Tatiana DeMaria is the singer and guitarist for TAT, a new British punk band that is starting to build an American fanbase on the Warped Tour. They release their first album this fall.

Tatiana is very funny and interesting. Here she talks about how Mormons reacted when she claimed to be “sponsored by Jesus” touring in Salt Lake City and how she wanted to grow a beard and become an astrophysicist as a kid.

On Band Name: “It means an old load of rubbish in England, so an old load of tat. It was inspired by my name, but it’s by no means a solo project and it’s by no means named for me. … People used to call me Tat, and my old manager used to ask, ‘Why do people call you Tat?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ He said, ‘It means an old load of rubbish,’ so I’m like, ‘Really? That’s fucking cool.’ We used to be called the Camden Whigs, then when we were looking for a new band name, he kept calling me Tat, so I’m like, ‘Fuck it, let’s do it. Let’s just call it TAT.’ It’s different, it’s funny, it’s three letters long. We’re a punk band, we were more at the time, so we just stuck with that.“

On Early Dreams of Becoming Astrophysicist: “When I was young, I wanted to be an eighty-year-old astrophysicist with a long white beard and the biggest telescope in the world, but then when I found out I couldn’t grow a beard unless I really fucked with my face, I gave up on that.”

Music experience: “I started when I was about 15. It really started with the Camden Whigs. When I was 15, I started writing songs, though. When I was 12, was really when I started, actually.“

On Finances: “It’s always tough. As a band, we try to keep that stuff to ourselves. Now is a lot better, though, because we’ve been doing very well this Warped Tour, so we’ve been able to break even and make a bit extra. People have been really good to us and given us good deals.“

On Manufactured Acts: “I’m really fucking naïve to be honest with you. I grew up listening to punk. I grew up listening to stuff that was real. I grew up listening to soul. I grew up listening to big band and jazz. For me, music was really music. You write a song, you go out there and you sing it. Then you find all these acts that are doing stuff and lying about it and all these marketing ploys. I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ I think the epitome of that was Avril Lavigne. I was a complete sucker. I looked at her and thought she was a chic doing it and thought it was cool, but then my manager was like, ‘Are you retarded?’ The Avril Lavigne thing was manufactured. You meet the people who worked on her record, you meet this, you meet that. For me, that was really a big thing, because I worked really hard. And I thought, if I can’t stand on my feet and do my own shit, then I don’t deserve success. It’s just amazing to see what goes on and see what people will ask you to do to fit their story, to fit their marketing pitch. It’s hard sometimes to keep your integrity, and that’s one of the most important things to me.“

On Britney Spears, NSYNC, Pop… “Britney Spears, I feel for her, and I respect her because she didn’t lie about her shit. She went out there and said I’m a pop queen and I do it well. Justin Timberlake, when he was in NSYNC. I can’t stand NSYNC, but I still respect the fact that they did what they did. Then on the flip side, you have people that do what they do but lie about it.“

Differences Between US, UK Music Scene: “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert. We toured the US once on the 2006 Warped Tour. We did twenty-eight dates. I think the way you have it is in the U.S., you have a big scene for alternative rock, you have a big scene for punk, you have a big scene for metal, you have a big scene for pop and hip-hop, what have you. Because your country is so big, you have a big market for everything, which means you have twenty radio stations just for alternative rock, whereas in England, you have five major radio stations. They import a lot of music from the U.S. and they also support indie music and singer-songwriters. Once you’ve got all that music imported and the singer-songwriters, all the radio stations are full. As a band, there isn’t a punk market, there isn’t a metal market, there isn’t an alternative market. When we come to the U.S., we actually find that there are a lot more people who know what we’re doing and can relate to it. In the U.K., it’s whatever’s on the radio. That’s the big difference. The radio doesn’t define the people as much in the U.S. as it does in the U.K.”

How She Got into Punk: “I was in my brother’s room, and I heard this song playing—It was ‘The Longest Line’ by NoFX—and I went, ‘Holy shit, this song is amazing.’ I was eleven years old. From then on, I just got into all those bands: NoFX, Green Day, The Offspring, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers. It was in my brother’s bedroom and on the school bus when all the big boys would play their punk tapes on the way to school.“

Other Music She Likes: “I like everything. I have a side project where I produce hip-hop and urban music. I listen to everything. Like I was saying, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, a lot of old school stuff, hip-hop, jazz. To me, there are two types of music, good music and bad music. If you’ve got a good melody or hook, I’m in.”

On SLC: “We’ve toured Salt Lake City twice. I got bollocks for holding up a sign that said, ‘Sponsored by Jesus.’ They were really cool actually. Both times, I’ve really enjoyed it. I was surprised both times. Really cool people. … When you get here, people tell you about it. You visit the towns, and you meet a lot of Mormons, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, really?’”

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