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Hi Tina, welcome to LA Music Review! Tell us a little bit about you and your music.
Hi, I’m Tina Carzon, Manila-born, and Washington, D.C.-raised multifaceted artist and singer-songwriter. I am currently based now in Maryland.
To name a few, I got inspired by artists such as Enya, Sade, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gal Costa – the list goes on. My style of music is a blend of R&B, neo-soul, and bossa nova.
I always feel like it constantly changes, so I try not to put myself in boxes. Multi-genre sounds more like me. I could do heavy metal if I wanted to.
Start streaming “skin to skin” here:
Congrats on the release! What was your inspiration when you were writing this project?
Released on April 21, 2023. Thank you! This song was inspired by my friends, just randomly creating something in the studio from scratch. My friend Adobo made the track on the spot.
The hook was [written] on the spot, in terms of the writing process. Initially, I didn’t know what the song would be about.
We just played with the idea of mysterious lovers who are attracted to each other but don’t necessarily know where the attraction is going. Maybe it stops there. But then I was like, maybe there’s something there, and it’s not just physical attraction.
‘I’m not, I’m not used to this
When I know you know deep down it’s all a mystery
Take me to your galaxy
I’m willing to know you
Explore this chemistry’
Later on, my friend Adobo wrote a [rap] verse to it and played off of what I wrote. I was actually just going to end it with his verse, but then I decided to write some more to it, since it felt short. I had Nicky Wood, an extremely talented guitarist and multi-instrumentalist lay down some bossa nova chords in there to add some jazz feel to it.
LEIF, who co-produced, mixed, and mastered the song, made my harmonies and vocals sound so spacey and dreamy when I recorded the first verse, so I was like, okay, we’re definitely going to stick with the outer space vibes.
Overall, this is one of my favorite collaborations.
What is your vision for this song? What lessons do you want to impart to your audience?
My vision for this song is cosmic realm and outer space. I kind of just played off on what I initially wrote on the spot.
‘Let’s go on a trip
Take me to your favorite place
This outer space
Come uncover me
Your love is so intimate
So genuine’
When I heard this track, I immediately thought, yes – bossa nova, romantic, sensual, but energetic. It’s upbeat, which is something I haven’t really explored before.
It makes me want to dance. Perfect for the summer. Yes, summer is now cuffing season.
What is your favorite part of this song?
I’ve been wanting to do a bossa nova feel-good track but still keeping that R&B flow. We were just in the studio and we always have this urge to make something from scratch. Adobo pulled up and showed us some stuff. He made this bossa [nova] vibe track on the spot. I immediately was like, this is dope. I want to write something to this. Everything was just kind of on the spot. I wrote the hook on the spot, sang it, and did a demo later on.
So yeah, my favorite part about this song is how fast and smooth everything just came together and came to fruition. I always appreciate the creative process.
Anything else we should know about? Future releases? Upcoming events?
I have a couple of shows coming up. I do Sofar Sounds shows in the Washington, D.C. area.
There’s a lot of new music in the works and some cool collaborations happening, which I’m really excited about. More shows. 2023 is going to be a crazy year.
