Welcome to another installment of our Creator Spotlight series, where we feature talented creative professionals in our community. Today, we sit down with Tefty & Meems, two creative powerhouses who have made significant waves in both the music and digital content spheres. Let's learn more about what drives their artistry.
Talk to us about the beginnings of your careers and how you got started.
We met in college! Both music majors. We started writing songs and doing music production and then started landing TV spots! By 2010 we decided to move to Hollywood and opened up a production studio in NoHo. Worked with a lot of indie bands at the time. By 2014 we started shifting focus into content creation (YouTube first) and began learning the ropes of video production and live streaming.
Can you tell us about your earliest influences as well as the people that inspire you today?
Meems: I grew up in the 90s so a lot of top 40s, adult contemporary, hip hop and r&b. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Lauren Hill. Also old Filipino folk songs that my father used to sing to me.
Tefty: My brother had a bunch of 70s and 80s music growing up so I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Metallica, 80s hair bands etc. I listened to lots of 90s hip hop, too.
We both listened and studied classical music as well, so that played a fairly large influence in musical taste over the years.
Today, we love seeing YouTube channels like State Azure putting out creativity.
What are the biggest strengths you each bring to your joint creative process? Do your skills and approaches complement each other in specific ways?
Tefty: Oh yes! Our skills definitely complement each other! Meems is a vocal and melody powerhouse. I’ll create a beat in the studio and she instantly starts developing ideas. Been that way for years! Lately though she’s been starting beats on the MPC…
Meems: Yeah I started writing beats on the MPC about 2 years ago, still a novice lol, and then Tefty will take what I start and he’ll do sound design, mixing, refinement. Then if inspiration hits, I start writing a song around it.
Tefty: Our musical process is pretty worked out at this point lol we’ve been writing together for 2 decades. For content creation, we pass the reigns back and forth for video editing depending on the project and scope. I’ll typically do the traditional talking head style videos and Meems will go through and edit out all the fluff. Once we have an edit, I handle the color grading and final audio mix for videos.
What's the most surprising thing you've learned about yourselves through this journey of creating music together?
I’d say the most surprising thing is realizing we didn’t understand our ‘sound’ in the beginning. We tried trends, followed viral moments etc etc and ultimately ended up relearning how to follow our pure inspiration to find our sound. Some people get this right away, others like us can take a long time lol
How has technology affected your careers? Does anything in particular excite you about where technology's going right now?
After 2 decades technology has changed A LOT! Social media is probably the biggest factor. It’s exciting to see the true indie artist have all the tools available today, from recording, mixing to creating content to promote, and have all the platforms available to be successful. What’s difficult to remember is that being commercially successful as an artist requires treating the content as a business. It can be tough to remember that when you’re creating art.
Can you tell us about how you utilize Glyph products in your workflow?
Yes! We’ve been using the Atom EV 8TB drive to store all of our current projects and it’s been amazing! The speeds haven’t slowed down so when it’s crunch time to deliver a sponsored project, we can finish it reliably.
Can you tell us about a time having a data storage strategy prevented you from losing important work?
We have an UNRAID machine that backs up all our projects and finished exports. This machine handles 24tb so we can record multi camera projects comfortably and store them on the server for a few months before it’s time to utilize the footage/finish the project. We’ve had previous ssd drives get corrupted, so this server method is clutch in saving projects.
Can you touch on some of your more recent career highlights? What were some of the most gratifying moments of your careers?
It’s tough to beat that first time getting a placement on a TV show. Our very first one was on CSI NY and we remember seeing Gary Sinese on screen with our song in the background lol This was before streaming was a thing. Another proud moment was producing and mixing the Unfortunates record. It was the soundtrack to a musical that went up at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Our friends wrote the show so it was an honor to get to have a creative hand in that project.
Most recently seeing all the comments we get from our indie synth wave/ambient inspired music on our YouTube channel has been very humbling. We’re in a bit of a building phase right now for our next releases, so it’s great seeing those comments.
How do you stay inspired and motivated creatively?
Meems: Try to show up everyday. Monday through Friday. Even if you create something that isn’t exciting, you showed up. Practice always makes your craft better, but you don’t realize it when it’s happening!
Tefty: I think the hardest thing to remember is that creativity can be very boring. It’s a lot of trying things, seeing what doesn’t work, and criticizing your own work. But you gotta do it. Just show up, make the stuff and move on. We try to review our weekly beats at the end of the month and cherry pick the gems. It’s surprising what’s really good! Some things you didn’t like at first, but end up being gems.
What advice would you give to aspiring creators?
Meems: Don’t overthink, show up everyday. If you’re scared, you should probably release it. Maintain a schedule, but also give yourself breaks. If you keep taking from the pot, eventually it’s empty. So you gotta take time to fill it.
Tefty: Have fun! But don’t be discouraged when things ‘suck’ lol Also it’s okay to pivot and reshape what you want to achieve. We’ve gone through many musical genres looking for ‘OUR’ art. It takes time to find yourself, especially when social media is bombarding you.
It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with Tefty & Meems for this Creator Spotlight. Their journey highlights the importance of adaptability, the power of complementary skills, and the ongoing quest for authentic creative expression. We're grateful for their transparency and the valuable lessons they've shared. Catch some of their amazing content on YouTube and be sure to follow them on Instagram.
