“It’s just honestly like a dream come true,” said Tiras Pie –also known as T. Pie– in an interview the day before Fallapalooza. “I feel like everything I’ve done for the past four years kind of prepared me for this moment”. T. Pie, a student musician, was voted by fellow Lions at Mane Entertainment’s Singer/Songwriter competition to be the opening act at the ASLMU concert for headliners Umi and Cordae on Sunday, Oct. 1.
This concert was not T. Pie’s first encounter with a large crowd, as he had been performing his music in Los Angeles for several years. He said, “I think more recently, I’ve been making a lot of music with having the fact in mind that I want to perform it on the big stage in front of a big crowd.”
In preparation for the performance, he mentioned that following the competition, it took him a week to build his setlist, as many of his current fan-favorite songs were “[for] the car and vibes”, however he planned to perform more upbeat songs for Fallapalooza, “This is a festival, this should be jumping and having fun. I was really trying to keep that in mind”.
Like a seasoned performer, he also added that he practiced his blocking and speeches for his set. “Last week I was nervous, now I am just excited,” he declared before his final rehearsal on Oct. 1. He was most eager to perform some of his unreleased work, anticipated to drop in October.
T. Pie stated that he is grateful for the LMU community, as he shared his appreciation for Open Mic Nights, Mane Entertainment’s weekly opportunity for students to perform, as it allows other artists to build a fanbase with their peers and receive feedback, which is motivation that wouldn’t occur as often outside of the school. He also acknowledged his producers, some of whom are fellow students at the university, that expand his range with different producers and sound engineers. T. Pie’s advice for aspiring musicians at LMU is to make music that makes them happy, “At the end of the day, your music is a reflection of yourself and your creativity and your personality.”
Lions can continue to follow T. Pie’s music journey as it continues to take off through his Spotify, and through music videos coming out within the year for his upcoming releases, including all of the songs performed at Fallapalooza.
