Interview: 'R U READY?' to Be Addicted to Tanner Azzinnaro
Are you ready to be a huge fan of Tanner Azzinnaro? Well, we're loving the level of talent Tanner delivers with his twenty-eighteen release, 'R U READY?'. Tanner Azzinnaro discusses inspiration behind single, new projects, and moving to Music City!
Thank you for chatting with Music Update Central! You just released your single 'R U READY?'. What's the inspiration/message behind the song? So, 'R U Ready?' serves two different purposes in terms of the message. The first being the lyrical content of the song itself. While I didn't write this song for a love interest or to anyone in particular, 'R U Ready?' is more so about me than the love interest. The song tells a lot about how I handle romantic relationships. If I start to develop a relationship with someone, and this relationship seems to be moving further than an initial first date or two, I sort of get this tunnel vision about putting effort into that person. That's not to say that I get clingy or overly invested early on (though, to some, that's how it has come across haha), it's more like, if I decide I'm into you, then I'm into you. I'll put effort into focusing on whatever it is we have because I enjoy your company. I do my best not to mess around with relationships or even flings because that's how feelings get hurt, so I'm usually pretty blunt about my feelings towards people. 'R U Ready?' serves as a warning and a promise to whoever it is I'm catching feelings for. It's essentially saying "if you really want to pursue something with me, I hope you're ready for me to take it seriously and put in the effort for you, cuz when I'm down with someone I show it."
The second purpose the song serves has less to do with lyrical content but more to do with the artwork and title. I did a series on my Instagram toward the end of 2017 where I edited some previously posted photos to make them look like I was slowly turning into a painting, and I called this series #TRANSFORMATION. Soon after, I released the artwork for 'R U Ready' (which was beautifully created by Jonas Lorenzini, a talented artist from Norway whose insta handle is @kaluludraw) which was the completion of my transformation into painting. The artwork features me surrounded by various different items, some are obvious references to music I've previously released, others are unexplained. Through this artwork, I wanted to establish that all of my music, starting from the 'Take Off' EP to everything I will release in the future, is all connected. Everything is purposeful and each song holds a much deeper meaning to a larger story. I want my audience to be aware that there is something big coming, and that I'm literally asking them "are you ready?"
When writing your songs, where do you draw your inspiration from? This is a tough question because I feel like, personally, I'm all over the place with this. Some love songs will be super specific about a real person, others will be made-up scenarios that I think sound good. Other songs I will go into detail about my relationship to the music industry and the work I put in. On occasion I'll write complicated raps for the sole purpose of showing off. I could go on. With that said, however, my goal as an artist is to always tell my story, and share my feelings and experiences. I think a lot of writers are good at writing songs for other people or specifying lyrics to appeal to certain groups, which I love and respect, but as for myself I've never wanted to do that. I believe that everyone can relate to any situation even if they've never experienced anything like it themselves. I think that's because, as complicated as feelings get, there's only so many emotions. You can boil any reaction to a scenario down to about two or three different emotions. It's not necessarily the stories that people connect to, it's the emotions behind the events, that's why it is important as a songwriter to be a good storyteller and to also tell unique stories. I think the most unique story an artist can tell is their own, because literally no one else can tell the same one. God has me here to draw inspiration from the life he's given me, and to bluntly share my take on the human experience with the world.
You're based out of Nashville, TN. Do you feel like the music scene makes you stand out from the rest? I'm originally from Spokane, Washington, and I moved to Nashville initially to pursue artistry in the Christian market. As I grew as a person I felt that the secular realm of the Pop industry suited me better, and beyond that I honestly lucked out with the timing. I'm blessed to be in Nashville where the Pop scene is slowly but surely growing to rival the Country presence in town, and because of that I've met some of the most talented artists and made some of the best friends ever. I think without that culture, my weird take on Pop music wouldn't be received as well as it has been. As for how I stand out, I think the biggest asset to my sound is the balancing act I have between my mainstream Pop sound and my Hip-Hop heart. As of right now, I haven't released any full fledged Hip-Hop songs (that might change this Summer though *wink*) and my live shows are the only place I rap and showcase that side of my music. The Hip-Hop scene in Nashville is small but really strong and supportive, and there's very few artists in town who do both Pop and Hip-Hop together, so I'm really happy to be in that niche.
What can fans expect for the rest of 2018? Not to sound dramatic, but they can expect to fully experience the real me. Not that I've been holding back at all, but as I mentioned before, all of my music is connected, and tells a deeper underlying story, and this year I'll finally get to give people a look into what the hell that even means. I have a lot of new music on the way this year. A LOT.
MUC Random Question: What's something you're ready for in 2018? Within the first two weeks of this year, I've already learned that everything can change in an instance. I've had a lot of situations change in ways I never would have expected them to, and it's been difficult. Any other year I probably wouldn't be able to handle it, and I'd likely retract and separate myself from my work as an artist (which is kind of what I did last Summer). This year, though, I've realized I've grown a lot. Every unforeseen change I've met with determination, hard work, and execution. Something is different about myself and the life around me this year, and I'm ready to find out what that means.
STREAM 'R U READY?' ON SPOTIFY: