Tawni Bias carries the weight of emotion on new album Saddle Fawn
Photo Credit: Daman Singh
What started as a solo project by Calgary-based artist TJ Elkin has now become the experimental noir-folktronica trio, Tawni Bias. Their debut release, SEL Fellow, has been celebrated as a breakthrough album about grief and hardship. TJ Elkin’s evocative lyricism drives listeners to reflect and find a silver lining in their struggles.
With their new album Saddle Fawn out today, Reverie had the opportunity to sit down with TJ Elkin and chat about their drive for authenticity and the impact Calgary has on their music.
REVERIE: How would you describe Tawni Bias?
TJ: Tawni Bias: Tawni Bias explores the balance between the delicate and the powerful. Our sound combines heartfelt, hyper-polished vocals with post-rock dynamics– inviting listeners to process their journeys through a lens of warmth and authenticity. If you want the long version, we’re a band seeking to be as authentic as we can. There’s an emotional experience within music and we seek the connection that comes with it. We make a lot of our music with a lot of our own experiences while trying to reform those into a storytelling format to have people come along with us for that journey.
Our debut album, SEL Fellow, SEL an acronym for Social and Emotional Learning then Fellow, the people along with us for that journey. It was a deeply personal experience that I kind of wrote from and the idea was to bring in that journey of grieving and moving on, graduating from those feelings to better ones. A lot of our music centers around personal growth and learning to love people better.
REVERIE: What’s the history behind the name Tawni Bias?
TJ: Tawni Bias is an amalgamation of names throughout my history of people who taught me how to love properly. We fall out of learning how to properly love people and so the word bias is the notion of re-biasing ourselves to that idea of properly loving someone. Those original lessons we learn on how to treat and love those around us.
REVERIE: Who are your musical influences?
TJ: I was deeply influenced by a lot of the music that was being made around here, but a lot of my inspirations come from artists doing something meaningful and different. The first Jónsi album was a huge inspiration for me and finding ways to use vocal samples in a non-electronic kind of world. That blew my mind that you could do something like that, it came across as something beautiful, meaningful, and momentous. I gravitate towards that idea. Another influence of mine is Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). He can take vocal samples, voice modulations, and harmonizers to say something real and honest in a genre you don’t expect in electronica. Those two artists inspired me to say something meaningful with my own set of tools.
Photo Credit: Daman Singh
REVERIE: How has being based in Calgary influenced your sound?
TJ: Within the music industry in Calgary, many think they’ll graduate to a bigger city like Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal. But, the idea of investing in Calgary’s music industry was something I resonated with. Making Calgary the place people want to be in, and I fell in love with that idea. Touring is such an amazing idea, and being able to do that is incredible, but to invest in your community and your peers, your people. That interconnectedness of it all, it’s one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve had and has been shared with me.
REVERIE: I agree, people think of Calgary as entry-level to the music industry, but investing in our community is so important. Do you have any special projects you’re able to share with us right now?
TJ: Yeah! Saddle Fawn is out today! I’ve got another project with another friend, UK Garage, an interesting dynamic and it’s gonna be called Hen Yacht. Spelled chicken boat. Hopefully, we’ll have some stuff for summer coming up.
Photo credit: Daman Singh
REVERIE: Tell us about Saddle Fawn!
TJ: Saddle Fawn was an idea that I kind of stumbled across. The name kind of came later but I was having an interaction with a relative of mine and they were saying some extremely horrible things about the LGBTQ community. It was like they were seeking a reflection of their own words.I remember just sitting there stunned and appalled over what she was saying. I was so upset and angry and I didn’t say anything at the moment. I drove up and I felt ill and sick because I stood there and said nothing.
The moment I got home, this song fell out of me, which is going to be the title track. The Dalai Lama said, “Kindness is my religion,” and it’s beautiful, that’s what we need to focus on. That’s the idea behind the album. A fawn is this beautiful, gentle creature and this saddle that you put all kinds of shit on because you’re not willing to deal with your shit. Putting it on this tiny, beautiful creature, as well as working on yourself. I think a lot of it also has to do with my bullshit and working through that.
REVERIE: What’s crucial to making a show successful for you?
TJ: There’s our giant brain…
REVERIE: What?
TJ: I built this giant box that has everything that makes Tawni Bias, Tawni Bias. It’s a ton of electronics with cables coming out of it. A bunch of nerve endings that serve as a central hub. We always have to bring it or else we can’t perform.
REVERIE: What bands or new artists are you digging that you’d like to shout out?
TJ: I have to shout out Dial Up! I can’t stop listening to their EP. Shoutout to Kue Varo and The Only Hopes as well. They’re such a great band as well, I love them. Also, Bad Buddy from Edmonton. Every time I catch them live it’s just a good time because it’s just rock. Another huge shout out to them, I like them.
Tawni Bias new album Saddle Fawn is out now. Read the full interview in our spring issue of Reverie Magazine at local stands near you in Calgary, AB or visit here to secure your copy.