When you listen to the effortlessly interlacing harmonies of Tiny Habits, it’s tempting to conclude that only fate could have brought three voices so perfectly matched together. The musical union of Maya Rae, Cinya Khan and Judah Mayowa – best friends and bandmates who first met as students at the Berklee College of Music in 2021 – is one that can momentarily make time stand still when their voices align in divine unison on their folk-inflected pop songs.
Their renditions of tracks like ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac, ‘There She Goes’ by The LA’s and The 1975’s ‘Somebody Else’ – recorded from their dorm rooms and echoey stairwells – have racked up millions of views on TikTok and Instagram over the past three years, prompting fans to leave poetic comments like “this is what sunflowers sound like” and “y’all’s voices are soulmates”. In their two years as a band, they’ve already gone on to support Gracie Abrams and Noah Kahan on tour, garnered praise from the late David Crosby, duetted with Kacey Musgraves and released their remarkable debut album ‘All For Something’.
Meeting the trio on Zoom shortly after they wrap up the European leg of their first ever headline tour, it doesn’t take long for us to get a peek into the special bond at the heart of their mesmeric sound. After spending 60 days straight on the road together, they each dial in from their own devices while enjoying a much needed respite at home. But we’re barely two minutes into the interview when Cinya needs a moment to compose herself. “Sorry, you guys are making me laugh. I haven’t seen you in so long,” she tells her bandmates, who are politely muted with Cheshire Cat grins across their faces. “Maya, stop smiling!”
Having each arrived at the prestigious Berklee College – which counts Laufey, John Mayer and Charlie Puth among its alumni – as teenagers with their own individual musical ambitions, Tiny Habits only came into existence after viewers on social media became transfixed by their collective sound, calling for their informal jam sessions to become official. “Even at that point, we were just like, ‘Yeah, [we’ll be] a band. This is still just for fun,’” says Cinya. “We didn’t think this was gonna happen.”
Long before they became Tiny Habits, though, it all started in the DMs. After undergoing a two-week quarantine at college due to Covid regulations, Cinya had posted a video on her Instagram story documenting her struggle to work their dorm’s toilet roll holder. Maya – who’d already struck up a friendship with Judah – had run into the same problem, messaged back for help and the rest is history. Before long, the three began singing together and quickly realised they might be onto something pretty special. “I definitely think I realised how cool and different it sounded, but I don’t think I realised its full potential until later when we started posting videos,” recalls Maya.
You’d be forgiven for thinking years of practice had gone into perfecting their scintillating harmonies, but, as it turns out, it’s apparently not all that difficult to make the magic happen. “It actually requires little effort,” says Judah with a mischievous giggle. “Not to talk our shit, but we literally just start singing.” Their voices will often ascend in unison before fracturing off into dissonant notes that form gorgeously blended arrangements. The ease with which they execute this can at least partly be put down to their closeness as friends, with many of their videos capturing them shoulder to shoulder or on the floor with their limbs tangled together. “These are my girls,” says Judah. “These are my best friends.” Their dynamic album cover, taken by a friend during their last day in the studio, is also an apt snapshot of this. “It had the playful, fun side that we all have and love about each other,” says Maya.
These are my girls, these are my best friends
Judah Mayowa, Tiny Habits
And it’s not just their sound that comes together seamlessly. The new album captures individual experiences of unrequited feelings, which remarkably ended up spiritually aligned and seemingly even chronological at points. “It’s interesting to me – and not surprising – that because we’re such close friends, we’ve experienced such similar things and written about similar things,” says Cinya. “And I feel like the basis of our friendship is relating to each other.”
Throughout the 12 tracks, they reflect on falling in love with the idea of someone (‘People Always Change’), confess to their own insecurities (‘Wishes’) and look ahead to a brighter future (‘Planting Flowers’). “We’ve been through some shit,” remarks Judah, who is now wearing a digital fedora hat courtesy of the Zoom filter feature. Sometimes, certain themes or lyrics seem to overlap almost too perfectly between songs, which they admit must indicate that something deeper was going on. “These things seem accidents, but then you revisit them later on, and you’re like, ‘Oh no, my subconscious somehow knew this thing that I wasn’t even privy to,” says Cinya. But Tiny Habits are all about the details, a quality that’s very much captured in their band name.
To ensure the album brought out the very best in them as a band, they worked closely with producer Tony Berg (Taylor Swift, boygenius). “He really pushed us out of our comfort zone,” says Judah. “We were kind of stuck in our ways, and just so used to arranging and writing things so specifically, and I feel like he shook us out of that a little bit.” The journey so far has put them on the radar of many other like-minded musicians. In 2022, they performed backing vocals for Lizzy McAlpine’s NPR Tiny Desk concert, and just this past April sang a snippet of ‘Too Good To Be True’ with Musgraves.
They name the latter as one of their biggest supporters. After they sang harmonies for her at a recent New York showcase, the ‘Slow Burn’ singer came to their Nashville show and recorded a singing video on their tour bus before the gig. “She brought us a bottle of red wine, we never drink before shows, so we were very silly,” says Cinya. “But it was so fun. It just felt like we had known her forever.”
As the momentum of the last year is sending Tiny Habits’ popularity into overdrive, the trio are intent on keeping their focus on the one thing that really matters. “I think we’re protecting our peace. We want to just stay best friends, truly,” says Cinya. “We want to keep music as a priority, because it’s very easy to get wrapped up in other things. But I think we are trying to maintain a good head on all three of our shoulders.”
Tiny Habits’ debut album ‘All For Something’ is out now.
