Q&A: Tiger La Flor Reimagines Americana in “Drugstore Cowgirl” EP
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
IN A BOLD NEW INCARNATION OF THE “ALL AMERICAN GIRL” – Tiger La Flor’s debut EP Drugstore Cowgirl arrives as a fresh, dreamy reimagining of classic Americana, bringing with it the soulful spirit of country music and a touch of indie flair. For La Flor, this project is a statement of identity and perseverance in a genre often defined by its lack of diversity.
La Flor’s love for country and Americana is deeply rooted in her upbringing. “I was drawn to creating a Country Americana record since those are two genres I grew up loving,” she reflects. However, as an Asian-American artist in a space predominantly occupied by white voices, she felt hesitant at first. "I felt awkward," she confides. With encouragement from her producer, Travis Heidelman, La Flor took that leap: “If you like the music, that’s reason enough to make it.”
Drugstore Cowgirl’s opening track, “LASSO THE MOON,” sets the tone both sonically and thematically. Its nostalgic, 50s-inspired melodies are the perfect backdrop to a series of personal stories, one of which includes her parents' nearly too-good-to-be-true love story.
The heart of Drugstore Cowgirl lies in its celebration of freedom – the freedom to love, to let go and to choose yourself. Tracks like “AMERICAN DREAMS” and “HEAVEN IS A HARLEY” explore what it means to be unapologetically free and independent. “AMERICAN DREAMS” is a moody, western-inspired ballad that reflects on the pain of leaving behind the familiar comforts of home and relationships that didn’t fulfill her. Over warm, reverberating acoustics, La Flor softly sings, “If I had given up my dreams, wonder where we would be now?” It’s a moment of introspection, of realizing the importance of following one’s path, no matter the cost.
“HEAVEN IS A HARLEY” brings a sense of liberation that’s fueled by movement. The sound of a motorcycle revving to life in the intro serves as an electric invitation to break free and embrace the exhilarating rush of independence. “I’m better when I’m set free,” she declares as the song builds into a powerful anthem of self-discovery and growth. For La Flor, the motorcycle symbolizes the spirit of freedom, a metaphor for letting go of what doesn’t serve you and chasing after your truest desires.
The EP is also a reflection of La Flor’s personal journey of living out her own American dreams. After moving to Paris and traveling through Europe alone, she embraced the essence of liberation, which shaped the lyrics of “HEAVEN IS A HARLEY.”
Much of Drugstore Cowgirl is defined by this impulse of following your heart and seeing what happens when you take leaps of faith. It’s as much a love letter to the wild scenic landscapes of her youth growing up in the Pacific Northwest as it is an ode to the highs and heartbreaks of her twenties.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
TIGER LA FLOR: I call my nostalgia core pop, and I think everything I do sonically is inspired by nostalgia. I always tell people that I primarily listen to old records, so a lot of my sound is trying to bring those old records that I grew up listening to, that I'm still listening to, into the modern soundscape and drawing inspiration, but also making those sounds modern for the listener today.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
TIGER LA FLOR: The feeling I try to capture is the feeling of a blurry polaroid image of one of the best nights of your life. A press writer once wrote that about my music. He said it felt like that and after I read that, going forward, that's going to be my green light when I'm writing that I want to capture my music.
LUNA: You have released your newest EP Drugstore Cowgirl and huge congratulations! It feels like a fresh yet nostalgic take on Country Americana. Can you talk about the inspiration behind the project and the themes and emotions you explore?
TIGER LA FLOR: I've always loved Americana and country music, especially some of those older bands that are adjacent to that world, like Fleetwood Mac, and I felt like I couldn't make music like that for the longest time because I'm Japanese and Korean, and you really see no Asian representation in that space. I always felt growing up, that even though I love these sounds, that world wouldn't make sense for me as an artist to participate in. When this project rolled around, and country was blowing up, I really wanted to do this record. Luckily, I had collaborators around me that were very encouraging. They were saying that it doesn't matter who you are, what your racial background is, if this music calls for you, you can definitely be a part of that. Drugstore Cowgirl was me wanting to do a take on country and Americana, but in a way that felt really unique to me.
LUNA: What did the creative process look like? How did the songs evolve from the initial idea to its final version?
TIGER LA FLOR: I always start my projects by moodboarding out the visual world I'm trying to create with an album very cinematic. I'll even come up with what if this were a movie soundtrack? How does each track fall in that movie soundtrack? What is the protagonist doing? There's really a visual element to it. After I moodboarded out all of that, I took that into the room when we were working on the songs, into the sessions with the producers and the writers. Then we'd do as many sessions as we needed to get the vibe right for each of the tracks going into it. We knew they were going to be five tracks, and once we had settled on those songs, it was basically going back and forth with the producer to make sure the production was great, the next step going back and forth with the mixer to make sure that was great. The last step was mastering.
LUNA: “LASSO THE MOON” has resonated deeply with listeners, especially for its romantic storytelling. Did you expect the song to connect so strongly with your listeners?
TIGER LA FLOR: I knew going in. It was funny, because after we finished the record, even before we'd written the songs, I knew what the concepts were going to be for each song. I knew that my listeners were going to resonate most with that track. That track was the one we actually wrote last that I thought had the most pressure on it, because I know that the people who listen to my music are the hopeless romantic type. I knew they were going to love the concept behind “LASSO THE MOON.” The response has been incredible, and going into it, I was hopeful that that would be the response.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from Drugstore Cowgirl and why do you love it? Is there a certain lyric or message that stands out to you the most?
TIGER LA FLOR: My favorite song is “HEAVEN IS A HARLEY” because that song is the last song on the record. Going into writing that song, I knew that was going to be the ending scene. I imagined the visual would be the protagonist driving off into the sunset on a Harley motorcycle after she's realized that she's her own love of her life. I think my favorite lyric is, “Got the wind in my hair and my worries in my rear view / I'm not attached in the way I used to.” I think that message is the one that resonates the most with me where I am right now in my life, which is that powerful message of being able to detach from everything that doesn't serve you, and really go out and chase your dreams, which, even though I'm always a sucker for a love song, but to me, at least that’s really what resonates with me right now.
LUNA: You’ve spoken about initially feeling awkward stepping into the country music space as an Asian American artist. How did you navigate that hesitation and ultimately embrace the genre as your own?
TIGER LA FLOR: I think a big part of it came from realizing I could make it my own, sonically, visually, even the topics that I'm writing about, because obviously I didn't grow up like in the South. I'm from Seattle, Washington. It's not going to feel authentic to me to be singing about driving around and in a truck and drinking beer. It was realizing I could take the sonics that I love, like the pedal steel guitars, the banjo, all the instrumentation, and then make everything else really my own, from the fashion that we chose to the lyrical content. I'm super excited with how it turned out. It feels like it's influenced by country and Americana, but also draws a lot of sonic inspiration from Nat King Cole and Lana Del Rey and these artists outside of that space.
LUNA: What do you hope listeners take away from this EP, especially those who might be grappling with their own identity or chasing their own version of the American dream?
TIGER LA FLOR: I would hope people find the confidence to chase whatever their dreams are, regardless of their identity or what they think is possible for them. I think my larger goal as an Asian American artist is to be able to step into those things, whether it's genres that don't have Asian representation, or hopefully in the future, breaking records that Asian American artists haven't broken yet. I hope that everyone can find that in themselves too, to really chase their dreams regardless of their identity.
LUNA: Did you take any creative risks or experiment more either lyrically, emotionally or sonically with Drugstore Cowgirl since your see me in hell EP?
TIGER LA FLOR: I think the lyrics on Drugstore Cowgirl are, are very tongue-in-cheek at times, almost Sabrina Carpenter-ish. My favorite lyric on “MOST WANTED MAN” is, “I'm not the Exxon leading my ex on. / Yeah, he's an ex con.” There are all these funny lyrical lines that I felt were risky if it was going to come across as cheesy. I think we executed it in a way that we could fit in these wild lyrics and have it not feel corny, at least that's my hope.
LUNA: Since a lot of your work touches on self love and empowerment, what are your favorite ways to show self love and care to yourself?
TIGER LA FLOR: This is so unique to me, but things that I really love doing for myself include going on solo hikes, especially in Los Angeles. I love going for runs along Manhattan Beach, or a little hike in Runyon Canyon. Meditation. Every morning I meditate. Journaling. Also taking time for self care. I did this challenge right after I finished writing this record; I flew to Paris, and I lived in Paris for three months and I did this challenge called the date yourself challenge. I didn't know anyone in Paris, so I was just hanging out alone, but I would just take myself on solo dates. I think that experience at first, I felt super uncomfortable doing it, going alone to restaurants or to a museum or whatever. After I did it for a couple months straight, it really changed my life and my relationship with myself. I would encourage anyone to take themselves on a solo date, get dressed up, do your makeup, and there's no better feeling than when you really fall in love with yourself.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
TIGER LA FLOR: I'm feeling so excited in this current era of my career. I love Drugstore Cowgirl. I'm even more excited about the project that's going to come out afterwards that I've started writing. I'm so excited that this project has gotten me in front of some new fans, and I'm just really excited to continue building out those relationships and also hitting the road and going on tour and being able to actually meet people in real life is something I'm super excited about. I have a girl band with my bassist and my little sister is my drummer, so I'm excited to get the girl band on the road and actually go out and meet people this coming year.
