TTSSFU finds strength in embracing the chaos

Messy pub nights, tackling stage fright, and advice straight from Dave Grohl himself: TTSSFU, also known as Tasmin Stephens, has lived through an eventful 18 months. Between the chaos of it all, the Wigan-born, Manchester-based DIY artist has quickly become one of the north-west’s most exciting new voices.

When NME speaks with her on Zoom just after the release of ‘Call U Back’, the lead single from her upcoming EP Blown (out August 29), she admits the last few weeks have felt overwhelming. “I was really worried about the single,” she says. “I didn’t think it’d do very well. I’ve just listened to it so much that I was like, ‘Oh, this is shit!’, but now it’s out I’m like, ‘Oh no – this is actually the best thing I’ve ever released!’”

Stephens might be enjoying a creative high now, but getting to Blown was not easy. Writer’s block and imposter syndrome set in just as she signed with Partisan Records (home to Fontaines D.C. and Geese). “I literally wanted to die. I’d just been signed and I couldn’t write a thing!” she remembers. At the same time, she was unhappy with her live shows. “I realized my live sets were really doomy and not very… fun,” she says. “So my goal was to write some happy pop songs, but as I wrote them, nothing felt honest or real.”

It wasn’t until she met someone who “really pissed [her] off” that inspiration returned. Out of that frustration came Blown, a jagged, glitchy collection shaped by influences like The Cure, Wolf Alice, and Sky Ferreira. The EP traces Stephens’ first steps into adulthood, opening with the raucous “chaos night-out anthem” Cat Piss Junkie, then moving to the shoegaze-leaning Forever, a dedication to her best friend.

 “And then it slowly starts going really downhill, into the deeper feelings of what’s going on…” she explains. Sick dives into gothic lust before the closing track, Being Young, channels Xiu Xiu with its raw mix of distortion, piercing guitar, and hushed vocals. It is catchy yet heavy, full of vulnerability and self-awareness, and it ties the project together as a bittersweet alt-pop statement.

Even though she feared revealing so much of herself, she felt she had no choice. “The privilege of being signed by someone like Partisan meant I really needed to push myself to be as open as I can be, because that’s where I find the best music.” By confronting that fear, she reminded herself that honesty has always mattered more than anything else. Tom Cruise attends Oasis Wembley gig with Goldie – despite band previously calling him “a little fucker”

That sense of openness was present on her earlier EP Me, Jed and Andy, inspired by artists like Alex G, Soko, and Coma Cinema. Created entirely in GarageBand, it gave her complete control over what she shared while creating a low-pressure space to refine her sound obsessively. “I’ve always been quite cruel to myself and thought, if something is shit, then it’s shit and you need to realise that. I’m lucky that once I thought things were good enough, everything just kinda panned out.”

TTSSFU began attracting attention thanks to Stephens’ other project, the dream pop band Duvet, where she plays guitar. After they signed to FOMO Records, people in the industry began showing interest in her solo material as well. Soon she was opening for acts like Mannequin Pussy and Kim Deal, and the dream of escaping rural northern England started to come true.

“I really needed to push myself to be as open as I can be, because that’s where I find the best music”

“I was incredibly overwhelmed when I first got noticed. All of these incredible things I’d always wanted to happen were happening, but I barely remember any of it.” She suddenly found herself getting advice from heroes: Kim Deal reminding her to “wear shoes otherwise you’ll get electrocuted” and Missy from Mannequin Pussy telling her to set boundaries and avoid burnout (“learn that you can say no, learn that there’s boundaries, and once they’ve been crossed you can say, ‘that’s enough.’”).

“I used to get in a daze about these things, but I’ve really started to feel the emotions that come with these crazy but amazing situations. Like, I met Dave Grohl! He gave me the loveliest hug ever. He asked us how we found the show we’d just played, and the whole band were like, ‘We hated it, we thought it was shit’ and he just casually [said], ‘Yeah, me and Nirvana used to always have that after shows’… we just looked at each other like, whaaaaat?!”

Stage fright had haunted her for years but being thrown in front of big crowds became a kind of therapy and gave her a new way to connect with her music.

“Performing with a live band transformed the music and made it something completely different, and the songs sounded exactly how I wanted them to sound,” she says. That realization also showed her the limits of working alone. With that in mind, she invited producer Chris Ryan (NewDad, Just Mustard) to help shape Blown.

After a long Zoom call and sending him “an essay of everything [she] thought was going wrong with the EP”, she knew Ryan was the right person. “I knew he was my guy because he wasn’t just gonna come in and rip it apart,” she explains. “I can be stubborn and a control freak when it comes to my music, so to trust people with it was a massive step.”

If there is one constant in Stephens’ story, it is that every choice she makes feels like a leap. Her path so far has been defined by risks, fear, and the willingness to push through them. That is also the essence of Blown. It is the work of a young artist breaking free from the boxes she has built for herself, experimenting openly, and gradually finding her voice.

TTSSFU’s Blown EP will be released on August 29 via Partisan Records.