Magical musical musings and insightful interview conducted by the marvellous John Matthews.

It has been what feels like a very long weekend at Convenanza, the boutique electronic music festival that takes place annually in the beautiful surroundings of a medieval castle in Carcassonne in the South of France, and I’m starting to feel the pace (and my age). Over the past three days I’ve witnessed some amazing live acts and DJs and eaten and drunk to my hearts content, but now it feels as if it’s all catching up with me. The 2025 edition is the 7th time I’ve attended the festival and the Sunday night closing party is usually my least favourite event of the weekend due to tiredness and the inevitable overcrowding in the intimate confines of the open air Le Bar A Vins. I could well do with an early night but there’s a buzz in the air surrounding the appearance of a young female DJ, who is making her Convenanza debut, and I’m intrigued. Fortunately my friends have chanced upon a prime elevated spot close to the dance floor so I decide to settle in and see how long I can last. Half way through Irvine Welsh’s disco set I’ve really had enough and when camera phones are held aloft during “Born Slippy” I’m looking for my jacket. But then the atmosphere shifts abruptly as Tia Cousins’ opening tune unexpectedly takes the tempo down several notches and the mass of sweaty hedonistic bodies on the dance floor are stopped firmly in their tracks. My curiosity is immediately piqued, my weariness fades and for the next four hours I find myself completely immersed in one of the most innovative, interesting and inspirational DJ sets I have witnessed in many years. Tia Cousins takes me on a genre defying sonic adventure that has no rules and throws in curve balls and surprises at every opportunity. I’m completely lost in a psychedelic whirlpool of unconventional sound with raw electronic beats and dirty loud bluesy guitar solos seemingly coming at me from every direction. I feel absolutely exhilarated dancing beneath the stars to this perfect alternative soundtrack and I’m clearly not the only one as by the time she plays her last tune, the remix of Spaceman 3’s “Big City”, the crowd are driven into a frenzy and Tia has them eating out of the palm of her hand. I stare up at the night sky and in that moment feel the presence of a guardian spirit looking down from above. A voice in my head speaks, “Andrew would most certainly approve.”

The past few years have seen Tia rise to prominence as one of the UK’s best young DJs. Her eclectic and versatile DJ sets incorporate techno, house, dark wave, EBM, post-punk and jazz, whilst a deep musical sensibility that belies her youth ensures she operates on the fringes of the musical spectrum with her experimental and obscure selections. Tia has DJ’d in some of the world’s most recognised clubs (Panorama Bar, Fabric) and at many of Europe’s most prominent festivals (Love International, Field Manoeuvres, Bugged Out). She has also played alongside selectors such as Optimo, Ruf Dug and Vladimir Ikovic and hosts a brilliant monthly show on Noods Radio. 

When we meet up, on a cold and dark winter’s afternoon in a quiet pub in Hackney, the unassuming DJ has just returned from a tour of the Far East and Asia with Ransom Note, whose founder Wil Troup, together with Tia, runs the ambient / new age label “Music To Watch Seeds Grow By”. 

How did the Asian tour go and which countries did you visit?

We went to Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong, where I had the opportunity to visit my family because I am half Chinese. I played a few small gigs but don’t like being away for long, so after six weeks I was very ready to come back. I like my home comforts.

I was blown away by your appearance at Convenanza last year and many people I know rated your set as one of the best they’d ever seen at the festival. How did it go from your perspective and did you feel any pressure playing the last set at the closing party?

I was actually really, really happy with how it went. I think it helped having been there as a punter a couple of times previously so I knew what to expect. I think it’s kind of easier to play somewhere you’ve been to before and you know what the vibe is. Previously we noticed that we were amongst the youngest people at the festival, and I did get a feeling that the older people kind thought that they owned the type of music that’s played and we had no right to be there. So when I came to play I thought, “I’ll fucking show you” to those with that attitude. Also, on the Monday before the festival, I realised I’d misplaced my passport. I couldn’t find it anywhere, so had to apply for an emergency passport and tell the festival organiser’s I might not not be able to play if the new passport didn’t turn up in time. Luckily the new passport arrived the day before I was due to fly, but the build up hadn’t been ideal as I had been stressed out all week and was even driven to tears. But in hindsight I actually think it made me play better because I was emotionally charged. I don’t really plan any of my sets, but I knew what tunes I was going to start and end with. The rest of the set I didn’t know what I was doing, I was winging it, but I also felt so comfortable that night and totally in the zone. I felt like I was possessed and found myself thinking two tunes ahead. It was amazing. Anyone can play dance music for four and a half hours but there’s not many people that can play dance music for that long and keep people engaged the whole time. That’s is why I like to throw in curveballs. When I go out I like the whole concept of “what the fuck is going on?” so that’s what I like to do to people when I play. I didn’t want to play a set to appease people at Convenanza, I wanted to play a set that could possibly make people angry. Playing the Le Bar A Vins gave me the opportunity to do something different because its not a club or the epic setting of the castle courtyard.

What are your favourite gigs to play?

I prefer gigs in smaller venues like the Golden Lion in Todmorden, and in the not so large cities and  towns in the UK, such as Nottingham and Stroud. In the smaller places, where not much happens socially, going out becomes almost like a pilgrimage and the energy is completely different to somewhere like London. People tend to like lose their fucking shit when they go out, which I think is such a beautiful thing. I love it when people are vibing as you vibe back off of them and it become a to and fro type of thing.

When I’ve seen you DJ you make it look very effortless. How would you describe your style?

I guess my style is a bit all over the place and I like to make it difficult for myself and play something that makes me think “how the fuck do I get out of this?” I like the panic of that kind of situation and I feed off the adrenaline. My sets are always spontaneous.

You play a lot of alternative guitar based music. Growing up, were you more influenced by bands than DJs?

Yes I was really into bands when I was growing up. I don’t listen to dance music at home, I only listen to dance music when I’m looking for music to play out. If I listen to music at home I’ll listen to folk or post-punky stuff.

What bands did you grow up listening to?

My Dad used to play Dire Straits in the car all the time so I used to fucking love them. I still really like them. I loved the Beach Boys and Elvis.

So how did you go from liking Dire Straits to being into alternative and post-punk music?

When I was growing up we had Spotify and lots of music was accessible. There was a blog called TUMBLR where people would always share music, so I used to end up going down wormholes discovering different music. I grew up as an internet kid and spent a lot of time online.

I’m really interested in how someone of your age can be so into, and have such knowledge of, post-punk and alternative guitar based music?

I used to listen to a lot of angsty music when I was growing up. Kerrang! was my favourite music publication and I loved pop punk music. Pop-punk and post-punk are similar in a sense and I guess that’s probably the bridge. Pop-punk is what I grew up listening to but as I got older and my tastes became more refined I ended up getting into post-punk.

Would you describe yourself as a music nut and do you spend a lot money on music?

Yeah I’m definitely a music nut. Music is probably one of the only things I actually like. I used to buy vinyl when I was a student, I used to spunk my student loan on records quite a lot. I’ve started buying vinyl again more recently, but its fucking expensive and I don’t play vinyl out, so it mainly just sits on the shelf gathering dust. There’s something beautiful about a record, and I have often bought records just for the sleeve art. Sometimes the record is good and sometimes it’s shit. I like to go to record shops when I’m abroad as you can I like to find music I haven’t heard before. Italy is always good for hunting down Italo records that you can’t find anywhere else.

Who is your current favourite music artist?

Sabrina Carpenter, the pop star. I think she’s great. 

What are your favourite clubs?

I don’t really go out to that much but have been to Om in Dalston recently and really enjoyed it there. I like Phonox in Brixton, as I used to go every weekend when I was at university, so I guess it’s like a nostalgia thing.

Techno or House?

I’d say house. It’s a bit more groovy, but I used to go to lots of techno parties, all weekend, every weekend. However, since lockdown I haven’t been into it that much. I still like EBM and stuff like Nitzer Ebb though. And also Throbbing Gristle* who are a big favourite and influence. When I first started DJing I used to play banging techno back to back with a friend at a Sunday morning club called Jaded at Corsica Studios. I used to go out a lot and met people who ran nights so I got asked to play for them which is how I first got into DJing.

Would you say your radio shows have always been a big part of your DJing career?

Yes I guess so. Radio definitely helped me get into DJing, but what I play on the radio is very different to what I play out in a club. I started DJing out and on the radio at roughly the same time when I was 19. My first radio show was for a small station based in Swansea and the opportunity for a show on NTS cropped up when I was 20 or 21. It was great experience but in hindsight I didn’t really know what I was doing and I didn’t take it seriously enough.

How did you get in to DJing? 

When I was at university my friend got a pair of decks and he used to keep them in my room because his girlfriend was a psycho and she wouldn’t let him have them in her room. I used to smoke a lot of weed and was quite unsociable so I would just stay in and DJ in my bedroom. I guess learning to DJ kind of happened by accident. Later, I started to go out a lot and meet people who ran nights. I think it was a case of talking to people and not giving a fuck because I was young that led to being asked to play for them. I never thought I want to be a DJ, I was just doing my thing and was happy to be offered whatever came my way. I’ve never been one to ask people for things as I’m extremely anxious. I have an insane fear of rejection. When I first discovered DJing I thought it was  about beat matching, I hadn’t ever seen it as about selecting music or considered that selecting is an art in itself. I went to see Ruby Savage at a Boiler Room event and she was just selecting and I thought it was so fucking cool.

So do you consider yourself to be a DJ or a selector?

Both. Obviously when I play on the radio I’m a selector but even when I’m DJing out I like to break it up with selector moments. I don’t like DJing when things are too linear, I like to just go off.

At what point did you start to take DJing seriously?

I guess when I was first approached by an agent. I remember at the time thinking what the fuck’s an agent? Also around that time I got an email from a guy at Fabric with my name on a proposed line up and I thought how the fuck do you even know who I am? That’s the point at which I began to think maybe I should start taking this seriously. Even when people ask me to DJ for them now I still wonder how they know about me and what I am doing.

What was your first clubbing experience?

I went to see Annie Mac at Koko for my 18th birthday. She is very well respected, since not only is she a great radio DJ but also a great club DJ too. Which is quite a rarity. I thought she was really cool when I was younger.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Colchester in Essex where there was a really big tech house scene. I used to go to loads of tech house parties as there was nothing else happening at the time. Colchester is only 50 minutes on the train from London, so we then started to go to clubs like XOYO to see Scuba and Artwork and people like that. The clubs finished at 4am so we’d usually end up waiting until 6am for the first train shivering in the cold. My parents would pick me up from the station and I’d have to just get on with my day and not sleep because I didn’t want them to know what I’d been up to. I’m still partial to a bit of tech house.

Are you ambitious ?

Kind of, but I don’t like to put too much pressure on myself. I think if I hold myself to too high a standard I’d be bummed out about stuff. DJing isn’t the be all and end all of my life. If it works out great. but if not its been fun and a privilege.

So far, I’m pleased to say, it most certainly has worked out for Tia. She is a rare talent, who effortlessly bridges the gap between musical education and floor-filling entertainment. I would suggest you find out where she is playing and catch her at the earliest opportunity. You will not regret it.

Bearing that in mind, Tia plays three separate sets at the 2026 edition of the Convenanza festival on 25th, 26th and 27th September. 

*Post-interview, Tia and I spent quite some time talking about one of our favourite bands, Throbbing Gristle. Her knowledge of the band is highly impressive.

An abridged edit of this interview first appeared in the Spring 2026 edition of Faith Fanzine.