Audrey Mathilde is walking around University of Oregon’s campus disguised as Tillie Moore… sort of like a modern-day Hannah Montana

On a cool winter day in January, Tillie Moore was sitting shotgun in a car with three friends, driving from Eugene, Oregon, to the coastal town of Florence. Her friend Sarah was on aux, and after shuffling through Harry Styles and Maggie Rogers, she played a song titled “About a Boy'' by the artist Audrey Mathilde. Moore could feel her face turning bright red as Sarah said to the rest of the car “You guys know this is Tillie’s song, right?” The two other girls in the car were stunned. Their eyebrows raised and jaws dropped as they perched up from the backseat to look at Moore in disbelief. For the next 30 minutes, Audrey Mathilde stayed shuffling, with the acoustic guitar and ethereal vocals creating a dreamlike aesthetic for the drive down Highway 126. 

Keeping her songs separate from her social life is typical for Moore; she fears she’ll “sound pretentious” when telling people she makes music. Regardless, Moore has found enjoyment writing her own lyrics, and working closely with her producer to turn her passion into published art under her birth name, Audrey Mathilde, which she thinks is the “sickest name ever” despite having gone by Tillie her whole life. She currently lives in Eugene– she’s a junior at UO– and doesn’t produce any songs while there; free time is mostly reserved for date dashes and homework. But when she has time, or when she doesn’t feel like doing anything else, Moore sits at her keyboard in her band-poster covered bedroom, playing and singing. And she does this for herself more than anything else. 

“I’m not trying to be like a star, you know,” Moore said. “I make music for me, and when people like it, that's a really fantastic plus.”

Moore grew up in a musical family. Her mom, Tina Moore, has songs streaming under the name Aurouze. Her dad and uncle jam out on the guitar after Christmas dinner. Moore even sang “Love Story” by Taylor Swift at her first grade talent show. But it wasn’t until she was in 7th grade when her brother played “Sunday Afternoon” by The Kinks, and her passion set in. 

“I swear to god, my world changed,” Moore said. “I was like, ah, that's music. I really chalk it up to that.” 

Two years later, as a freshman at Redwood High in Marin, California, Moore joined her school’s music program as a singer. Moore had never taken voice lessons before, and her music teacher was known for his intensity. One minute he would be encouraging, the next making a kid cry. Aidan Thompson, a friend of Moore’s who was also a part of the music program, said that kids who were just taking the class for an easy A “got shafted.” 

“That class was tough,” Moore said. “I think I was always a sweet kid, like teachers had a hard time not liking me, but I wasn't this kid that was super great at music.” 

But Moore wanted to be great at music, and she still does. Scrolling on her iPhone, Moore has hundreds of voice memos recording her voice. She’s glad that she sounds different on her most recent than on her first. 

“Practice makes you better; it’s really as simple as that,” Moore said. “You listen to yourself and then you're like, oh my god, I sound like shit. And then you continue until you sound better.”

In 2019, Moore’s parents gifted her a session for her 17th birthday to record her first EP, “Life in Gold.” Redwood TV, a student group at her high school heard the news and did a segment on her. While information about her music was broadcasted in the classrooms, Moore was in the hallway sheepishly pacing. But again, she had shocked her peers with her talent. Thompson said that everyone was wowed with Moore’s “Lana Del Rey sounding” songs. 

“A lot of kids relied pretty heavily on the infrastructure the music program provided, but she went off and did her own thing,” Thompson said. “I was impressed. I mean, everybody was impressed with her.” 

The support from her peers following the release gave Moore confidence in her work, which wasn’t always the case. Moore plans to continue writing, singing, and playing for herself and whoever else wants to listen. She still struggles with confidence, but she reminds herself to be proud of her work and how she has gotten better. Throughout life experience she has improved her lyricism by writing down anything and everything that might inspire her for a song. Moore will be half asleep, but if an interesting thought comes into her mind, or she remembers something she heard earlier that day, she forces herself to get up and write it down– always. She is also proud to see how the production allows for her vision to be executed. Her growing confidence has allowed her to make clearer decisions during the process; her mom admires this.

“Tillie had a very clear idea of what the production should sound like,” Tina Moore said. “Gawain would sometimes have a difference of opinion on sounds or mixing levels, but Tillie was adamant about how she wanted the production. I think she made great choices.” 

Her relationship with Gawain, her producer, has also contributed to her having more pride in her work. When Moore first met Gawain, she was 11 years old, and asked to sing “oohs and ahhs” in the background of one of her mom’s songs, “Paris Metro.” Gawain has since told her that when he first met her, he thought “Wow, this girl cannot sing.” Moore said hearing him say that was “just ow,” as she laughed shyly. When she went to record her E.P, with him, he was anticipating her songs to be off-key. Instead, as nervous Moore played her song “Killjoy” for him, he loved what he was hearing. 

As her confidence grows, she wants to start performing at open-mics around town. Knowing that her friends would come and support her is enough comfort for her to share her voice live with the Eugene community. And while fame isn’t her end goal, her voice has traveled from coast to coast. 

A couple weeks ago, Moore got a text from her high school friend Sydney. Sydney was in Washington D.C. at the time, visiting a friend, and her friend started playing “If You Asked Me To” by Audrey Mathilde. “Have you heard this? It’s so good,” Sydney’s friend asked. Sydney, laughing and remembering her initial reaction to hearing Audrey Mathilde’s music, nodded and immediately had to let Moore know. These moments are some of the most special to Moore.

“I love how music make me feel, so I like the idea that my music can help emote something to someone else,” Moore said. “That’s like the coolest thing in the entire world to me.”