“People’s princess,” “coquette,” “brainrot,” “girlboss”—these are just a few of the internet buzzwords Harmony Tividad cleverly recontextualizes in her new single “Thot Daughter.” The song is a thumping banger delivered with a dissociative pout, highlighting the absurdity of internet culture by using the lexicon and affect it’s spawned. It’s the latest single Tividad has released as Harmony, the solo music project she started following the amicable dissolution of Girlpool, the indie-darling duo she was in for nine years. "I feel like in Girlpool, I wrote more about my self-doubt and my uncertainty and the weight of those feelings about myself was really heavy on me all the time. Music really was my salvation from my negative self-image. I’ve worked through a lot of those feelings since and this project feels like it revolves around more of my child self—I was obsessed with theater and pop culture as a kid, and I feel like I’m less fearful of what I look like or who I am and am in more of a state of acceptance and exploration."
In celebration of “Thot Daughter,” Tividad has created a playlist of artists that have been inspiring her recently, from Lily Allen to Bamster. Here, we chat about her experience of being "devastatingly" online, the cultural chokehold of the cheerleader archetype, and why boots are the perfect shoe.
Coveteur: I love the playlist you put together. How does it relate to “Thot Daughter”? Are there any songs you want to shout out in particular?
Harmony Tividad: "The playlist is mostly things I’ve been enjoying and that inspire me in a general sense. I am really into Lily Allen right now. I literally love her; her songs and lyricism are a big reference for me and the recent work I’ve been making. Also, Bamster’s 'Push My*' is, like, the best song I’ve ever heard. He and I have been making music together and it’s been amazing."
If you had to assign the playlist a vibe or a feeling, what would you call it? What is the ideal circumstance for readers to listen to the playlist and your new single?
HT: "I think everything for me is like an open-minded chaos state, enjoying kinda whatever comes at you. I feel like when I make playlists I do what is not encouraged, which is put as many different genres of songs on it as possible because I get so bored with the same vibes that I like to keep myself on my toes. For 'Thot Daughter' I think it's really just about being online... which I am."
How would you describe the thot daughter/gay son dichotomy?
HT: "I saw a TikTok about this the other day and they pointed out that the interesting similarity between the two is just being attracted to men. So I think the 'problem' in the question is having to deal with the men either person brings around. As a thot daughter in remission, I really understand why that could become a problem."
I love how the song combines and repurposes internet phrases, memes, and buzzwords. Would you say internet culture is a muse for you?
HT: "I think for better or for worse, it is. I am devastatingly online; it’s so silly because even the Girlpool song 'Nothing Gives Me Pleasure' was inspired by a Teletubbies meme I had seen. I just like wordplay and twisting around modern colloquialisms. Modern culture is such a meme in and of itself; it’s easy to write about."
As someone who lived through the apex of girlbossery, I appreciated the line in the song: ‘I’m not a girlboss I’m just a girl.’ What does this mean to you?
HT: "The way people distance themselves from each other and their humanity online and idealize or tear them down and think they are something other than what they are is always hilarious. The parasocial is exhausting to observe. Nobody’s grind is bigger than their humanity or tenderness."
You’re wearing a cheer uniform in the images Avery Norman took of you. I see you as someone who plays with both the absurdity and glamour of femininity in your music and style—what is your relationship with the cheerleader archetype?
HT: "Yes that is what I like to do!! I am obsessed with both sides… how they coexist is really gorgeous to me. My relationship to the cheerleader is that it’s something I felt like I could never be. I had a really bad relationship to my body and femininity my whole life and now it feels like something I get to play with through exaggerated tropes and make peace with through strange performance. I have hormone dysregulation issues (PCOS), and I always felt not, like, 'good' enough to truly embody femininity, always like an outsider of something that I longed to be inside of."
I’ve really enjoyed watching this new chapter of your musical journey. Do you find there’s a difference in your ability to express yourself as a solo project?
HT: "I just feel like in this new project, I’m expressing a different side of myself. I spoke of having low self-esteem earlier and insecurity—I feel like in Girlpool, I wrote more about my self-doubt and my uncertainty and the weight of those feelings about myself was really heavy on me all the time. Music really was my salvation from my negative self-image. I’ve worked through a lot of those feelings since and this project feels like it revolves around more of my child self—I was obsessed with theater and pop culture as a kid, and I feel like I’m less fearful of what I look like or who I am and am in more of a state of acceptance and exploration. I want to make different things, write silly words, just not let myself shrink again beneath the weight of my self-deprecation and doubt."
You have fantastic style—are there any movies, style icons, eras, designers, or garments that you’re super into right now? What’s inspiring you, fashion-wise?
HT: "Ahh, thank you so much. Finding my own fashion sense has been so healing and liberating for me. I am permanently inspired by Moulin Rouge (the Baz Luhrmann movie) I have seen it at least 100 times. I love Victorian and ’80s clothes the most, some early ’90s stuff as well. Vivienne Westwood, farm-boy aesthetics, Chopova Lowena… My favorite outfits usually are a Victorian-’80s hybrid energy. I also love Hollywood Glamour, early 20th-century stuff: big furs, huge seeing glasses, little silk scarves. Style icon inspos are ’80s Madonna, Helena Bonham Carter, Lady Gaga (the Fame Monster era), Alexander McQueen looks, and Vivienne Westwood. I just love, love anything high drama. I'm also super into two-piece suits from the ’80s right now, in terms of specific garments, and BOOTS. I told my boyfriend the other day I just realized boots are my perfect shoe (I have these Fidan Novruzova ones I have been wearing every day while in London and they're getting so worn down from walking) because they elevate you (I'm short as f**k), are comfortable and walkable, and they also make every outfit feel more glam. Boots are literally the perfect shoe if you are short because they also make your legs look longer. I can't say enough good things about boots."