Towa Bird is living her best Los Angeles life. In the span of only four years, the singer-songwriter and guitar virtuoso has moved to California, signed to a major label, and gone on tour with Reneé Rapp. So far, Bird, 24, feels at home in her new environs. She enjoys hiking, swimming in the Pacific, and having backyard barbecues with her friends. “I’ll be on my grill. I’ll have my little lesbian shorts on and a backwards cap,” she tells me with a laugh, painting the scene. “Really get into the Adam Sandler of it all.”
That’s not the only celebrity she unwittingly imitates. The curly-haired artist has also been mistaken on multiple occasions for indie celebrity Naomi McPherson of MUNA. “I’m like ‘Fuck yeah!’” says Bird of the frequent mix-ups. “If someone is going to mistake me for one person, let it be Naomi from MUNA please.”
Life was not always always swimming pools and California sunshine for Bird. Spending her childhood in Thailand and London, she began playing music in Hong Kong dives at age 14 as part of her first band The Glass Onions. She dropped out of university to pursue a music career writing for other artists, but kept her own dreams alive by posting TikToks of herself playing along on guitar to some of her favorite songs by WILLOW, Tame Impala, and Gym Class Heroes. In those viral clips, she not only showed what an earnest music fan she was, but proved that she was truly a grade-A shredder. Her all-important combination of energy, charisma, and skill netted the attention of the major record label Interscope, which signed her in 2021.
Though her upcoming debut album American Hero does not yet have a release date, she has since released several pop-rock singles, many of them about queer love. She has also dropped the EP Live from Terminal 5, which showcases her raucous on-stage energy. Releasing live versions before a proper debut album, Bird says, is meant to show “how much I care about my live audience, my live show, my performance” — a testament to her roots in those Hong Kong bars. Her latest single “B.I.L.L.S,” is the studio version of one of the EP’s standout tracks, but nothing is lost in the shiny production; it’s just as hooky and punchy as ever, lending a sing-along flair to lyrics about life under late-stage capitalism.
“A lot of my songs are very abundantly gay. It was something I had to keep a secret for a really long time. And I’m fucking proud to be able to share that part of myself with people,” Bird explains. “I feel like ’B.I.L.L.S.’ is slightly different. I think people will relate to it on a human level.”
With lines like “I’m so tired of paying rent,” and “I’m so tired of life’s expense,” it’s fair to estimate that 99% of the population would gladly chant along with Bird at her next live gig if they had the chance. To mark the new single, the artist chatted with Them about student loan debt, nepo babies, and wanting to be the lesbian Paul McCartney.
I think of the tracks you’ve released, “B.I.L.L.S” is the most rock and roll. It has this cool Joan Jett glam to it. Can you talk about that?
The first thing that was at the forefront of the song was the guitar riff. Everything around it centers that riff. I think it’s also [that] the concept and the lyrics themselves are pretty like, “Fuck you,” and anti-capitalist and quite rebellious. I’m not hearing [that sentiment] that much in music these days. [“B.I.L.L.S.”] is like “Fuck the establishment.” It’s all about community, the recession, and sharing the perspectives of my fellow Gen Z community.
The track is clearly about how capitalism is a broken system. What inspired you to write it?
I think just moving around a lot as a kid and being exposed to so many different people, so many different cultures, and seeing that this is an incredibly universal thing that people are going through no matter your background. Also going to university and then obviously having to pay that back. You’re 19 years old, and you suddenly have thousands of pounds of debt. And you’re like, “Cool, I don’t have a job.”
I really loved the line “Too bad I’m not somebody’s daughter. Daddy owns the land, the oil, and the water.” It speaks to this rich-kid-turned-musician phenomenon. They have the luxury to be able to work on their craft and career.
I grew up in Thailand. I didn’t grow up around the entertainment industry at all. I didn’t have mentors. I’m Filipino, so a lot of my family members are doctors and engineers and mathematicians. My sister is a scientist. I was always the black sheep. And then I moved to the U.S. and the U.K. and saw how much privilege affords people. It was quite shocking. Obviously, “nepotism baby” is a buzzword that people love to throw around. But it really is a thing. The more people you know, the more open the doors are, so to speak. Great for them. That’s not my story, though. I don’t really get down in the dumps about it. I’m more like, “I’m on my own journey, my own path, and that’s fine.”
Which is why I find it refreshing and validating in a way, when an artist that doesn’t come from that world can play such a big stage. That’s a dream, right?
I’m not going to sit here and be like, “I don’t have privilege.” To be in this position, I had to be able to own guitars and be able to afford guitar lessons. There were doors that were opened for me. This is not the oppression Olympics. But there’s no one from my childhood who is doing things that are similar to me. It was a larger conversation among my family and my community of like, “This isn’t even a real job.” There was no one to look up to so I could say, “Look, so-and-so is doing this. It’s legitimate.” My parents have never seen me play live because they live in Asia, and that’s a long flight. But I’m leaving for a tour again on Sunday, and they’re going to come and see one of my shows for the first time. It’s going to be so cool. It’s unreal to me.
That’s part of the Reneé Rapp tour you’ve been on right? What are some things that you might’ve learned from Reneé, or maybe some things that she learned from you? Was there any kind of connection on the tour?
We are incredibly close. We would hang out backstage, and then go and do our sets, and then come back and hang out together again. In terms of learning things, I think just the way that she takes herself really seriously, but then also has this sort of lovely tongue-in-cheek element to her as well in her personality. Seeing that balance is really lovely. She really cares about her craft and really cares about her audience and puts in the hours and the work. I’ve always felt like a pretty hard worker, and I really give a shit. To see someone at her level give a shit as much as I do — it’s totally inspiring to be around.
Other than Reneé, who are some other artists that you look up to?
Well, my favorite band in the world is The Beatles. I want to be the lesbian Paul McCartney. I just think his fucking songwriting is so good. I love ’70s rock. Jimi Hendrix is my God. Zeppelin, The Who, The Kinks. Oh, MUNA is great. I met all of them recently which was really surreal, especially meeting Naomi, because everyone always makes comparisons. People are like, “You look like Naomi.” So meeting them and seeing them in real life and giving them a hug just created a black hole. Two people meeting for the first time who looked exactly the same? It was immediately on my Instagram.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
“B.I.L.L.S.” is out now via Interscope Records
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