Tina Hand Is a Star
Brooklyn’s treasure, “just four awards short of an EGOT”
There’s nothing like finding someone with undeniable star quality. Even the first time you see them in a video or at a show, you can just tell: This person is going to deliver. That’s Tina Hand. “Just four awards short of an EGOT,” she says.
The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter is also a comedian, something she fell into — she can’t help being funny, especially when there’s a microphone. Her discography can be explored here, and I’d start with her kinetic single Bobby’s hobby. My favorite!
Now, she’s working on her sophomore album, set to be released this summer. She’s exploring a new sound that she says feels more lived-in, more grounded, and more Tina — and she told me she’s never been more excited to release anything.
This is Tina Hand.
Where do you get inspiration for your style?
Auntie’s treasure chest.
Song writing or performing?
Songwriting is giving birth - gritty, magical, often arduous. Performing is holding the baby out the window Michael Jackson-style so everyone who wasn’t in the delivery room can catch a glimpse of the miracle. So, both.
Gay guys?
Ironic homophobia is out. But guess what - so is talking about it. I’m yawning! How To Be Woke In A Chic Way: altogether ignore #THAT discourse popularized within #THOSE TikTok forums circa 2020. It’s not worth the attention, and they’ll tire themselves out eventually so it’s really a non-issue. Honestly I’ve already given them way too much in these few short sentences. All this to say, LET GAY GUYS BE GAY GUYS! I won’t be so extreme as to say we’d be nothing without them, but we’d certainly be noticeably less. Imagine Mona Lisa never had a gay guy to paint her into immortality - Mona WHO? Crying laughing emoji (which I’ve come around on btw, I’m heavy on her again). I love gay guys and they love me.
Where does your funny come from?
Raven Baxter and “Sweet Dee” Reynolds.
Attachment style?
And you know what? I’ve never really taken the time to learn what an “attachment style” is, because baby… I’m busy running businesses. But if you wanna know how I approach relationships just listen to any love song Miley Cyrus has ever written. We’re both Sagittarius with Venus in Capricorn. “Miss You So Much,” “Lighter,” “Never Be Me” - to name a few. Or ask my boyfriend.
What are you looking forward to?
I’m flying home to Colorado in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to all but blacking out at the airport bar beforehand. It serves as a necessity to abate my terrible fear of planes, but it’s also just become a fun ritual for me. I always sit at the same little bar near my usual gate in LaGuardia. I order a Bloody Mary (double) followed by a gin and tonic (triple - kiddinggg double again). To fly while drunk out of your bazinga is to be held in the naked unwavering palm of God. I’m also birthing a new genre of music this summer so basically it’s all very exciting, this life is magic, and I feel like Katy Perry in 2009. Girl who is going to be okay.
Drink match the nails match the panties?
That interview where Anderson Cooper asks Lady Gaga point blank if she has a “male appendage” and she responds, while sucking on a giant diamond, “Would it be so terrible?”
Back in high school I used to say I could never leave the house without a cohesive outfit on. Okay gay guy! I suppose that sentiment stuck with me and evolved into an even more pressing motto demanding not just cohesion, but the building of worlds: #DRINKMATCHTHENAILSMATCHTHEPANTIES
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“I guess I admire the hustle but baby let’s talk branding…"
One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane
Styling: Tina Hand