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We spoke to the London-based singer, songwriter and guitarist about her life and music.
One of the best new singer/songwriters to have emerged in recent times Tina Boonstra, whose superb 'My Concrete Heart (Will Beat Again)' EP is out now through 7Core Music has numerous songs on the Radio Hayah playlist, including "Only A Human", "Concrete Heart", "Occupy" and "Prodigal". As listeners will no doubt agree, when they enjoy Tina’s haunting blend of folk-tinged melodies and sparse electronica, this exceptionally talented 29-year-old singer/guitarist is clearly going to be around for the long haul.
Tina was born in Burnley, UK, but her parents were missionaries so she grew up first in the Netherlands, then in South Africa and then back in the UK when she was a teenager. She spoke about the culture shock she felt back in the UK during her teenage years and how she found songwriting as a way of processing her thoughts and feelings in the confusing tumult of the modern world. She explained, "I started writing songs when I was 12 years old and always thought that I'd write songs for church. That was the world I was in and it wasn't until a few years down the line that it didn't feel like there was an opportunity to do that. Instead of getting frustrated and feeling like I should just stop writing, a friend of mine suggested that I started performing at open mic nights and acoustic nights in and around London and through that I rediscovered my love for songwriting and storytelling and I felt really challenged to write for those people where they're at."
Tina always felt drawn to a storytelling approach to songwriting. She said, "People really value honesty and credibility and stories. So actually, I think it helped me to be a better songwriter and it played on the aspect of songwriting that I really loved. Perhaps when I was very focussed on writing songs for church I'd forgotten about that, and it had limited my creativity."
The big breakthrough in Tina's still developing music career came in 2017 when she met Trevor Michael at a songwriters retreat who runs the UK's pioneering independent record company, 7Core Music. Remembered Tina, "I emailed him afterwards saying that I was hoping to record an EP. I had a couple of people that I had started to work with but it didn't really work out and I sent him one of the songs to ask for his advice. He seemed to quickly understand the sound I wanted to go for. He heard the music in a very similar way to the way I did and he offered to help me record it."
Tina continued, "When I started talking to Trev about the songs, I knew that I wanted to do something more alternative sounding. Because I wasn't performing with a band at the time, I didn't want to try and create a very big record. The bands that Trev was recommending to me as guide tracks were really along the same line and trying to capture that quite raw, stripped back alternative sound. And Trev managed to put into words the vision that I had in the back of my mind. So by the time we got to the studio we were very much on the same page in making this quiet, restrained record which was also more electric focussed than acoustic."
The first single released from 'My Concrete Heart (Will Beat Again)' was "Prodigal". Said Tina, "It's inspired by the story of the Prodigal Son in the Bible. But it's only inspired by one tiny bit of that story which is the verse that says 'And he came to his senses.' It's about that minute of turning around. Lots of the songs aren't about the breakthrough happening but more about building faith that love will come, love will be restored and hearts can be healed in time. I live in a city full of very ambitious people and was being quite driven, wanting to achieve things in life and, with the best intentions, I wanted to pursue what I thought God had asked me to do and I really worked very hard at it, but I ended up with a sense of tiredness and coldness. It was more like slowly losing the joy that maybe I once had in my work, and in my life, my relationship and my understanding of my faith and with the love of God. And (so this song), is about that sense of coming a bit closer, creating space in my mind, in my life, in my heart, to reconnect with that warmth of love again."
Despite all her creative efforts, she is still some way from making a living from her music. She said, "Music has changed quite a lot over the last few years. I love writing music and I want to place a value on that, whether it's commercially successful or not. I read this really encouraging book last year by Elizabeth Gilbert who is an author. She wrote Eat, Pray, Love. It's called Big Magic and one thing that really stood out to me, she talks about her creative process and how she really encourages creatives not to hang their finance responsibilities onto their creativity and how that can actually be a burden sometimes. Sometimes it's great that it does pay the bills, and that's exciting, but I think for all musicians and all creatives it is important to remember that even if creativity doesn't pay the bills, it doesn't mean that it's not valid. We need to remember that small is okay. Sometimes a whisper is more powerful than a shout. I think I tend to lean towards thinking that bigger is better. But sometimes that's not the case. Choosing your moment, choosing your words, holding back can be more powerful than saying everything all at once."
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