What started out as a rocky trip with lost luggage at the airport, ended with a packed show at Toronto’s Opera House for Travis Tatum Mills, the Riverside California pop-rapper, better known as T. Mills.
“I love Canada. Every time I come here, it’s super amazing. Toronto shows me so much love,” says Mills, who is in town for Canadian Music Week (CMW). The 22-year-old artist is not only in town to perform but to take in new Canadian artists during his first time at CMW, he explains. “I’m excited for all the new music that I’m going to discover this week.”
His enthusiasm to discover new music makes sense, given T. Mills’ own unique sound which cannot be categorized into any set genre. He blends pop, hip-hop and rock to create his own lane of music based on his own personal influences. “I don’t feel like it is something that is manufactured. I try not to think too much, so when I go into the studio, I’m not approaching a song like, ‘I want it to have this element, with a little bit of this,’ I just listen to what’s in front of me, and work with what I have and what’s in my head.”
Mills grew up listening to a variety of artists from all genres, aiding him to create the music that he does. Musicians such as Queen, Elvis, Blink-182, Lykke Li, The Smiths, Placebo, Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q have all influenced and musically inspired Mills. Because Mills intertwines various genres of music, he finds that his fans are diverse and that there is no specific “T. Mills fan prototype”. The most rewarding experience, he says, is when someone he would never picture to listen to his music stops him to let him know they like what he does.
In 2011, Mills released Leaving Home, an EP which earned him an MTVU Woodie Award nomination, and a serious fan following. He is now in the process of completing his first full-length studio album that will be released by Columbia Records later this year.
“I feel like Leaving Home was a huge leap for me, and the new album, which is untitled, it’s the same, I just keep progressing,” explains Mills. “I’m excited to go home and finish it. I’m a little more than halfway done. This album is for me, it’s what I’ve been working so hard for. I just want people to accept it and to understand what I’ve been doing with my life and how I’ve been living my life through music. I’m maturing as a person so my lyrical content is going to step up as well. That’s why on Leaving Home, I had some serious songs, I had some slow songs, some love songs, and that’s important because I don’t want any of my songs to ever sound the same. I want to be a well-rounded artist,” says Mills. “As my life progresses and dips and rises, I want my music to do the same.”
T. Mills has been in the studio working with artists such Boi-1da, Kane and T Wiz on the untitled album. He is also continuing touring for the next eight months.
Before the show, T. Mills interacts with fans at the city’s Community 54 venue during a meet and greet presented by iLuvLola and Community 54. Fans Kaitlin Lowry and Alessia Dall’Agnese waited 11 hours to be first in the line to meet their favourite artist. The two teens say they are drawn to T. Mills’ original style and carefree attitude. “He doesn’t copy any other artist. He’s original, and he does his own thing. “Smoke and Mirrors” is an amazing song and I think it relates to anyone. It’s a good confidence booster,” says Lowry.
By nighttime Opera House is predominantly full of screaming adolescent females who sing along to every word of Mills’ lyrics as he performs tracks like “Scandalous”, “Vans On” and “She Got A…”. “You all know T. Mills shows are for the ladies right?” he says to the crowd, as the young girls lose their minds. With nothing accompanying him on stage, it is obvious nothing more is needed, as T. Mills’ stage presence commands the full attention of the packed crowd who rocked out with him
Photo By. Adrian McKenzie
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