? Can you recall the first time you heard yourself singing? What did you think?

Hahaha! I don’t think my voice is sexy but thank you! Yeah, I remember when I was learning music we always had to do sightseeing, so to practice I would record myself and listen back!

9. Your eyes were opened to the DJ’n world after you were placed second in DJ Warehouse’s Your Shot competition essential this is when your career really took off, how hard did you have to work to get to where you are?

It’s been a crazy, busy, exciting and amazing 3 years since I participated in Your Shot. Many people think that being a DJ is just fun, partying and playing in clubs but it actually entails a lot of hard work. For the past 3 years I’ve worked my butt off in regards to my music (while also studying full time at uni), but I’m super proud of what I’ve achieved so far and it’s been totally worth it. Lots more work to do thought…as they say, ‘no rest for the wicked’.

10. Your latest track is with The Only titled Daylight it’s so catchy and the piano melody is sweet how involved were you in the producing process?

I was really involved with the production process and me and the boys work well as a team together. Lots of hours were spent in their Sydney based studio, singing, writing melodies and chord progressions, and drinking LOTS of coffee of course! Overall we had a lot of fun together and wrote heaps of different tunes, and ended up deciding that ‘Daylight’ was the one.

11. What was it like working with The Only and what inspired the track!

Shawn and Jeff from The Only are great to work with and we get along really well on a friendship and work level. Daylight was inspired through some old Arabic style pieces of music and specific sounding plugins that we had been trying out. We wanted to create something that had a little bit of inspiration from a foreign culture.

12. Catching the ear of one of the most influential DJs in the world Tiesto has to have been a highlight of your career thus far can you share with us some of the standout moments from your tour with him and Danny Avila?

The whole tour last year in October was amazing. We travelled to Korea, The Philippines, Jakarta and Malaysia to perform, and all the shows were incredible. The team we were travelling with was a lot of fun which made the whole experience really great! Once in a lifetime opportunity.

13. Being half British would you ever consider moving to the UK, would you?

I would never move over there but I am deffo going to try and spend some time over there playing shows.

14. Australia is spilling with incredible talent one of our favourites would have to be tyDi. Can we expect a collab between you to anytime soon? Who would you like to work within the future?

I haven’t met tyDi before but his work is amazing and I love what he is doing at the moment! There are so many artists that I would love to work with from both Australia and from overseas. A stand out would probably be MaRLo.

15. What’s the general reaction you get when you tell people you are a DJ?  Does it annoy you when people refer to you as being a “Female DJ”?

People always get pretty shocked and excited when I tell them which is cool! They always have a lot of questions to ask. It is annoying when I get the whole ‘female DJ’ tag but I don’t let it worry me too much anymore!

16. Your personal style is very eccentric, funky and cool how did you develop your sense of style? Are you a girly girl and what’s your current fashion obsession?

I’m definitely not a girly girl. I can’t remember the last time I wore a dress or skirt. I love tomboy and boy street style fashion. Black and white, long tees, and sneakers!

17. Do you have any last messages for your fans and what can we look forward to in the upcoming months?

I’d LOVE to say thank you for all the support that everyone has been giving me, it’s so amazing to be able to do what you love, but then on top of that to have a whole network of amazing followers who are loving what you do! My kittens are the best :)

I’m heading to Asia on Friday to play Jakarta, Bali, Malaysia and Taiwan then coming home and going on the National Stereosonic Tour which will be a lot of fun!

Thank you Dara for doing this interview with us.

Thank you so much for having me! :) <3

www.facebook.com/tigerlilymusic 

https://soundcloud.com/dj_tigerlily 

https://twitter.com/dj_tigerlily 

http://www.djtigerlily.com.au