Vetor Interviews: Tegan Robinett

The “otherworld” of Tegan Robinett: The American singer-songwriter debuts with an album that mixes ethereal art-pop with her past rave experiences, presenting the listener to her inner world

Text and Interview by Pedro Paulo Furlan

Photography by Kaio Cesar

São Paulo, 8PM / Los Angeles, 4PM. When I sat down to chat with Tegan Robinett, I had just listened to her debut album “otherworld” in full a few times, getting to know her through the music as preparation for our conversation. Inspired by her own inner world, her classical music upbringing and her experiences at raves, the project sounds like the opening of a door, letting us into her universe.

“It was this really violent inner certainty that I had to record what was in my innermost”, she explains when I ask her where the inspiration for “otherworld” came from. Mixing up art-pop influences and ethereal world-building, the album introduces Robinett as a fully-fledged artist - a title deserved, especially since “otherworld” has been in production for seven years.

At 34, Tegan Robinett feels the most ready to face the world and present her music. Partnered with Brazilian producer Leonardo Tows, the American singer-songwriter sat down with me for Vetor Magazine to chat queer identity, rave culture and the inner world that inspired her debut record.

Photography by Kaio Cesar

Embracing her instincts

For years, Tegan Robinett felt like she was avoiding her own dream. Almost graduating at the University of Southern California and then trying to climb the corporate ladder, Tegan took years to face her need for expression - it was in 2019 that she looked around inside herself and decided to bring her music to life.

“When you're an artist, there's a primal instinct to create that eventually you cannot escape”, she says of that time in her life: “Eventually you can't turn away from it. You have to do the thing that you are on Earth to do”.

Looking back to her upbringing in music, Tegan dedicated herself to rescuing that power, focusing on honing her craft and discovering her own voice. “I somehow have melted down all of those styles that I grew up listening to, those different artists, like Joni Mitchell, Linda Perhacs, Joan Baez, and my classical background to create something that could reflect myself”, she points out.

Inspired by ambient playlists she found on SoundCloud, she started building up the basis of what would become “otherworld” - and that’s how she found her main collaborator Leonardo Tows. After being turned down by a few other producers, Tegan came in contact with Tows’ music, falling in love with the balance between electronic and ambient influences.

“With those sounds, like crashing glass, foley and soundtrack sounds, we started working on the creation of ‘otherworld’, developing what my inner world would sound like”, Robinett tells me: “I always start with the melody first so that’s what we did, and little by little I discovered how to add the right words to these sounds that haunted me”.

Starting out with an ethereal ambient sound, the album develops into a rave-inspired electronic project. In “otherworld”, Tegan explores her queer identity, her perspective about love and, mostly, the inner workings of her mind that led her to where she is now.

“It was like at first I might have been a little stiff or my muscles weren't warm and I wasn’t ready to go out in a full sprint, but, through the record, I warm up and full blown run”, Tegan smiles as she traces the narrative that guides her debut album.

Photography by Kaio Cesar

“It’s a small fragment of my larger world”

“I have gone to far too many raves in my day. I remember going to Winter Wonderland or something in Los Angeles, going out too many weekends in a row, and that lifestyle really affected me in my relationship with electronic music”, Tegan tells me when I ask her what made her decide to dive deep into electronic music in the last half of the album.

At 34, the singer songwriter admits that she doesn’t go out partying as much, but that culture and how much queerness is connected to it has had an everlasting effect on her. As a bisexual woman, Tegan Robinett says that “otherworld” encompasses an ethereal aspect that she sees in her own queer identity.

“I think when I think about exploring my sexuality, I've come to realize how music is a bridge to a place of realizing that like the physical form is such a small portion of existence”.

Choosing to see people as potential connections between the humanity in ourselves, Tegan explains that “otherworld” is an invitation to see the humanity inside her as well. “I really do think that ‘otherworld’ is a small fragment of the larger other world that exists to all people”, she says.

Looking at it all, Tegan points out that she feels the most herself in this moment of her life. With the release of “otherworld”, it marks the finishing point to a seven year process, finding the most confident side of herself at the end.

“The least that I could expect at this point is that one person could hear it and feel comfort or feel like they could relate in some way. Other than that like I I really don't give a fuck”.

Photography by Kaio Cesar