What happens when you combine rock ‘n’ roll, superheroes, and San Diego Comic-Con? MouseInfo sat down last week with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Producer Craig Titley and musician Tatiana DeMaria to find out about their collaboration together which is is bringing music and comics together for a fun and unique expression of passion and fandom.
A true team, Titley and DeMaria have been in sync since the beginning of their collaboration. He’s been a champion of her music, and she’s been game for whatever he throws at her. He says her super power is truth and boldness. She says his super power is eternal optimism.
An Origin Story
After a chance meeting in Cuba, Titley and DeMaria discovered their shared love of music. Fresh off her success with her band TAT, DeMaria developed her own sound that felt like more like her. “Coming back ’round I wanted to not change the sound on the TAT fans and have it be something completely different,” she shared, “I [wanted to put] it under my name and I’ll be able to do something that sounds different. Craig and I met pretty much when I was about to release it, so we said, ‘Let’s do some interesting stuff.'”
Meanwhile, Titley, whose passion for music runs deep, started churning out ideas for how to bring DeMaria‘s bold new sound to Los Angeles. DeMaria recounted, “Craig looked at me and said ‘How do you feel about making a comic?’ All of this, all his harebrained ideas…and so far, every idea I’ve loved. It’s been an interesting adventure.”
And what have been some of his eternally optimistic harebrained ideas?
- A comic book.
- A show at the Whiskey A Go-Go.
- A show at the Whiskey A Go-Go filmed by his coworkers at Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for an upcoming concert film.
- And bringing her to the quiet convention that is San Diego Comic-Con.
That’s right. “The quiet convention.”
DeMaria explains: “You have this enormous convention center, and yet you can peacefully browse. Everyone is so passionate – they’re in to what they’re in to, and without being auditory it creates a really interesting vibe.”
Titley seemed surprised by her assessment, declaring “I think it’s loud and chaotic.” Which is, perhaps, the more widely held opinion about this convention of more than 130,000 people, where — for example — an intrepid interviewer may struggle for hours to find a quiet corner to review her notes away from the throngs of excited people in wild costumes.
But upon reflection, DeMaria is right: There is no music playing, no loud advertisements, just the low rumble of people talking. “To take the sort of humorous generalization or stereotype,” she continues, “there are more introverts at Comic-Con. I’m an introvert, which is why I love it so much. I can peacefully enjoy the things I want without an onslaught of the senses.”
“To me and her, it’s all about the music,” Titley adds, “All of this stuff is fun. The music is the main goal, but it’s another creative outlet for her, and it drives fans to the music.”
But why a comic book?
Craig explains, “I think the connective tissue, if you do the Venn Diagram of Tatiana’s Mission in life through her music and her statements and comic books in general, the Venn Diagram where they meet is personal empowerment. It’s about finding your inner voice, your inner truth, and finding power from that.”
Sounds like Comic-Con is about to get a whole lot louder from here on out!
See it for Yourself
Tatiana DeMaria’s music can be found on her website, Facebook, Instagram, iTunes, and Spotify. Her next show is July 31 at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles!
But Wait, There’s More!
MouseInfo was all over 2019 San Diego Comic-Con covering the entire weekend’s offerings! Stay up to date with all of our #SDCC content below!
