INTERVIEW: Otherwoman drops debut single

Auckland-based artist day13n and frequent collaborator TAMiii have long been known for their innovative alternative rap sound and now, alongside their trusted producer Taimana, they’ve crystallise their sonic partnership in a dedicated new project called Otherwoman. This exciting new venture sees the trio draw on their shared musical vision, bringing a unified energy to their already established chemistry.

Making their official debut under the Otherwoman name, they introduce themselves with their first single titled “Existential Crisis”, a grungy and reflective track that arrives on Valentine’s Day, but not in the way you might expect. While most artists lean into love and romance for a February 14th release, Otherwoman flips the script, delivering an anthem of solitude, self-reflection and personal validation.

Blending elements of Earl Sweatshirt’s brooding lyricism with the gritty energy of grunge acts like Nirvana, “Existential Crisis” stitches together melancholic instrumentation and dark, melodic textures. Yet beneath the shadowy exterior lies an undercurrent of optimism, as the chorus encourages listeners to embrace time alone and find strength within themselves rather than seeking validation from others.

While the track marks the project’s official entrance, the track itself has already been making an impact with fans of day13n, TAMiii and Taimana becoming familiar with the song for some time, having heard it performed live at JMSN’s tour and Artists for Palestine with CHAII. The audience response at these events was overwhelming, with social media buzzing with calls for an official release long before the announcement was made. Now, with the track finally out in the world, Otherwoman is set to build on the anticipation and deliver a landmark year of music.

Offering an alternative context to soundtrack for the day of affection, the song opens with moody guitar plucks and twanging notes before TAMiii’s hushed vocal flows enter, giving way to the intensity of day13n’s gravelly delivery. Flowing with the punch of pulsing beats and shrouded in dark sonic atmosphere, the two vocalists trade bars to deliver a slick and enthralling soundscape wrapped up in a potent hundred second dose.

To mark the release of their debut single, Otherwoman is embarking on a one-of-a-kind tour, performing live at Auckland beaches throughout next month. With three more singles, a full-length album, exclusive physical releases and a nationwide tour all on the horizon, 2025 is set to be a breakout year for this thrilling new supergroup who’ll no doubt be joined by countless fans on their exciting musical adventure.

We caught up with Otherwoman to find out more about the new project, their debut single “Existential Crisis” and what they’ve got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with Otherwoman below.

Hey guys, how’s things?

Taimana: Good good it’s only 0 degrees here in Berlin so it’s pretty good. Pretty cosy!

day13n: It’s way too hot in Auckland. Yeah, things are good though.

TAMiii: Good! I think the temperature’s juuuuuuuuust right!

Having previously collaborated, what sparked the idea to form a completely new project together?

Taimana: Well we had all been collaborating with each other in pairs. We all are part of the TKT (Te Karanga Trust) and I had been mentoring TAMiiii and day13n the past couple years. They had been collaborating independently of the ‘Navigators’ programme where we met. TAMiii and day13n worked on previous projects together L.O.V.E. and Growing Pains.

day13n invited us to work at Big Pop studios. We ended up working a lot in there together making some really cool and different stuff. Really rock influenced. We kept joking about us being a band. We even named our group chat ‘The Band’.

day13n: I had started doing distribution through Big Pop, and they offered me access to a demo studio they have called ‘the red room’. TAMiii and Taimana were the two artists I was collaborating with the most, so when the opportunity to upgrade from the community centre studio we’d been working in before came up, it was a no-brainer to bring them along.

Taimana: Then when we got to the logistics of releasing stuff on Spotify, and the whole thing of how many artists can be featured we brought up the idea that maybe it’d be easier to come under one name rather than 3 individuals. After talking to Joost and Chris from Big Pop about future longevity they nudged us off into becoming the band we are now.

TAMiii: Yeah I mean what they said … It was just super organic. we formed relationships through TKT and just became really good friends that liked working together and it snowballed from there… We’ve just kept starting new projects even before finishing others and that’s exactly how existential crisis happened. And it was at about that point when, after joking about being a band for so long we realised we pretty much already were one haha.

Is there a story or meaning behind the name?

Taimana: Yes! And just how supernatural seeming and organic this band has come together so had the name come too…

TAMiii: Hahaha yeah that was actually super organic too…

day13n: TAMiii was caught up unwillingly in some drama. I don’t know how much she wants to get into it, but there was this couple who were acting all weird towards her, and one night we were out for kava and we were talking about it, and basically saying how it seemed like they were almost treating her like the other woman… and then I was just like omg that has to be the band name.

TAMiii: we’d been messing around with ideas but nothing felt right until day13n and I were having that conversation and it just clicked.

Taimana: …and then when they came to me I was like “no way damn that’s crazy you aren’t even ready to hear how this fits with my life story so much! So idk if your guys’ mums are into astrology but my mum was an astrology girly waaaay before the bisexuals got tiktok. She’s old school . One day she got my chart out , and I didn’t really believe in it but I sorta rolled my eyes and listened to what it said about me. So a bit into the reading she talked about this asteroid called Lilith. She will sit somewhere in a certain house in your chart and it’s an indication that you’ve got a tough lesson to learn from her. Mum told me that she’s in my relationship house and that I’m always getting involved in love triangles and that I’m always the third. And when she said that my love life flashed before my eyes because I was like damn that really do be happening. How many damn times have I been caught up in the situation! So yeah that made me low key believe in astrology cuz in that certain circumstance It was accurate. So when they came and said “Otherwoman” I was like damn that hits cuz I’ve been the Otherwoman.

TAMiii: It immediately felt right, and as soon as we told Taimana and realised how much it resonated with all of us we just knew it was our band name.

Taimana: And idk if you know of the Lilith archetype but she’s the dark mother and known as Adam’s first wife. So she’s the OG Otherwoman shout outs to Lilith.

day13n: Lilith is a bad bitch.

How does your artistic vision as Otherwoman differ from your individual works?

Taimana: For me it’s been the easiest way to work with anyone with music. It’s just so easy to collab with each other we’re always so happy to just roll with what others want . It’s just so organic. There’s a spiritual teaching of “do whatever brings you your highest joy without expecting any certain outcome”. And I think when we’re creating together we really embody that. We’ve found when we try too hard we get stuck so we just always try to have as much fun with it as possible.

day13n: It’s definitely about having fun for me as well. In my solo stuff I can often collapse in on myself, so it’s really great to have an outlet where the primary focus is just hanging out and not taking it too seriously.

TAMiii: For me working in the band is extremely liberating of any ideas or concepts and that really relieves the pressure I put on myself as an individual artist… we’re all so vastly different and when we make music together we’re so open to whatever happens knowing it’s gonna be a blend of things already and that opens the door further to allowing whatever comes in to influence what we do … and yeah like the boys said we just focus on having fun together and we end up making music that we really love. A lot of the time we’re really just laughing and being silly.

Which artists have you been listening to recently?

ALL: IDOL ESSENCE. WE LOVE YOU I.E.

Are there any influences in particular for this project?

Taimana: Rock, Grunge. Nirvana , SOAD.

day13n: I don’t know if the musical inspirations were really conscious, as much as it just happened naturally. I remember one of the songs we made for the album: the initial inspiration I had was childish gambino, but by the time the track was finished, I don’t think you could pick up on that influence at all.

TAMiii: It was honestly just inspired by the vibe for me haha.

How did you find making your debut single as Otherwoman, “Existential Crisis”

Taimana: Again so easy, so organic. We were trying to finish another track and we were getting frustrated with it. Well I was anyway. Those two went off to get food and I stayed behind . I had a little riff in my head and played it on the Gretsch that they have in the studio. I sloppily recorded it then added a kick and a subass. Didn’t think too much about it . They got back like 30 minutes later. I think I might’ve initially played it on the guitar for them then I showed them the beat and they loved it and were instantly all over it.

TAMiii: I remember hearing the beat and instantly loving it, it was one of the fastest and easiest hooks I’ve ever written I think? After that I got a bit stuck and played plants vs zombies on my phone while day13n was still writing hahaha I eventually locked back in and wrote my bars after playing a silly game on my phone and hearing day13n’s fire verse!

day13n: I remember after we got back I was taking a shit, and the bathroom shares a wall with the studio. I could hear Taimana playing this new guitar riff through the wall and TAMiii singing along and I was like omg I don’t know what new shit they’re on right now but it is so lit. And honestly I thought my verse was kind of trash until I saw TAMiii’s reaction to it hahaha

What were your inspirations for writing it?

Taimana: TAMiii came to the studio in her feels. She’d been going through it with a boy but she was pissed that day. My inspiration was I wanted to try to make a grungy jersey beat.

TAMiii: Hahahaha there have been many times that I’ve come to these guys in my feels about a boy! But yeah like Taimana said I was angry that day! I was just fed up with the manipulation and how badly I felt I had been mistreated in this particular situation and realised it was so much better to be alone than dealing with that kind of BS! Hahahaha oh damn! *Insert name here*

day13n: I was just trying to riff off these guys, and I know we’ve said it like a hundred times now… but it was just really organic man hahaha

What message do you hope gets across in the song?

Taimana: It’s about self love. We’ve all been through some bad heartbreak. TAMiii and I in the past couple years and it’s really forced us to learn and practice self love. So this song is an ode to loving one’s self. Learning to sit at home on a Friday night and be there with/for yourself.

day13n: I think if any one lyric could encapsulate the entirety of the message for me, it would be when TAMiii says ‘forgetting all the pretty little lies I’ve been fed, I’m running with my own instincts instead.” The song might sound sad at first, and parts of it are, but ultimately, like Taimana said – it’s a song about empowering yourself, looking inwards, taking your life into your own hands, and no longer relying on external validation to provide you a sense of comfort.

TAMiii: I think the boys nailed that one … sometimes lonely is the vibe.

What can fans expect to hear from you next?

day13n: The one year anniversary of ‘Growing Pains’ is March 15th. It’s the song that pretty much set us on this path, so we’ve got an exclusive physical release planned for it that we’re really excited about

What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming tour?

day13n: Going to the South Island. I haven’t been there yet.

Taimana: Connecting with communities that I usually wouldn’t have before.

TAMiii: Seeing how the fuck we pull together a tour.

Looking ahead, what do you have lined up for the rest of 2025?

day13n: We’re rolling out a whole album, culminating with this NZ wide tour… if we can pull it off. So we’ve got a jam-packed year ahead full of single releases, shows, merch drops, and a whole bunch of fun stuff. We may or may not have a song with our collective favourite artist Idol Essence coming soon… but you’ll have to wait for more info on that one.

Listen to Existential Crisis below