When studying music at Goldsmiths University London started to feel redundant, Towa bird, The TikTok sensation tearing up the guitar has been dropped. “I was taking writing sessions and I had just finished my first tour and I was also in a class on how to go on tour,” Bird said. Vanity fair via Zoom from her home in Los Angeles. “I thought, Maybe I should focus on one of those things and put all my eggs in that basket.” With just a year left until she completed her degree, her parents weren’t enthusiastic about the idea, and the 25-year-old admittedly commented that it sounded “pretty stupid on paper”, but the The combination between effort and “illusion” has been strengthened. her decision. “I come from an Asian family, so they would definitely say, You’re not going to be an engineer or a nurse, are you?” Dieu said. “I said, Yes, I know, sorry, I want to be a rock star.”
It’s a choice that has paid off so far—and made her parents proud. In 2021, after posting electric guitar covers on TikTok, where she now has over 1 million followers, she attracted the attention of artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, who featured Bird in her documentary, Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (movie SOUR). “That opportunity changed my life. It was like the beginning of my career in America. That was the first thing I did when I landed,” Bird said. “I love her for using her platform to highlight other female musicians and we’re both Filipino, so that’s my sister.”
Last year, she embarked on a fall tour of North America and Europe as the opening act for her current girlfriend, Renee Rapp, and this Friday she’ll release her debut album, American Hero. While on the road, she was able to test her waters with live audiences, performing much of what was on the album. The result is a high-energy guitar-driven pop record that will be “Towa 101” as she describes it, serving as an introduction and exploration of queer identity, heritage and her heart. Over 13 songs, Bird transforms herself into the kind of rock star she always wanted to be, singing about same-sex love in all its forms, from the bittersweet heartbreak of falling in love with a friend in “Please sorry sorry” to the brazenly sapphic anthem and fan favorite, “Drain Me!”
Born in Hong Kong to British and Filipino parents, Bird grew up between Thailand and London. At age 12, inspired by the classic rock songs she and her father listened to while driving around in his Honda, Bird picked up a guitar. “I was a child of the Internet so I went to YouTube college and learned how to form chord shapes, learning and playing along,” she says. By the age of 14, she had formed her first band. “I want to go live right away. I want to be on stage,” she said. But she had never seen anyone, on screen or on stage, that she could identify with.
Courtesy Interscope Records.
She recalls discovering strange shows like The From L And Orange is the new black in her teens but “certainly don’t see many mixed-race or Filipino kids on TV, especially women in Western media.” It only fueled her desire to succeed, even though she was skeptical that the industry would create space for her — an androgynous, curly-haired, rock-playing gay Asian woman.
After moving from London to Los Angeles to pursue music full-time, Bird began writing. American Hero, The album’s title is an ironic reference to her situation. “I’m not an American hero, as you might expect, but in some ways, as an immigrant, I am a hero,” Bird said. “I just hope that there is room for me, and I hope that people who look like me, and who may have shared a similar story to mine can find comfort in the fact that finally , there are also some that represent them,” she said. “Whether it’s women of color or gay people or nonbinary kids, whatever it is, or curly-haired assholes.”
When I mention the mainstream success that queer women are currently experiencing in pop music, from record-breaking artists like Billie Eilish to supergroups like boygenius and MUNA to rising stars Chappell Roan, Bird happily chimed in to see this as a lesbian renaissance. “We finally have gay songs and especially lesbian songs,” Bird said. “I thought, Damn, if I was 14, I’d be having an absolute field day — and honestly, I’m having a field day at 25.” It’s touching how Bird movingly recounts the time a fan came up to their parents during one of her live performances. “There is a whole movement starting and I feel very honored that my story is being heard as part of that movement,” she said.
In particular, the person who helped Bird direct this movement was her girlfriend, Rapp. Although the couple made their red carpet debut earlier this year at the event Vanity fair At the Oscars party, Bird was noticeably more cautious when I broached the subject of the relationship, careful to keep her personal life private while still honoring what they represent. “She’s an incredibly hard-working, professional person,” Bird says. “Just watching her walk like someone in my life, that was incredibly inspiring.”
Although she’s still nervous about pre-releasing the album, Bird said she’s already back in the studio working on her next project. “I feel like I’m trying to get ahead a little bit by having a really solid foundation of more songs and more material,” Bird said. “I just love making music, so why not?” Looking further ahead, she hopes that American Hero will do more to pave the way for a new class of outsiders.
“I hope that [next] The upcoming generation of artists doesn’t have the same worries that I do, which is, Will there be enough space for me? Do people care because I look a little different? Will people care about me the same way as my straight white colleagues? And am I good enough?” Dieu said. “I hope it’s just music,” she added, smiling. “I hope it’s not the music of a strange Asian woman. I hope it’s like, Oh, yeah, that’s a good, fun pop song.”
