“I grew up in Trinidad around my whole extended family, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins,” says singer-songwriter TRISHES. “I was always singing, always performing. There was a period from about seven to 12, after moving to the United States, that I didn’t think I could be a musician, because none of the artists I saw on television looked like me! Around middle school, after I performed at the talent show, I realized it actually was something I could do. People were just so affected by the performance that I started to understand that I could move people, I could make them feel things.”
Her newly-released, first full-length album, The Id, showcases, in her own words, her “experimental minimalist beat-driven pop” style, as well as her powerful voice and thought-driven lyrics. “The Idis about looking at the parts of ourselves that are hard to look at. Our suppressed fear and shame,” she explains. “I believe that suppressed fear and shame, when untended, grows into things like bigotry, racism, anger and greed. I also believe that all external societal conflict begins with internal conflict within individuals.”
She wrote the album over the course of several years, arranging songs for live performance, then assessing the recordings. “For the most part every concept was very intentional,” she says. “For example, I decided I wanted to write about anonymity so I looked more into its effects on people. That led me to a 2010 study that showed wearing sunglasses lessens the likelihood the wearer will give money to unhoused people they passed on the street. That’s why I wrote ‘Big Sunglasses’. But the intention to write about anonymity’s effect on us was always there.”
She doesn’t have a favorite song on The Id, but notes that the process for creating “Big Sunglasses” stands out because of her collaboration with producer Hakan Mavruk. “Most songs I had fully written before I started the recording process with Hak, but I hadn’t gotten “Big Sunglasses” quite right. His compositional contributions were brilliant and I’m so happy with how it came out.”
Here’s a day in the life of TRISHES.
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Date September 24, 2021
Time I woke up 6:00 a.m.
Every day starts with Water.
Breakfast consists of Taj Mahal Black Tea.
To get going I always Do plyometrics or dance workout videos.
I don’t feel dressed without Moisturizer.
Before I start working I must Take my dog Curry for a walk.
Currently working on Rehearsing my show.
But I’d really love to be Drawing something and listening to This American Life.
Book I’m reading The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Togetherby Heather McGhee.
I don’t know how anyone ever Works a 9-5. I don’t think humans are made for a 40-hour workweek and I believe in large part it’s capitalism’s way of wearing us out so we buy more stuff out of convenience and limiting our time so we can’t think about how certain structures aren’t serving us. That being said, I understand I’m immensely privileged to not have to work a 9-5 job. I just don’t think anyone else should have to if they don’t want to, either.
If I had to play one album on repeat, it would be Melodramaby Lorde.
The perfect midday consists of Meditation and a smoothie bowl.
To help get through the day I needTo listen to podcasts or ASMR while I work.
Not a day goes by without speaking to My best friend Jala.
My daydreams consist of Walking around a city I’ve never been to and thinking about how the people here are different but more importantly how they are just like me.
In a perfect day, in a perfect world I stop at a cafe and get an almond milk latte. I walk through Central Park and end up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I order from the Halal truck outside for lunch and I eat it on the steps. I play an intimate show and my best friends are there. We stay and we order half of the menu for the table. We eat, we drink, we laugh.
I’ll always fight forequality and equity.
Currently in love with The way the sun comes through my balcony sliding glass doors in the morning at this time of year.
Hoping to make time to watch You.
By my bedside I always have Trader Joe’s Essential Oil Blends because I’m fancy but I’m not.
To help get through the night I need Curry to be in my room, all of my closet doors closed, and the overhead fan on.
Bedtime 10:00 p.m. when I don’t have a show or am going to a show or an event or whatever.
When I think about tomorrow, it’s always Bright.
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