Get To Know Tina Ford
Tina Ford is an experienced musician having been active in the music industry for over a decade. Across her work,her soulful rasp uniquely delivers a vocal performance that raptures her listeners , halting them in the moment she creates.
Originally from Uganda, Tina started her musical career living in Canada and this multicultural background is definitely felt in her music. With a blend of English and Luganda in her lyricism, she heavily references her Ugandan heritage, and deftly shapes her experiences in a manner that can be understood by all.
We checked in with Tina to learn more about her musical journey, her experiences abroad as well as what keeps her inspired.
How did your artist journey begin?
It began from childhood really, and the experiences that I went through, but officially it began in 2014. That's when I released my first EP, which was called “Beginners Luck”.
It pretty much showcased to the world the art that I wanted to do. It started from a series of questions I was asking, and the music was the best way for me to express myself and also express the answers that were coming to me for those questions that I had.
Who is Tina Ford? How do you define yourself as an artist?
I like to present myself as an Afro Neo-Soul artist. I was born and raised here in Uganda. I left Uganda when I was 15 to go to Canada, and I lived there for 16 years. I'm here in Uganda just for some time, but I like to say that my music is drawn from two cultures; African culture, and North American culture.
Despite acknowledging that I have been inspired by artists from both places, and I like to define my music as soul. Depending on the genre that I sing, whether it's reggae or R&B, I still showcase the soul of not just the words that I'm singing, but also the melody.
What is your creative process like?
It's changed over the years, but usually my creative process starts with an experience either mine or someone else's life experiences. For example, let’s say I've gone for a road trip and I've enjoyed the time of my life. And I come back home and I am talking about experiencing serenity. So like this; my process starts with an idea and then it unfolds into a melody.
Once I have an idea, it's important that I find a melody for the song or how I want the song to go, whether slower or faster paced for example. And then it slowly unfolds into the lyrics, which I find to be the hardest part of making music. I'm very critical with how I write.So I have to make sure that it really matches the sentiment of the song or what I'm trying to present. And after I create the lyrics, I put it all together and go to the studio and then it's pretty much history from there.
What's your favourite song of yours that you've created and why? What inspired its creation?
I'd say one of my favorite songs I wrote a decade ago was called “Rebel With The Cause”. I really like “Rebel With The Cause” because of the place I wrote it in, I was in a very shaky place.I had just graduated from university with a degree that's not in music. I was a bit of an amateur when it came to creating music. I didn't know the tools and didn't have the knowledge. I hadn't really ever been to a studio before. So this song came about when I just landed on an instrumental on YouTube. I was looking for a regular beat, because I had the words already. This was a song that had been in my heart for a really long time.
“Rebel With The Cause '' follows the black sheep story. Someone who is told that what they're doing is going to be dismissed or not fully appreciated in society. But they know that what is in their heart is right. So they go ahead and do it and shine their light.
You describe your music as being influenced by a variety of genres, from blues, to funk to reggae, who are some of your musical influences?
I have a variety of musical influences starting in Africa. When I was younger, I would run the TV every time I would hear Brenda Fassie or Yvonne Chaka Chaka, on the TV, their voices were so powerful and how they presented themselves was just power. Seeing a woman do that on stage was liberating for me.
As I got older, my musical influences were mostly North American. But many had a similar story to the African artists that I looked up to. They were Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, India.Arie.
Who have you been listening to lately? Who's on Tina Ford's most played artist list?
I have been listening to an artist called Somi. She is incredible. She's a Rwandan/Ugandan singer based in America. She has an album, which she released at the beginning of this year called Zenzile, the re-imagination of Miriam Makeba. She’s a jazz singer. She does jazz so beautifully and her voice is so powerful.
How is it different performing in Uganda verses internationally? What's been your experience?
It's been different here in Uganda. I've found that people are much more lively and engaging and really interactive. They want music that's authentic and music that they're familiar with. So when singing soul here in Uganda, I have made sure to incorporate an African element into it.
In Canada, what I found there was that, because it's a multicultural country. People there are very reserved and more observant. When I would be entertaining on stage, they would be trying to understand what I was singing. So they are more involved in the lyrics than then in the melody. And I've noticed here in Uganda, audiences are usually more involved in the melody than they are with the lyrics.
What have you been working on lately? What projects can we see from you in the near future?
I've been working on a project now. It's an EP, a visual EP that I'll be releasing at the beginning of October. It's a profound one, because I've been working with it for some time. This is the project that’s been a gateway for me into the kind of music that I really want to create. And I'm not going to say much. I'll let you wait for when I release that music.
Follow Tina’s journey here.
