“It’s the reason why I got into music in the first place” Towa Bird on reclaiming her status as a new generation guitar hero
Gamers of a certain age might remember FIFA 06 for its legendary intro movie, or the faces of a young Wayne Rooney and Brazil legend Ronaldinho gracing the cover. But for a young Towa Bird, the thing that had the most impact was the twanging electric guitar riff of LCD Soundsystem’s Daft Punk Is Playing At My House that blasted from the title screen.
Towa Bird on the Guitar.com Cover. Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
Towa Bird is far from the only one initiated into the world of guitar thanks to a video game soundtrack, but with her its influence was a profound one. Today, the Hong Kong-born, British-Filipino artist is an internet-moulded guitar star, adored by both the music and fashion industries. She opened for Billie Eilish on her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour and appeared as a guitarist on Olivia Rodrigo’s Driving Home 2 U documentary. She’s a regular face for Italian high fashion brand Miu Miu, and has toured with her girlfriend Reneé Rapp.
It all feels a long way from when she would sit on livestreams sharing personal coming-out tales, cool viral guitar covers and original songs online to a few hundred followers. So, as Bird fizzles onto our Zoom screen for her Guitar.com cover interview, there’s plenty to celebrate.
Most pressingly, there’s her brand-new second studio album, Gentleman, which has been lauded for its riffy, hot queer tracks in the guise of 60s-meets-70s rock, dipping into riot grrrl territory as well as alt-pop and synth palettes.
Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
“It’s hard to sort of summarise two years,” Bird ponders casually, flicking through album anecdotes – flying between Los Angeles and New York, working with producer Patrick Wimberly (the former member of Chairlift who has credits with MGMT and Blood Orange), finishing writing last November and getting ready to let go of a year-long project.
“It’s really difficult not to attach your entire self-worth and the reception right before I put it out. I was so giddy, like a child, with excitement and joy,” she smiles. Soon after Gentleman dropped, however, Bird was ready to step aside and let fans and critics alike leave their mark on the album. “I knew I needed to anchor myself in this feeling, because I know as soon as it goes out, people put their two cents in and tell me their opinions and the feeling sort of changes,” she explains.
“Being a guitarist, that’s really fucking important to me. It’s the reason why I got into music in the first place”
Poster Girl
Bird’s star began to really rise with her debut album, American Hero, back in 2024 – but she never really imagined that songs like the amped up B.I.L.L.S or the lusty, smirking Drain Me would resonate with an audience so powerfully.
“It’s all truly been really fucking mind-blowing, to be honest,” she reflects. “I had no fantasy of where I would be; I know that a lot of artists grow up being told I’m going to become a pop star or a rock star, but I never felt that way.” That doesn’t mean she lacked ambition. Bird was working hard to build her career long before her solo career took off, most notably playing guitar on tour with Cassyette, before things fell into place.
Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
“I care so deeply about what I do and I put so much effort into it, but I never really had the fantasy element to it,” she explains. “I think that comes from a place of insecurity rather than security, because I never really gave myself the permission to have those big, big dreams.
“Coming from a mixed family, immigrant parents, and there’s a level of realness, and in their culture and that’s what they passed down to me. It’s much more of an American ideology to dream big and wish for what you want, and in the UK that’s not necessarily the case.”
The hard work has won Bird a broad and incredibly active fanbase – one that transcends the usual online guitar audience – and she admits that she perhaps downplayed her guitar artistry as a result.
Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
“With the first record, I had such a deep desire to prove myself,” she says. “I wanted people to take me seriously as an artist and as a singer-songwriter, and move away from the guitarist label. Now, in the second album, I feel much more excited about being a guitarist and that’s really fucking important to me – it’s the reason why I got into music in the first place.”
If her previous music wasn’t about celebrating technique, it still showed something fundamental and important – inspiring connection, resonating with the hum of the guitar, and finding a level of self-acceptance that she continues to build on.
“I definitely feel so much more aligned with who I am and, with the next album, I hope I’ll continue to get even closer,” she says. “I fell in love with this instrument, so I think it would be a disservice to myself and the audience to put that in the background. I think that comes with growing up a bit, becoming more confident in yourself, and remembering who you are.”
“I had no fantasy of where I would be… I never really gave myself the permission to have those big, big dreams”
Chord Theory
To understand how entwined Towa Bird’s artistry is with the guitar, and how she thinks about music, it’s worth noting that she chooses to talk about her musical evolution through her favourite guitar chords.
Back in the day, she proudly told an interviewer of her love of the Emaj7 chord. “I think that is sort of funny!” she reflects now. “It’s like a representation of where I was. The E major seven is a wonderful and colourful chord. It’s an extended chord, so there are more notes in the actual chord itself.
“It’s kind of funny because that’s representative of how I was trying to prove myself. Now, I’ve simplified, so I go for an E power chord, which is essentially the same. It’s basically all of the same notes, minus two, so it’s much more straightforward – it’s the people’s chord!”
Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
When it comes to her instrument of choice, while she’s become synonymous with her black and gold Gibson Firebird, she’s moved into a more semi-hollow direction of late – leaning on the indisputable charms of a cherry red ES-335.
“I’ve been really enjoying using it; it’s a big body,” she explains. “They’re just big and kind of like Beatlesy and like very 60s. The reason why I love it so much is because it’s huge and so resonant because of the acoustic body. You can feel the vibrations against your stomach and chest as you play it.
“It’s more of a holistic experience where you can feel the music. Instead of an extension, it feels much more like an attachment, and has a warm and nice sound. It’s very classic, and one of the oldest electric guitars, so it’s been around for most of popular music history.”
“I fell in love with this instrument, so I think it would be a disservice to myself and the audience to put that in the background”
Security Blanket
Bird’s first brush with guitars came at a young age, during school lessons when she lived in Thailand. In those early days, she persevered because of her dad’s insistence that she had talent, but nowadays the instrument is an extension of her sense of self. “It gives me a sense of security. When I’m on stage, and I don’t have my guitar, I feel fucking naked,” she admits.
There’s a throughline in her life and art, where instrument, identity and sound mesh. Bird had no intentions of becoming “the lesbian Mick Jagger”, but after watching an awe-inspiring Jimi Hendrix documentary (and plenty of old YouTube tutorials), Bird picked up enough tricks. Flipping the script, then, with Gentleman, was playful subversion, bringing her own queer lens to gender.
“When I was growing up, I never really saw myself fitting into any specific box in terms of sexuality or gender identity,” she says. “My androgyny comes from a place of comfort in the same way that a guitar made me feel really comfortable.”
Image: Kristen Jan Wong for Guitar.com
Olivia Rodrigo is a pop artist who is also credited with inducting a new generation of fans to the magic of guitar, and the celebration of music from a bygone age. It’s something that Bird got to experience up close, and has clearly left an impression.
“Honestly, one of the things that I feel about Olivia – while she’s on a different level – we’re sort of doing [things] in tandem,” she says. “I had Kathleen [Hanna] on my record and [Olivia] has Robert Smith, and she did something with David Byrne as well, recently. We’re bringing these legacy artists and bringing it to people who are maybe under 21.”
The Hanna collab in question is the track All Gone, which sees Bird and the Bikini Kill icon revel in skittering drums, power chords and buzzed-up vocals. It’s a demonstration and a reminder that riot grrrl music is thriving and the guitar scene is anyone’s game.
“When we were writing this record, we were sending reference playlists back and forth, and on every single playlist was a Bikini Kill song or one of Kathleen’s records,” Bird recalls. “So when we were looking for collaborations, we thought we should just fucking swing for it and it happened – I got my dream.”
“My androgyny comes from a place of comfort in the same way that a guitar made me feel really comfortable”
Making Gentleman was a long process for Bird – it took nearly 12 months for her to get the music to a place where she felt revived and authentic. You can hear that fresh enthusiasm in the guitars across the album, positively thrumming with hope and panache.
And Towa Bird is in no hurry to plan her next move – the thoughtfulness that has come to epitomise her guitar style playing out in her career, even as she jets around the world from New York to LA, Hong Kong and beyond.
“I’m not really rushing to make a decision. I’m trying to be okay with living in the unknown a little bit,” she says. “I’m doing well as a person and that is a foundation that is going to really help inform my next project. I’m writing from a place of security and joy, instead of desperation and approval seeking. I think a listener can really tell when it’s writing for oneself rather than writing for the world.”
Words: Z. Raza-Sheikh
Photography: Kristen Jan Wong
Location: 503DTLA
The post “It’s the reason why I got into music in the first place” Towa Bird on reclaiming her status as a new generation guitar hero appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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