i'm making you listen to: Tinsley

an interview with an artist making indie pop for romantic overthinkers

Jun 16, 2026

There's something satisfyingly hipster about being the first person to tell your friends about an artist. I'm not ashamed to admit that. I love finding new musicians and shoving them down everyone’s throats. I’ll go down a TikTok rabbit hole and come out with sixteen new obsessions. The platform is overflowing with talent, almost unfairly so.

That’s how I found Tinsley.

One of her videos showed up on my FYP and I added her to my playlists immediately. Pop and twang and melodies so sticky they start following you around. So, I messaged her on Instagram and asked for an interview. Somehow, she said yes.

Brooklyn Lore Time: When I first started this blog, it was called “Byte-Sized Beats”1 and was supposed to be strictly about music and tech. Eventually even that felt too niche for me, so I renamed it something vague and meaningless, but I never stopped wanting to make music pieces. So this is a new series where I interview undiscovered artists I love and try to convince you to listen to them too. It’s inspired after JustSomeMustard, one of the first blogs I followed here, who introduces people to cool art better than just about anyone.

I’ve got a lineup I’m genuinely excited about, and it begins with Tinsley. Shoutout to her for being my very first interview :)

So, without further ado:

You’re so rooted in Seattle, and I feel like your story is very connected to the local scene. How has being a Seattle artist shaped the way you make music? What do you think the Seattle music scene has given you that you might not have gotten somewhere else?

Seattle is my home, so every memory, every relationship, everything that has shaped me into the person and artist I am has happened here. I’ve only ever lived in Washington. I have huge respect for the bands and artists who have come out of this city. I’ve found the Seattle music scene to be a very welcoming place. Sure, it doesn’t have the scale of music industry like LA or Nashville does, but there are incredible musicians here and a growing number of resources dedicated to keeping music alive, like KEXP, STG, Sonic Guild to name a few. I owe a lot of my initial encouragement and success to these panels called Mastering the Hustle that I attended put on by KEXP and Upstream Music Festival, which no longer exists. They were intended for local independent musicians, and I went to every single one of them trying to soak up as much info as possible and network. Local radio stations who have played my songs like Seattle U’s KXSU and KEXP have also played a major role in my music career and self-confidence as an artist. Shoutout to all the DJs who have believed in me!

Do you think the internet has made being an indie artist feel more possible, more exhausting, or both?

Both. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to even make or release music without the internet, and social media has opened so many doors for me as far as connecting with people who helped me start my music career. But the need to be constantly “online” is exhausting and it’s easy to get caught in the numbers comparison trap.

Being an artist now means you’re also expected to be a marketer, content creator, editor, and tiny media company. Do you enjoy the online side of releasing music, or does it ever feel like it pulls you out of the world of the songs?

I do get excited coming up with release strategies and building out the world of my songs when they first come out, but I also get pretty burnt out trying to constantly churn out content to sustain any momentum I get. Sometimes it feels like I’m spending more time trying to chase an ever-changing algorithm and play the TikTok lottery than writing new material or deepening my craft, but I try to remind myself that the amount of resources and time I spent on each of my songs is worth putting in the additional work and time so they actually get heard and reach new people. That’s what the online side of promotion is for. It’s a necessary evil, I guess.

I saw that you’ve named Taylor Swift, Feist, Alvvays, and Maggie Rogers as inspirations, which is an amazing list. How do you think those influences show up in your music?

I first learned to play guitar in high school so that I could cover Taylor Swift songs. It felt like she gave me permission to share my own personal stories in song form as a teenager, and my approach to lyrics and storytelling is heavily influenced by her. Leslie Feist is also a huge inspiration to me. She’s part of the reason I decided to go with just my last name for my artist project. Her vocal style and range is similar to mine, and her song 1234 was one of the very first songs I had on my iPod. Alvvays and Maggie Rogers both inspire me from a genre and melody sense. I loved how Maggie Rogers mixed electronic elements with folk music in her debut album, and Alvvays is a band I’ve seen live more than any other band. Antisocialites is probably my desert island album. I’ve listened to it so many times. I’m a sucker for a fuzzy guitar and synths.

What’s a tiny detail in one of your songs that you love and hope someone notices?

In the Twist The Knife demo, there is an instrumental that happens before the second verse. I ask Timothy, “Is this going into the second verse now?” And Timothy says “uh-huh.” We became so used to it that we kept it in the final. I love that it makes the song feel slightly unpolished and real.

What’s the most “you” lyric you’ve ever written?

If I had to pick right now, it’d be these from Distract Me:

I know we won’t make it

But I promise I can take it

You’re like really, really hot

So I’ll do it for the plot

I think that’s a good snapshot of my approach to humor and self-awareness in my songs.

I love listening to albums in order, and your self-titled album feels really intentional. Does the track order tell a story? Was there an emotional arc you were building?

Yes! I did spend a lot of time trying to figure out the right listening order for my album, especially because it was also pressed on vinyl so there was a clear A and B side. I wouldn’t say there is a specific story, it’s more a broader snapshot of coming of age and finding my voice as an artist, but I did want to take listeners on an emotional journey of ups and downs.

A lot of your songs have this really interesting contrast where the melodies feel bright and catchy, but the lyrics can be bruised, anxious, or heartbroken. Are you drawn to that contrast on purpose?

Thank you for noticing that! Yes, I do naturally gravitate towards that kind of contrast and juxtaposition. I find it creatively inspiring to play with polar opposites. Even in the way I dress, I love mixing more feminine and masculine pieces, like lace and leather, etc.

What’s the most embarrassing emotion to write about?

I honestly don’t think any emotion is embarrassing, but I think I feel most exposed when I write about how I’ve acted in past situationships and relationships. Both shame and self-sabotage come up a lot, but I know I’m not alone in them. There’s this quote that I come back to a lot that first inspired me to put myself out there as an artist: “The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”

— Neil Gaiman

What’s a lyric you wish you had written?

The first verse of Such Great Heights by The Postal Service are some of my favorite lyrics of all time.

I am thinking it’s a sign

That the freckles in our eyes

Are mirror images

And when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate

That God Himself did make

Us into corresponding shapes

Like puzzle pieces from the clay

And true it may seem like a stretch