Interview with Tinselfirs: Bringing Modern to Christmas Music

Tinselfirs were recently interviewed by Famo Celebrity Magazine and below is the Q&A session we had with them.

Table of Contents

Introduction – Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

We’re Tinselfirs! Will and Draya, a husband-and-wife duo that spend all day, every day together creating all-original modern Christmassy-time music by blending contemporary techniques and modern sensibilities with classic holiday themes. We’re a couple of military brat underdogs who found our sound by attempting to mix our seemingly opposite styles of music -electronic/hip-hop with folk/pop- ultimately leading us to realize, happily, that our genre is Christmas/holiday music. We were destined to the holiday genre, so we set out to make great songs that just happen to be holiday themed. Most of our songs could be played all year, with lots of love songs, but holiday themed or scened.

In 2017, we released our first official Christmas song, then a couple more over a couple of years until we figured out that our destiny was making holiday songs. Shortly after our epiphany, we released our debut album in 2023, which was originally Christmas Collection One but we have re-released it as Hello Christmas with two new songs for 2025 year. We released Preferably Naughty in 2024, an ode to those old sassy, sexy songs but all originals and for modern times. Our albums have been described as a refreshing and sometimes surprising soundtrack for the modern holiday. We have several more in process, with two planned for release next year’s 2026 holiday season.

Personal Background – Can you share a little experience about your Upbringing and Early Life?

Growing up as military brats, we both traveled extensively, living all over the United States and sometimes abroad. When you’re raised in a military family, change is often your one constant, but one thing you could always count on was the way people pulled together during the Christmas holidays, making the holidays a consistent and joyful time in an otherwise chaotic environment. This instilled a deep-seated adoration for the Christmas holidays in both of us. We met working together during college, where our long and twisting love and musical journey began. Our many diverse experiences and tangled love journey inspire much of our music.

Career and Achievements – What do you consider the Highlights of your Career so far?

Hearing ‘Hello Christmas’ play for the first time on Radio Santa Claus right between Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ and Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’, right after coming out of a convenience shop playing our song ‘A Lil Naughty’. That was an amazing day, an unbelievably emotional moment, and a huge achievement.

Challenges and Growth – What are some of the Challenges you’ve faced in your Career, and how did you Overcome them?

We knew we had to create together; that was clear to us, but finding our sound together was a huge challenge. We came from seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum. One of us came from the hip-hop, R&B, and electronic side of music; the other has a very pop/folk vocal sound. Attempting to blend those elements together was a challenging and sometimes frustrating adventure that ended up leading us directly to making Christmas music, since we did it for fun and easily every holiday season. At a point, as our holiday songs built up, we realized, ultimately, our ‘genre’ was Christmas/holiday.

Passions and Hobbies – What are your Interests and Hobbies outside of your Career?

We both adore animals and have somehow acquired a bunch of rescue dogs, 6 as of today! We do every aspect of our creative process ourselves so, we don’t have much time for anything else, but we love to take break for sunset, family, and our Furever friends.

Milestones and Future Goals – What are some of the Milestones you hope to Achieve in the coming years?

One of our big goals is the create a catalog of 160 original modern Christmas songs, so that one could work an entire work day and not hear the same song twice. We’ve technically written over 200, but when you do everything yourselves, as we do, the process is time-consuming. Not to mention that we get new ideas all the time. As a matter of fact, we’re currently working on a musical -infusing a new holiday sound idea, which we call ‘dark Christmas’. With the release of our 22nd all-original Christmas song, Christmas Eve, we’ve got an hour so far, so…we’re on our way.

Life Lessons – What is the most Valuable Lesson you’ve learned in your Life or Career?

Being underdogs, we have fought hard for every earned accolade and achievement, but none of those things compare to doing what you love, with someone you love, in a way that connects deeply with others while leaving a lasting legacy for future generations. Just being able to be yourself, and do it your own way-it may take longer but it’s more rewarding.

Advice for Aspiring Artists – What advice would you give to Young Artists looking to make a Mark in the Industry?

Always be your authentic you. Never minimize yourself or try to fit a mold or box of someone else’s creation.

Sound and Style – What is your sound or musical style?

We call our sound ‘folktonephoplatronik’ because though our genre is Christmas/holiday music, the styles are as diverse as our experiences, incorporating hip-hop, electronic, pop, folk, rock, reggaeton, and even funk. However, most people will probably consider us electronic-folk on Christmas/holiday themes.