December 1, 2020 • 33 mins
Sammy Jaye chats with singer, songwriter, and dancer, Tate McRae! They talk about her new music, the struggle of finding true friends and what it’s like to be a teenager in the age of social media. They also talk about the difficulty in maintaining a school/work life balance and what Tate’s excited about in 2021!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of Let's Be Real.
I love this episode so much. You have no idea
we have Tight mccrayon this week. She is the absolute sweetest.
I have been a huge fan of your music for
so long, but not just because she's an incredible singer,
but because of the perspective she brings to her music
and how honest she is. And I knew going into
(00:23):
it we would have a really interesting conversation, but I
didn't expect it to be this incredible. We recorded this
episode a few weeks ago, right when she was preparing
to perform at the European Music Awards, and that's where
we started our conversation. Well, first of Alitate, it so
nice to meet you. I'm such a big fan of
your music, and I'm so excited that we get to
(00:44):
talk too. I know you're just rehearsing for the European
Music Awards. How is that going? That's amazing. I mean,
I'm just really excited to perform an award show. Like fully, um,
I did the VMA like pre show, which was really
really cool, but even the fact that I'm doing the
real show, I'm just really excited and there's going to
be dancers, So it's been the rousal process has been
(01:05):
really fun. So what is that whole process like for
people who don't know, because you know, for a lot
of people they just see the performance. It's a lot
that goes into it. Yeah, there's a lot of dance rehearsals,
especially for this one. Like the worst part, the hardest
part is singing and dancing. I did not realize how
much cardio it was. Literally it is so hard. I've
(01:29):
never even more than I think about it. That just
doesn't sound like I've I've done it before, but it's
been like easier songs to sing, and you know, I
just like, over the past like a couple of months,
I've really had to figure out how to sing you
rugby first, or really emotional valid to like intense movements.
So it's definitely it's definitely hard. One of the reasons
I was so excited to have you on my podcast
is because I feel like we're very similar in the
(01:50):
sense that we're trying. I'm eighteen year seventeen, right, Yeah,
so you know the struggle of just like trying to
balance everything with a social life, of work, career at school, career, yes,
I'm still trying to find tips for that. How are
you doing with all of that? It's so hard. I
don't think people realize how hard it is. It's so hard,
and I think like the hardest part is you have
(02:11):
to have a balance, otherwise you'll go mentally insane. The fact,
like if you don't have a social life, you'll feel
like a loner and you'll get really like I've gotten
into like dark places that I'm like, I am never
going back to that, because you know, you get so
focused on your work and so focused on like these
are my goals is what I want to do? How
am I going to shape my future? That you totally
(02:32):
forget to live in the present moment um. That happens
a lot to me, and I think I've really been trying,
especially over the pandemic, although I haven't been able to
see that many people just you know, enjoy the little
moments and the little things. Uh. And then again, like
balancing school is just impossible. I think time management is key.
Time management and self advocacy or like the two things
(02:55):
that have saved me. Are you senior? I'm finishing, yeah,
grade twelve, and it's been great and candidate's great. Yeah, no,
it's I'm also terrible at time management. Like I'm like,
that's probably becrastinating in time management and my worst things
and organization. It's so hard. I can't I'm terrible. It's
(03:15):
one of those things where it's like I'll be in
my statistics class, like doing my homework, and then I'll
get like, oh wait, podcast, I have to do this,
and it's like, oh wait, okay, back to statistics. It's
this trying to like compartmentalize. How do you how are
you coping with that? Well? The hardest thing too, is
like I'm sure, like you understand, you get one email
about your work or you get one text message, and
(03:36):
it's like your whole focus completely gets out of the
zone of school that you don't want to be doing exactly,
and you're just you get creative, you get you know,
you think about ideas, you start getting inspired, and you're
like this is a totally wrong place and time to
do this. And it's it's hard because especially like when
you're in a different moment, sometimes you're just like, oh,
I want to be with my friends, I want to
do this, But then sometimes you're like I want to
(03:57):
work on my career, like it's it's hard to find
a balance, and something that I've definitely been learning to
find is who are there for the right reasons? Who
want to hear about all of that? I know you've
written songs about it, but what is what is your
experience been like trying to find true friends, especially balancing everything.
It's definitely been a process. I feel like I struggled
(04:20):
a lot more with this when I was younger, and
I think it's because right now, I just I'm very
good at trusting my intuition about things and people, and
I can keep people at a distance or I can
make people come close to me. And I think it's
just a thing that I've had to deal with for
a really long time, um because I've always been dancing,
and I've always been competing, and I come back for
(04:40):
two days and try to hang out friends, and it
was like always a struggle for me. Um So I
definitely was a loner for a lot of my life.
And then I, you know, I I definitely had to
figure out who my circle was and who I actually
wanted to spend time on. And then to add on
to that, it's also to be like who's there for
the right reason. Who wants to be there to support
you as a person that you're high in your lows
(05:00):
and not just when you're at your high, at your success.
That's the thing. And you can usually tell like where
why are people texting me, like right after I do
this performance? Or why are people texting me after I
did this? Like there's certain things that you like, you
know what I'm doing nothing, It's so obvious. It is obvious,
and I think a lot of people are oblivious to that,
but it's it is pretty obvious if you actually think
(05:21):
about it. I've had some sneaky experiences where people try
and like sneak in and then yeah, it's a process.
And I think it's just about you know, trusting your
gut and trusting who's there all the time, not just
part of the time, and um, you know who sticks
around and like cut out toxic people. That's the main
thing that I've learned, Like you don't need it. It's
(05:44):
just weighing you down. And I feel like friendship, when
friendships kind of like distance themselves or get toxic, that
can be so much worth than an actual relationship like
a breakup. That's oh my god, that's literally the thing.
So the biggest thing about my songs is that I've
actually never gone through like a huge heartbreak. I've only
been in talking stages, which is the worst annoying just
(06:06):
like wat, I hate it um. And then friends friend
breakups and going through like weird drama with your friends
is probably the most emotionally draining process ever exactly, yeah,
because it's someone that you can fight, and it's in
all aspects, not just in a relationship. And I think,
(06:27):
but you know when it's time to let that go
and not hold on to it. I think that's that's
so important, But it's hard to find that time when
you really love them. How how is senior year been? Though?
Have you? Are you guys online? Um? So I'm doing online.
I only have two classes left, thank god, which is
what class is only social in English. So it's pretty
(06:47):
chill um like right now, even though I'm trying to
get it all done before December. Um, because it's literally over.
The pandemic probably been the busiest time of my entire
life with work, and so I don't I don't even
know what's going on half the time. I'm just all
over the place right now, are you excited to be
done with high school. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited.
(07:08):
I can't wait to literally focus on important things, Like
I'm not the school is important, stay in stay in school. Um,
but I think like the biggest thing is usually a
lot of my time that I want to be spent
on creative things or focusing on, you know, things that
really get me excited about my career. You know, I
can't do because I'm like, all right, gotta gotta garding
(07:30):
out some schoolwork and gotta focus on things that I'm
really not passionate about whatsoever. And that's a really annoying
thing to deal with. It's really frustrating to try and
just hustle through that. But also like while trying to
learn something and turn that passion into something. Yeah, it's
a weird balance. It's all hard, for sure. Do you
(07:51):
know what you want to do after? Are you going
to take a gap year? You're just gonna work on
your career? You can stay in Canada? Yeah, I think so.
I mean, right right now, I'm I'm just planning on
taking I mean as soon as I get out of school.
They although, like my my managers and stuff were like
we need to get out of school so you can
just start actually doing things because I have to hold
off like writing sessions and some performances and some like
(08:14):
there's a lot of things like you're gonna go full
full force, no holding back, get ready world. So I
know you've been writing for a really long time, and
I'm sure you know finding an outlet in high school
is so key if you're in high school, find something
to express yourself with. And I know writing has been
that for you. Has there ever been moments when you're
(08:37):
writing that you decide not to release something because you're like, oh,
these people will know what it is, because this is
what's happening now. I mean I read a lot of
songs and I think, uh, like how many songs, Like
I probably have about fifty songs that I have not released. Wow,
like a lot. And you know, I think there's just
(08:59):
like the choice between like what are people going to
relate to? What's too personal? Because there's some things that
you just like sound like a crazy person. You know,
you got to get that out sometimes. But you know
there's also like the line it's therapy. Yeah, it's therapy.
It's like writing in your diary and it's I think
you don't want to expose yourself too much. But then again,
my songs are like Hella vulnerable, So I don't really
(09:21):
feel like I hold a law back, no, but I
mean it is knowing it's a piece of art, but
it's also like your life and I have the world
have an opinion on that. That's also really staring vulnerable
At the same time, was that when you release your
first song and it was like your first personal song
that was just like so true to you. What was
(09:42):
that feeling like? Did it feel like someone was reading
your diary or was it just like, Okay, here it is,
I just want you to take it and listen. Well,
so I first started my YouTube channel. I started posting
original songs every Friday, and at the time, that's so impressed.
It was to write every week. It was a hustle,
but know I think I posted every single week and
(10:02):
obviously all the YouTube comments were positive. But I was
still not at school at the time, and I went
to a public school, like right in the middle of that,
smack in the middle, and I remember people started talking
to me about it, and I started getting real and
secure because I was like, people know way too much
about me. And people know way too much about this
other side that I don't necessarily know if I want
(10:23):
them to yet, you know, I know exactly. Yeah, when
I was in eighth grade, i started I said, that's
when I started my work, and I was at a
new school, and people found all of it and so
they would repost it on which is really cool, but
it made me. It made you so self conscious because
though it's kind of like take something that you're proud of,
but then they twisted into their own totally way to
(10:45):
entertain themselves. And also like it's it's I'm my work
self is so different from my social self. Literally when
I when I'm writing and I'm working and I'm in
a room full of adults, it's like focused tate, you know,
like I'm completely your profess sfessional. And then when I'm
with my friends, it's like laughy tay child, like don't
(11:06):
don't really think about anything because it's like where I relax.
But you know, I think it's so weird because sometimes
people don't understand the two lives leave the balance, and
sometimes I feel like I've had them on time that
you're just like living to different worlds. Okay, get this
week it's quick sidetrack firm. One of my college applications,
want you have to look a bunch of questions. One
(11:26):
of them is if you have a theme song of
your life, what would it be? And I said best
of both worlds from him, and I think that's the
best one I could have done. But it's it's you know,
it's like we said, it's that hard time going back
and forth between all of that. Have you ever been
faced with being in a room full of adults but
you also have your ideas but they don't take you
as seriously because of your age. That happened a lot
(11:49):
at the beginning. Um. You know, when I first started
getting into the writing sessions, I was thirteen, and you
go into this room full of like four or five
three how many people a professional writers who do this
as their job every single day for new artists, And
you know, at first, I was like, all I've been
doing is writing original songs by myself, no help. Um.
(12:10):
And I remember first getting into these sessions and it
was like, uh that wait, Like I was like trying
to say something, but it would just completely ignore my
ideas because there was no relevance to like what I
was saying where even when I was thirteen, I was
a super old soul and I had a lot to
say um. And it wasn't until like I started, you know,
(12:31):
actually finding my people who trust in my opinion, not
only UM. And then when I started releasing more and
more songs, people obviously now have way more respect for
me um, probably just because I'm a little older. But
still it's the worst feeling ever, because it's not like
my opinion is any less valid than than yours because
of my age. It's it's hard when you want to
(12:53):
do so much at such a young age and you
want to make a difference, but it's it's having people
take you seriously like you're I have some thoughts that
are actually pretty smart if you actually listen to maybe,
And I think that's also like there's a lot of
people that don't understand the thing, like age is just
a number because people stereotype seventeen year olds as this
type of seventeen year old, whereas like you could have
(13:15):
a totally different mindset and idea of your life at
a super young age and be very mature, but they
didn't actually listen to you. And then I'm sure you
can relate to this. It's hard to find people that
are your age though, that have that same type of maturity,
that like get that that aren't just doing the team stuff,
which is totally fine. That's finding your it's finding your people,
(13:35):
but it's hard to find that when you feel like
you're so much older than you actually are. True, I
think that sometimes I deal with that with friends a lot.
Is I feel like, I'm like, why am I having
a better conversation with the thirty five year old than
a seventeen year old? It should be the way it
should be, like we should be connecting, but I'm feeling,
you know, no connection right here, and I think that's
just like a different mindset totally. Just to go back,
(13:59):
you were saying how you wrote a song a week,
which is so impressive. How long did you do that for?
Would you say, I probably do that for like a year,
a year and a half. WHOA like a long time?
I have so many songs online, so many So what
is your songwriting process? When you were doing a song
(14:19):
in a week? How would you would you sit down
you have a designated time or would it be something
that you would just think of throughout the week. It
would usually be. So I'd post on Fridays and usually
sit down after dance at ten pm on a Thursday,
may force myself to sit there for like four hours,
get my piano out, fine chords from a song I
liked because I've never been taught how to play piano,
so I just self taught and literally write a song
(14:43):
and I then post it the next day. It was
like a lot, but it was like fun for me
because at the end of the week I needed to
talk about stuff and I needed to get stuff out,
so its usually came out really fast. Wow. Yeah, I
mean that though you procrastinate, you still get it done though.
That's what they I like to remind people like I
may procrastinate, but I get it done on time. That's
(15:04):
the thing. I'll do my homework the last day, but
I will be good and I'll do it. I'll finish it,
don't worry, not exactly. Just because we don't do it
early in the week doesn't mean we don't do it
on exactly. That That's what I like to think. Okay,
So I was so hesitant to get TikTok just because
(15:24):
I was when I was that girl when I was
twelve on musically, just like on it for way too long,
trying to do those like hand things and it was bad.
So of course naturally it was very hesitant to go
down that TikTok hole. Yeah I did. I don't regret it.
But it's really interesting and I know that you've been
had such a big presence on there. Has that inspired
(15:44):
any music or has that just been like a really
cool outlet to release your music. I do think it's
a really smart marketing tool. I think the fact that
you can put a face to your music and people
can turn it into whatever they want and interpret it
however the humanizes you as a person. Does it totally
puts it face to your songs, And I think, um,
that was really important to me. Was like I remember
(16:06):
being the first person to be like, hey, I'm Tate,
this is my song, this is what I wrote. I
wrote about this blah blah go you know, and just
like putting it out there, being like, oh god, why
did I just post? And um, you know it reacting well,
And I think that's just like connecting. Like I'm an
artist who was writing I'm seventeen, and I write about
things that you can probably relate to because you're going
(16:27):
through the same thing exactly, and that was like what
I wanted to do on TikTok and it's I mean,
it's still like I do it for fun. But if
you know, if I ever want to promo my music,
I'll do it. It's really cool that people get to
it's not that filtered side like Instagram is. Yeah, it's
like seeing someone as a real person. No, it's real.
It's like you see real things and real moments and
(16:47):
funny moments and like, you know, not the post filtered
you know nothingness of Instagram. Sometimes we have to take
a quick break, but when we come back, Tate, I
want to talk to you about all things social media,
how you stayed creative during the pandemic, and your comparisons
to Billie Eilish. All right, we'll be back, and we're back.
(17:08):
How have you dealt with having a healthy relationship with
social media? Because it is hard. It's it's such an
evan flow. Some days I love it and I won't
get off of it, and some days I delete every
single app in my phone. Um, and that's just a
thing of like there's so many opinions and when you
(17:30):
put yourself out there there's gonna be people who hate you,
and I think it's like I've always kind of been
a people pleaser when I was younger, especially, and I'm
like the total option now. I think it's just because
I don't really care, and it's like, at the end
of the day, it's it's only your opinion that matters,
and if you like what you're doing and if you
(17:51):
know in your heart that you're a good person, no
one else can tell you otherwise. It's trying to find
a balance. I feel like I saw the social dilemma. Yeah,
aaked me out. I've turned off all of my notifications
on my apps just like yeah, which it's helped, but
it's so anxiety provoking for me, where I'm like, I'm
trying to find that like Okay, well I'm using this,
(18:13):
I don't need it. No. I I couldn't finish that documentary.
I had an anxiety attack, and I think that was
just because like it's too real. I was literally like,
what am I doing? My whole life is on social
media and I can't like and I'm literally continuing to
put myself out there in front of who knows who,
and my life is so vulnerable. Um, and that's like
(18:34):
my job. And it's terrifying because literally I don't know
how it's going to get. Obviously, technology is going to
grow and grow, and I'm still a super vulnerable person
in the public eye and anyone could click on my
profile any second and make their own opinion about me exactly,
and you can. It's scary how much you can learn.
I still have the eight plus but and I don't
(18:56):
want to get rid of my home button. I'm like,
because I know like it's going to go of the
face I d and I've had this for four years now,
but it's like it's those things where it's like I'm
scared to where technology is going to advance too. I
think it's quite quite terrifying. Actually yeah, um So, speaking
of TikTok, he posted this TikTok just like a day
in your life, and I was like, man, this is
(19:18):
what people don't see. Just like it's draining to be
a student to work full time. So just like, how
are you doing mentally? Because I feel like that's a
question that's not asked enough. It's a new feeling every day.
I would say, five days ago, I mean I was
it was that type of month I mean I was
(19:39):
a little crazy emotional, and I had a million b
jillion things to do that day and the next couple
of days, and I was behind my school work. Um,
I needed to film and record a million things. Uh
you know, I was. I was in the process of
editing this video and making sure that everything was perfect
and giving my notes back, and I was, oh my god,
(20:01):
oh my god, like literally overwhelmed to the max. And
you know, I feel like people never see that on
social media. First of all, was the fact that I
literally broke down and that was me last week. That
was literally mean less disaster. I mean now I'm great. Now,
I'm like life is awesome. But like that's how it is.
It's how it is. It changes every day, and I
(20:22):
feel like you can't be too hard on yourself because
you never want to get to that point otherwise it
can be quite very training. Yeah, I think it's so
interesting and just with your music, what I love about
it is it's so it's so authentic and true to
who you are. I know you've had like a lot
of like Billie Eilish comparisons, but I don't think you're
like bill Yeah, I think you're like yourself, and I
think that's the best kind of artist to be, where
(20:43):
you're not compared to another artist, but you are your
own artists and that's how you stand out. Um. Is
there a certain song that you've written that has had
the most feedback of leg oh my goodness, that's me
from your fans. Um. I think a lot of my
YouTube songs that because they were like really intimate. But
I do think that a lot of people related to
(21:05):
you broke me first, and I think like that. I
know when a song I think will relate to like
my listeners, one, I will put it on at dree
in the morning when I'm driving around and cry. You
know that's when you know when it's like stoo real. Yeah,
But then it's like that's when it's good because you
know that it's like completely raw feelings and not just
(21:27):
a songwriter method of getting getting a song out. And
I feel like you should know this. One of my
good friends she's going through a breakup and she found
that song and I told her I was talking to
she goes, please tell her that she knows me more
than I know my right now, because it's it's that's
what music does, which I think is so crazy that
(21:48):
we can all have that kind of experience. Um, do
you have that own experience with your music? Because I
know you said it's you broke me first. You've never
been through a heartbreak or is it more of just
like you relate from another aspective when you're writing, and
you relate to it but not as much. Well, I
haven't been through a huge heartbreak in a real relationship,
but I mean I've been through plenty of those talking phases,
(22:10):
the annoying ones we're saying it sucks, where those literally
put way more of a toll on you than anything else.
It's so draining and I'm I can't it's because it's
it's the unknown, like you don't know what there could
have been, And it's like when you're in a relationship,
you're like every this is everything that happened, and I'm
just completely like, this is what we were and if
(22:31):
it didn't work out, it didn't work out. But in
one of those talking phases where you never really get
to like the full dating phase, you're just like thinking
and wondering and like there's there's never really like you
can't pinpoint what was wrong with you, And that's exactly. Yeah,
And that's where it's like plays with your mind a lot.
It really isn't. It's also when it's like there's no structure,
(22:51):
like I like to know things. I like commitment, I
want I like then commitment. I just want to know,
like you're in great, if you're out great, just let
you know. And I think it's it's hard, especially during
a panic. I'm sure you get this to like working,
you don't have a lot of time to do that,
so it's hard to again find that balance with all
of that and then also have someone that's there for
the right reasons. It's crazy because all my songs I
(23:11):
think I've written about like I can't even describe where
I pulled the emotion from, but it's there. And I
sometimes I'm like, I don't even know who I wrote
that about, but I know I wrote it about like
this specific event in this specific situation, and I felt
really shitty here and I blew out like a million
different things and I kind of just put it into
a song and then it feels super real. And then
(23:33):
if I ever come to a point in my life
where I feel that again, it hits so hard. I
think that's kind of even better, it's not like you're
getting it from one situation. You're just you're taking it
from your feelings and not from like one thing in
the moment that's making you feel this way. It's more
of this ongoing process. So when you're just when a
(23:53):
song releases, because I've been so fascinated by this on
like a release day of a song. Yeah, but I
don't think people realize is the days can be like
it's not like a party every day. You're still doing work,
You're still like having your day go on. What is
your general process of like when a song comes out
that day? Is it social media the entire time? Is
it work? Is it school work? Is it a party?
(24:16):
What is it? This is definitely not a party. Literally,
let my last release date walk downstairs, got a little
paddle my back for my dad as he was going
to go grab his coffee. Hey, good release date date.
I think that really sit down, homework for four hours,
workout training, do a little chat with my fans, the
(24:38):
video releases, and then dad'saw all night and then the
end of the day it's like a wrap up of
stats and what went wrong and what went right. I
find that so interesting because people don't talk about that. No,
it's very different than people might expect it to be. Yeah,
it's not. It's not a party for I mean, I
think some people like really partied up with like should
(25:00):
and stuff, but that's not me. It's literally just normal
day with extra stress. First of all, I love that.
I love lie like La to meet because it's so
just the music video's sick, thank you. When you're creating
a music video, do you come up with the choreography?
And how long does it generally take for that whole
(25:20):
music video to come together? So I have this one
quog for a name, Michelle Dolly. I've been working with
her since I was nine. She's like my person. I've
known her for forever. She lives in l A but
was from Calgary, so we have that connection. She's like
my sister. I love her and she choographs. Me and
her do like a collaboration for like every single video
(25:42):
the choographed together, and I love that. Yeah, and you
know I think, I mean I'm pretty like quick. I
usually either to like learn it on the spot or
a couple of hours before. Um, so it's just like
a one day process. That's so impressive. How often do
I know you competed for a while. How often in
do you dance now? Is it still every day? Every day?
(26:03):
And dance at nighttime for like three hours? Four hours?
How How sore is your body right now as we're
recording this, it's I just came back from the workout,
so it's so sore. Alright, Tate, we have to take
one more quick break. But when we come back, I
want to talk to you about your future goals as
an artist and what's to come for We'll be back
(26:26):
and we're back. Congratulations again for just selling out like
your European tour in like a week. That's insane. What
are you most excited for? And what is your dream venue?
Dream venue would be like Madison Square Garden. That's manifest it.
Let's put it out on the universe Mass Square Garden. God. Um, definitely,
(26:51):
I'm just excited to see people again. I think I'm getting,
you know, so sick of being on my piano and
being in my room. The energy and a crowd when
you're performing at a concert is undescribable. It's literally the
most like so much stereotonin in your body, you're literally
just like I don't even remember it after the after
the show is done, and it's the best feeling in
(27:12):
the world, and I just miss it a lot. That
sounds the thought of just like having that much stereotonin
just because we've been in a pandemic for so long
sounds like so strange. You're so you're a songwriter, You're
really good with your words. If you had to like
describe just the feeling, how would you describe it? I
think the biggest thing is you. Like I think because
(27:35):
I walked into my last tour, like at first, I
was like, all right, guys, why are we going on tour.
It's not gonna no one's gonna buy tickets, no one's
gonna show up. And then no one's gonna know the words,
and it happened. It was crazy to me when the
total opposite thing happened. I literally just felt so overwhelmed
with love and support, and you know, every single person
(27:55):
in the crowd knew the lyrics, so it was just
like screaming at me at just so so happy, Like
I don't know, it's kind of like a you go
through a lot of emotions as a teenager, and you're like,
I work so hard and I'm spending so many hours
for what you get on stage. You're like this, honestly,
that's so much better than going into it thinking you're
(28:17):
gonna get all of that and then get none of that.
So like low expectations that it saves me every time. Seriously,
I like to ask this sometimes because I get interesting answers.
Would you ever be on Broadway? See? I wanted to
be on Broadway for the longest time. When I was younger.
It always be Hey, I'm Kate and one day You're
going to see me on Broadway. That was my line.
(28:37):
That was literally my line. Yeah, it was. It was
my bio. I'm being serious. It was my YouTube bio
for solid five years. That's incredible. I has to change it.
Um wow. I kind of like that. I don't know,
I always wanted to be on Broadway, and then I
actually like realized that the repetition of like Broadway, I
(29:02):
think it's incredible, but I would just I don't think
I'm the type of person to be stuck on one
stage for so long songs, same songs, you know. I'm like,
let's go, let's go like super fast, super quick, like
always ready to do a new thing and super creative.
So I think I would get like a little um,
we get a little bit repetitive, But I mean some
(29:24):
people are rock at it and can kill it every
single night and make it look like they've never done
it before. Do you have a dream broad or like
favorite Broadway show that you've seen. I saw Hamilton's and
it was amazing. It's incredible. It's definitely my favorite show
of all time. And speaking of Hamilton's, a main theme
throughout the show is legacy. What would you want your legacy? dB?
(29:45):
What do you want to be known for as an artist? Honestly,
I just want to make sure at the end of
the day that everything I said was real and everything
I said I wanted to say. I think there's so
many people who tell you what's right and what's wrong
and everything you should be doing. There's a step by
step process of how to be successful, and I think
it's all bullshit. I do. I literally think that I've
(30:06):
seen this TikTok's. You literally need to be your own
person and you need to be proud of yourself. At
the end of the day, if I hate a song,
I'm always going to hate that song like it's just
a thing. If I and that's why I like writing
all my song because it's all my opinion in my ear.
But I've released songs before that I've been like, oh,
why did I have to release that? Like there was
(30:28):
no point in that, And I am not proud of
it anyway, and I don't love it, and I think
I just never wanna, never want to feel like that
because it's at the end of the day, like no one,
no one really cares. It's everyone has their own lives
to figure out, and everyone has their own lives to live.
You're just like a little a little spec So I
(30:50):
mean that's completely true. Is there is there anything coming
up that we can look forward to? Because I know
you just release a single, but is there is there
anything else you can you can talk about. I'll be
releasing hopefully a new single within the next month, and
then in the new year, have a couple of collapse,
which I'm very excited about, and then honestly just like
(31:12):
rolling out all that I've been writing and putting out
singles so manifesting it will be a great year. It's
not gonna be was just a rough year. We'll get
over it. It's almost done. It's almost done, and you
know what in we can maybe meet each other in
person instead of doing this virtually, we can meet more music.
(31:32):
I think that's what's going to happen perfect. I mean,
I'll we'll put it out into the universe, do it.
Another thing that I'm doing for my podcast is that
I feel, like many others, I've been feeling very helpless.
UM and so this year, for this season, I want
to have an artist promote charity that they're passionate about. UM.
(31:53):
Is there any charity that you've worked with or that
you love that you want to talk about. It's funny
because I'm just doing this thing where every month I'm
doing like a new charity for YouTube. I'll sing a
whole bunch of live songs on my piano and I'll
pick a charity if there's like this live stream thing. So,
I mean, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm
gonna do for the month of November, but I think
(32:14):
I'm gonna go for like either mental health awareness or
cancer research. I mean, I'm like it was a big
part in my family. My mom's mom died of cancer,
so I am always always up to support cancer research
for sure. So I will have We'll find you'll send
us an organization and we can promote it and the
episodes out. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank
(32:38):
you amazing. All Right, you guys, thank you so much
for listening to this week's episode of the Let's Be
Real Podcast. If you haven't already, please hit subscribe, leave
a comment if you want. I'd love to hear your feedback.
And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at it
Sammy J. That's I T S S A M M
Y j A y E. And don't forget to follow
(32:59):
Tate McRae on all of her socials Instagram, TikTok Twitter
is that tat mcgrae, And don't forget to visit my
instagram because I will have a link to the charity
that we talked about, so you can go check it out.
All right, you guys, I'll see you next week and
I can't wait for the next episode. Bye.
Hey guys, welcome to this week's episode of Let's Be Real.
I love this episode so much. You have no idea
we have Tight mccrayon this week. She is the absolute sweetest.
I have been a huge fan of your music for
so long, but not just because she's an incredible singer,
but because of the perspective she brings to her music
and how honest she is. And I knew going into
(00:23):
it we would have a really interesting conversation, but I
didn't expect it to be this incredible. We recorded this
episode a few weeks ago, right when she was preparing
to perform at the European Music Awards, and that's where
we started our conversation. Well, first of Alitate, it so
nice to meet you. I'm such a big fan of
your music, and I'm so excited that we get to
(00:44):
talk too. I know you're just rehearsing for the European
Music Awards. How is that going? That's amazing. I mean,
I'm just really excited to perform an award show. Like fully, um,
I did the VMA like pre show, which was really
really cool, but even the fact that I'm doing the
real show, I'm just really excited and there's going to
be dancers, So it's been the rousal process has been
(01:05):
really fun. So what is that whole process like for
people who don't know, because you know, for a lot
of people they just see the performance. It's a lot
that goes into it. Yeah, there's a lot of dance rehearsals,
especially for this one. Like the worst part, the hardest
part is singing and dancing. I did not realize how
much cardio it was. Literally it is so hard. I've
(01:29):
never even more than I think about it. That just
doesn't sound like I've I've done it before, but it's
been like easier songs to sing, and you know, I
just like, over the past like a couple of months,
I've really had to figure out how to sing you
rugby first, or really emotional valid to like intense movements.
So it's definitely it's definitely hard. One of the reasons
I was so excited to have you on my podcast
is because I feel like we're very similar in the
(01:50):
sense that we're trying. I'm eighteen year seventeen, right, Yeah,
so you know the struggle of just like trying to
balance everything with a social life, of work, career at school, career, yes,
I'm still trying to find tips for that. How are
you doing with all of that? It's so hard. I
don't think people realize how hard it is. It's so hard,
and I think like the hardest part is you have
(02:11):
to have a balance, otherwise you'll go mentally insane. The fact,
like if you don't have a social life, you'll feel
like a loner and you'll get really like I've gotten
into like dark places that I'm like, I am never
going back to that, because you know, you get so
focused on your work and so focused on like these
are my goals is what I want to do? How
am I going to shape my future? That you totally
(02:32):
forget to live in the present moment um. That happens
a lot to me, and I think I've really been trying,
especially over the pandemic, although I haven't been able to
see that many people just you know, enjoy the little
moments and the little things. Uh. And then again, like
balancing school is just impossible. I think time management is key.
Time management and self advocacy or like the two things
(02:55):
that have saved me. Are you senior? I'm finishing, yeah,
grade twelve, and it's been great and candidate's great. Yeah, no,
it's I'm also terrible at time management. Like I'm like,
that's probably becrastinating in time management and my worst things
and organization. It's so hard. I can't I'm terrible. It's
(03:15):
one of those things where it's like I'll be in
my statistics class, like doing my homework, and then I'll
get like, oh wait, podcast, I have to do this,
and it's like, oh wait, okay, back to statistics. It's
this trying to like compartmentalize. How do you how are
you coping with that? Well? The hardest thing too, is
like I'm sure, like you understand, you get one email
about your work or you get one text message, and
(03:36):
it's like your whole focus completely gets out of the
zone of school that you don't want to be doing exactly,
and you're just you get creative, you get you know,
you think about ideas, you start getting inspired, and you're
like this is a totally wrong place and time to
do this. And it's it's hard because especially like when
you're in a different moment, sometimes you're just like, oh,
I want to be with my friends, I want to
do this, But then sometimes you're like I want to
(03:57):
work on my career, like it's it's hard to find
a balance, and something that I've definitely been learning to
find is who are there for the right reasons? Who
want to hear about all of that? I know you've
written songs about it, but what is what is your
experience been like trying to find true friends, especially balancing everything.
It's definitely been a process. I feel like I struggled
(04:20):
a lot more with this when I was younger, and
I think it's because right now, I just I'm very
good at trusting my intuition about things and people, and
I can keep people at a distance or I can
make people come close to me. And I think it's
just a thing that I've had to deal with for
a really long time, um because I've always been dancing,
and I've always been competing, and I come back for
(04:40):
two days and try to hang out friends, and it
was like always a struggle for me. Um So I
definitely was a loner for a lot of my life.
And then I, you know, I I definitely had to
figure out who my circle was and who I actually
wanted to spend time on. And then to add on
to that, it's also to be like who's there for
the right reason. Who wants to be there to support
you as a person that you're high in your lows
(05:00):
and not just when you're at your high, at your success.
That's the thing. And you can usually tell like where
why are people texting me, like right after I do
this performance? Or why are people texting me after I
did this? Like there's certain things that you like, you
know what I'm doing nothing, It's so obvious. It is obvious,
and I think a lot of people are oblivious to that,
but it's it is pretty obvious if you actually think
(05:21):
about it. I've had some sneaky experiences where people try
and like sneak in and then yeah, it's a process.
And I think it's just about you know, trusting your
gut and trusting who's there all the time, not just
part of the time, and um, you know who sticks
around and like cut out toxic people. That's the main
thing that I've learned, Like you don't need it. It's
(05:44):
just weighing you down. And I feel like friendship, when
friendships kind of like distance themselves or get toxic, that
can be so much worth than an actual relationship like
a breakup. That's oh my god, that's literally the thing.
So the biggest thing about my songs is that I've
actually never gone through like a huge heartbreak. I've only
been in talking stages, which is the worst annoying just
(06:06):
like wat, I hate it um. And then friends friend
breakups and going through like weird drama with your friends
is probably the most emotionally draining process ever exactly, yeah,
because it's someone that you can fight, and it's in
all aspects, not just in a relationship. And I think,
(06:27):
but you know when it's time to let that go
and not hold on to it. I think that's that's
so important, But it's hard to find that time when
you really love them. How how is senior year been? Though?
Have you? Are you guys online? Um? So I'm doing online.
I only have two classes left, thank god, which is
what class is only social in English. So it's pretty
(06:47):
chill um like right now, even though I'm trying to
get it all done before December. Um, because it's literally over.
The pandemic probably been the busiest time of my entire
life with work, and so I don't I don't even
know what's going on half the time. I'm just all
over the place right now, are you excited to be
done with high school. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited.
(07:08):
I can't wait to literally focus on important things, Like
I'm not the school is important, stay in stay in school. Um,
but I think like the biggest thing is usually a
lot of my time that I want to be spent
on creative things or focusing on, you know, things that
really get me excited about my career. You know, I
can't do because I'm like, all right, gotta gotta garding
(07:30):
out some schoolwork and gotta focus on things that I'm
really not passionate about whatsoever. And that's a really annoying
thing to deal with. It's really frustrating to try and
just hustle through that. But also like while trying to
learn something and turn that passion into something. Yeah, it's
a weird balance. It's all hard, for sure. Do you
(07:51):
know what you want to do after? Are you going
to take a gap year? You're just gonna work on
your career? You can stay in Canada? Yeah, I think so.
I mean, right right now, I'm I'm just planning on
taking I mean as soon as I get out of school.
They although, like my my managers and stuff were like
we need to get out of school so you can
just start actually doing things because I have to hold
off like writing sessions and some performances and some like
(08:14):
there's a lot of things like you're gonna go full
full force, no holding back, get ready world. So I
know you've been writing for a really long time, and
I'm sure you know finding an outlet in high school
is so key if you're in high school, find something
to express yourself with. And I know writing has been
that for you. Has there ever been moments when you're
(08:37):
writing that you decide not to release something because you're like, oh,
these people will know what it is, because this is
what's happening now. I mean I read a lot of
songs and I think, uh, like how many songs, Like
I probably have about fifty songs that I have not released. Wow,
like a lot. And you know, I think there's just
(08:59):
like the choice between like what are people going to
relate to? What's too personal? Because there's some things that
you just like sound like a crazy person. You know,
you got to get that out sometimes. But you know
there's also like the line it's therapy. Yeah, it's therapy.
It's like writing in your diary and it's I think
you don't want to expose yourself too much. But then again,
my songs are like Hella vulnerable, So I don't really
(09:21):
feel like I hold a law back, no, but I
mean it is knowing it's a piece of art, but
it's also like your life and I have the world
have an opinion on that. That's also really staring vulnerable
At the same time, was that when you release your
first song and it was like your first personal song
that was just like so true to you. What was
(09:42):
that feeling like? Did it feel like someone was reading
your diary or was it just like, Okay, here it is,
I just want you to take it and listen. Well,
so I first started my YouTube channel. I started posting
original songs every Friday, and at the time, that's so impressed.
It was to write every week. It was a hustle,
but know I think I posted every single week and
(10:02):
obviously all the YouTube comments were positive. But I was
still not at school at the time, and I went
to a public school, like right in the middle of that,
smack in the middle, and I remember people started talking
to me about it, and I started getting real and
secure because I was like, people know way too much
about me. And people know way too much about this
other side that I don't necessarily know if I want
(10:23):
them to yet, you know, I know exactly. Yeah, when
I was in eighth grade, i started I said, that's
when I started my work, and I was at a
new school, and people found all of it and so
they would repost it on which is really cool, but
it made me. It made you so self conscious because
though it's kind of like take something that you're proud of,
but then they twisted into their own totally way to
(10:45):
entertain themselves. And also like it's it's I'm my work
self is so different from my social self. Literally when
I when I'm writing and I'm working and I'm in
a room full of adults, it's like focused tate, you know,
like I'm completely your profess sfessional. And then when I'm
with my friends, it's like laughy tay child, like don't
(11:06):
don't really think about anything because it's like where I relax.
But you know, I think it's so weird because sometimes
people don't understand the two lives leave the balance, and
sometimes I feel like I've had them on time that
you're just like living to different worlds. Okay, get this
week it's quick sidetrack firm. One of my college applications,
want you have to look a bunch of questions. One
(11:26):
of them is if you have a theme song of
your life, what would it be? And I said best
of both worlds from him, and I think that's the
best one I could have done. But it's it's you know,
it's like we said, it's that hard time going back
and forth between all of that. Have you ever been
faced with being in a room full of adults but
you also have your ideas but they don't take you
as seriously because of your age. That happened a lot
(11:49):
at the beginning. Um. You know, when I first started
getting into the writing sessions, I was thirteen, and you
go into this room full of like four or five
three how many people a professional writers who do this
as their job every single day for new artists, And
you know, at first, I was like, all I've been
doing is writing original songs by myself, no help. Um.
(12:10):
And I remember first getting into these sessions and it
was like, uh that wait, Like I was like trying
to say something, but it would just completely ignore my
ideas because there was no relevance to like what I
was saying where even when I was thirteen, I was
a super old soul and I had a lot to
say um. And it wasn't until like I started, you know,
(12:31):
actually finding my people who trust in my opinion, not
only UM. And then when I started releasing more and
more songs, people obviously now have way more respect for
me um, probably just because I'm a little older. But
still it's the worst feeling ever, because it's not like
my opinion is any less valid than than yours because
of my age. It's it's hard when you want to
(12:53):
do so much at such a young age and you
want to make a difference, but it's it's having people
take you seriously like you're I have some thoughts that
are actually pretty smart if you actually listen to maybe,
And I think that's also like there's a lot of
people that don't understand the thing, like age is just
a number because people stereotype seventeen year olds as this
type of seventeen year old, whereas like you could have
(13:15):
a totally different mindset and idea of your life at
a super young age and be very mature, but they
didn't actually listen to you. And then I'm sure you
can relate to this. It's hard to find people that
are your age though, that have that same type of maturity,
that like get that that aren't just doing the team stuff,
which is totally fine. That's finding your it's finding your people,
(13:35):
but it's hard to find that when you feel like
you're so much older than you actually are. True, I
think that sometimes I deal with that with friends a lot.
Is I feel like, I'm like, why am I having
a better conversation with the thirty five year old than
a seventeen year old? It should be the way it
should be, like we should be connecting, but I'm feeling,
you know, no connection right here, and I think that's
just like a different mindset totally. Just to go back,
(13:59):
you were saying how you wrote a song a week,
which is so impressive. How long did you do that for?
Would you say, I probably do that for like a year,
a year and a half. WHOA like a long time?
I have so many songs online, so many So what
is your songwriting process? When you were doing a song
(14:19):
in a week? How would you would you sit down
you have a designated time or would it be something
that you would just think of throughout the week. It
would usually be. So I'd post on Fridays and usually
sit down after dance at ten pm on a Thursday,
may force myself to sit there for like four hours,
get my piano out, fine chords from a song I
liked because I've never been taught how to play piano,
so I just self taught and literally write a song
(14:43):
and I then post it the next day. It was
like a lot, but it was like fun for me
because at the end of the week I needed to
talk about stuff and I needed to get stuff out,
so its usually came out really fast. Wow. Yeah, I
mean that though you procrastinate, you still get it done though.
That's what they I like to remind people like I
may procrastinate, but I get it done on time. That's
(15:04):
the thing. I'll do my homework the last day, but
I will be good and I'll do it. I'll finish it,
don't worry, not exactly. Just because we don't do it
early in the week doesn't mean we don't do it
on exactly. That That's what I like to think. Okay,
So I was so hesitant to get TikTok just because
(15:24):
I was when I was that girl when I was
twelve on musically, just like on it for way too long,
trying to do those like hand things and it was bad.
So of course naturally it was very hesitant to go
down that TikTok hole. Yeah I did. I don't regret it.
But it's really interesting and I know that you've been
had such a big presence on there. Has that inspired
(15:44):
any music or has that just been like a really
cool outlet to release your music. I do think it's
a really smart marketing tool. I think the fact that
you can put a face to your music and people
can turn it into whatever they want and interpret it
however the humanizes you as a person. Does it totally
puts it face to your songs, And I think, um,
that was really important to me. Was like I remember
(16:06):
being the first person to be like, hey, I'm Tate,
this is my song, this is what I wrote. I
wrote about this blah blah go you know, and just
like putting it out there, being like, oh god, why
did I just post? And um, you know it reacting well,
And I think that's just like connecting. Like I'm an
artist who was writing I'm seventeen, and I write about
things that you can probably relate to because you're going
(16:27):
through the same thing exactly, and that was like what
I wanted to do on TikTok and it's I mean,
it's still like I do it for fun. But if
you know, if I ever want to promo my music,
I'll do it. It's really cool that people get to
it's not that filtered side like Instagram is. Yeah, it's
like seeing someone as a real person. No, it's real.
It's like you see real things and real moments and
(16:47):
funny moments and like, you know, not the post filtered
you know nothingness of Instagram. Sometimes we have to take
a quick break, but when we come back, Tate, I
want to talk to you about all things social media,
how you stayed creative during the pandemic, and your comparisons
to Billie Eilish. All right, we'll be back, and we're back.
(17:08):
How have you dealt with having a healthy relationship with
social media? Because it is hard. It's it's such an
evan flow. Some days I love it and I won't
get off of it, and some days I delete every
single app in my phone. Um, and that's just a
thing of like there's so many opinions and when you
(17:30):
put yourself out there there's gonna be people who hate you,
and I think it's like I've always kind of been
a people pleaser when I was younger, especially, and I'm
like the total option now. I think it's just because
I don't really care, and it's like, at the end
of the day, it's it's only your opinion that matters,
and if you like what you're doing and if you
(17:51):
know in your heart that you're a good person, no
one else can tell you otherwise. It's trying to find
a balance. I feel like I saw the social dilemma. Yeah,
aaked me out. I've turned off all of my notifications
on my apps just like yeah, which it's helped, but
it's so anxiety provoking for me, where I'm like, I'm
trying to find that like Okay, well I'm using this,
(18:13):
I don't need it. No. I I couldn't finish that documentary.
I had an anxiety attack, and I think that was
just because like it's too real. I was literally like,
what am I doing? My whole life is on social
media and I can't like and I'm literally continuing to
put myself out there in front of who knows who,
and my life is so vulnerable. Um, and that's like
(18:34):
my job. And it's terrifying because literally I don't know
how it's going to get. Obviously, technology is going to
grow and grow, and I'm still a super vulnerable person
in the public eye and anyone could click on my
profile any second and make their own opinion about me exactly,
and you can. It's scary how much you can learn.
I still have the eight plus but and I don't
(18:56):
want to get rid of my home button. I'm like,
because I know like it's going to go of the
face I d and I've had this for four years now,
but it's like it's those things where it's like I'm
scared to where technology is going to advance too. I
think it's quite quite terrifying. Actually yeah, um So, speaking
of TikTok, he posted this TikTok just like a day
in your life, and I was like, man, this is
(19:18):
what people don't see. Just like it's draining to be
a student to work full time. So just like, how
are you doing mentally? Because I feel like that's a
question that's not asked enough. It's a new feeling every day.
I would say, five days ago, I mean I was
it was that type of month I mean I was
(19:39):
a little crazy emotional, and I had a million b
jillion things to do that day and the next couple
of days, and I was behind my school work. Um,
I needed to film and record a million things. Uh
you know, I was. I was in the process of
editing this video and making sure that everything was perfect
and giving my notes back, and I was, oh my god,
(20:01):
oh my god, like literally overwhelmed to the max. And
you know, I feel like people never see that on
social media. First of all, was the fact that I
literally broke down and that was me last week. That
was literally mean less disaster. I mean now I'm great. Now,
I'm like life is awesome. But like that's how it is.
It's how it is. It changes every day, and I
(20:22):
feel like you can't be too hard on yourself because
you never want to get to that point otherwise it
can be quite very training. Yeah, I think it's so
interesting and just with your music, what I love about
it is it's so it's so authentic and true to
who you are. I know you've had like a lot
of like Billie Eilish comparisons, but I don't think you're
like bill Yeah, I think you're like yourself, and I
think that's the best kind of artist to be, where
(20:43):
you're not compared to another artist, but you are your
own artists and that's how you stand out. Um. Is
there a certain song that you've written that has had
the most feedback of leg oh my goodness, that's me
from your fans. Um. I think a lot of my
YouTube songs that because they were like really intimate. But
I do think that a lot of people related to
(21:05):
you broke me first, and I think like that. I
know when a song I think will relate to like
my listeners, one, I will put it on at dree
in the morning when I'm driving around and cry. You
know that's when you know when it's like stoo real. Yeah,
But then it's like that's when it's good because you
know that it's like completely raw feelings and not just
(21:27):
a songwriter method of getting getting a song out. And
I feel like you should know this. One of my
good friends she's going through a breakup and she found
that song and I told her I was talking to
she goes, please tell her that she knows me more
than I know my right now, because it's it's that's
what music does, which I think is so crazy that
(21:48):
we can all have that kind of experience. Um, do
you have that own experience with your music? Because I
know you said it's you broke me first. You've never
been through a heartbreak or is it more of just
like you relate from another aspective when you're writing, and
you relate to it but not as much. Well, I
haven't been through a huge heartbreak in a real relationship,
but I mean I've been through plenty of those talking phases,
(22:10):
the annoying ones we're saying it sucks, where those literally
put way more of a toll on you than anything else.
It's so draining and I'm I can't it's because it's
it's the unknown, like you don't know what there could
have been, And it's like when you're in a relationship,
you're like every this is everything that happened, and I'm
just completely like, this is what we were and if
(22:31):
it didn't work out, it didn't work out. But in
one of those talking phases where you never really get
to like the full dating phase, you're just like thinking
and wondering and like there's there's never really like you
can't pinpoint what was wrong with you, And that's exactly. Yeah,
And that's where it's like plays with your mind a lot.
It really isn't. It's also when it's like there's no structure,
(22:51):
like I like to know things. I like commitment, I
want I like then commitment. I just want to know,
like you're in great, if you're out great, just let
you know. And I think it's it's hard, especially during
a panic. I'm sure you get this to like working,
you don't have a lot of time to do that,
so it's hard to again find that balance with all
of that and then also have someone that's there for
the right reasons. It's crazy because all my songs I
(23:11):
think I've written about like I can't even describe where
I pulled the emotion from, but it's there. And I
sometimes I'm like, I don't even know who I wrote
that about, but I know I wrote it about like
this specific event in this specific situation, and I felt
really shitty here and I blew out like a million
different things and I kind of just put it into
a song and then it feels super real. And then
(23:33):
if I ever come to a point in my life
where I feel that again, it hits so hard. I
think that's kind of even better, it's not like you're
getting it from one situation. You're just you're taking it
from your feelings and not from like one thing in
the moment that's making you feel this way. It's more
of this ongoing process. So when you're just when a
(23:53):
song releases, because I've been so fascinated by this on
like a release day of a song. Yeah, but I
don't think people realize is the days can be like
it's not like a party every day. You're still doing work,
You're still like having your day go on. What is
your general process of like when a song comes out
that day? Is it social media the entire time? Is
it work? Is it school work? Is it a party?
(24:16):
What is it? This is definitely not a party. Literally,
let my last release date walk downstairs, got a little
paddle my back for my dad as he was going
to go grab his coffee. Hey, good release date date.
I think that really sit down, homework for four hours,
workout training, do a little chat with my fans, the
(24:38):
video releases, and then dad'saw all night and then the
end of the day it's like a wrap up of
stats and what went wrong and what went right. I
find that so interesting because people don't talk about that. No,
it's very different than people might expect it to be. Yeah,
it's not. It's not a party for I mean, I
think some people like really partied up with like should
(25:00):
and stuff, but that's not me. It's literally just normal
day with extra stress. First of all, I love that.
I love lie like La to meet because it's so
just the music video's sick, thank you. When you're creating
a music video, do you come up with the choreography?
And how long does it generally take for that whole
(25:20):
music video to come together? So I have this one
quog for a name, Michelle Dolly. I've been working with
her since I was nine. She's like my person. I've
known her for forever. She lives in l A but
was from Calgary, so we have that connection. She's like
my sister. I love her and she choographs. Me and
her do like a collaboration for like every single video
(25:42):
the choographed together, and I love that. Yeah, and you
know I think, I mean I'm pretty like quick. I
usually either to like learn it on the spot or
a couple of hours before. Um, so it's just like
a one day process. That's so impressive. How often do
I know you competed for a while. How often in
do you dance now? Is it still every day? Every day?
(26:03):
And dance at nighttime for like three hours? Four hours?
How How sore is your body right now as we're
recording this, it's I just came back from the workout,
so it's so sore. Alright, Tate, we have to take
one more quick break. But when we come back, I
want to talk to you about your future goals as
an artist and what's to come for We'll be back
(26:26):
and we're back. Congratulations again for just selling out like
your European tour in like a week. That's insane. What
are you most excited for? And what is your dream venue?
Dream venue would be like Madison Square Garden. That's manifest it.
Let's put it out on the universe Mass Square Garden. God. Um, definitely,
(26:51):
I'm just excited to see people again. I think I'm getting,
you know, so sick of being on my piano and
being in my room. The energy and a crowd when
you're performing at a concert is undescribable. It's literally the
most like so much stereotonin in your body, you're literally
just like I don't even remember it after the after
the show is done, and it's the best feeling in
(27:12):
the world, and I just miss it a lot. That
sounds the thought of just like having that much stereotonin
just because we've been in a pandemic for so long
sounds like so strange. You're so you're a songwriter, You're
really good with your words. If you had to like
describe just the feeling, how would you describe it? I
think the biggest thing is you. Like I think because
(27:35):
I walked into my last tour, like at first, I
was like, all right, guys, why are we going on tour.
It's not gonna no one's gonna buy tickets, no one's
gonna show up. And then no one's gonna know the words,
and it happened. It was crazy to me when the
total opposite thing happened. I literally just felt so overwhelmed
with love and support, and you know, every single person
(27:55):
in the crowd knew the lyrics, so it was just
like screaming at me at just so so happy, Like
I don't know, it's kind of like a you go
through a lot of emotions as a teenager, and you're like,
I work so hard and I'm spending so many hours
for what you get on stage. You're like this, honestly,
that's so much better than going into it thinking you're
(28:17):
gonna get all of that and then get none of that.
So like low expectations that it saves me every time. Seriously,
I like to ask this sometimes because I get interesting answers.
Would you ever be on Broadway? See? I wanted to
be on Broadway for the longest time. When I was younger.
It always be Hey, I'm Kate and one day You're
going to see me on Broadway. That was my line.
(28:37):
That was literally my line. Yeah, it was. It was
my bio. I'm being serious. It was my YouTube bio
for solid five years. That's incredible. I has to change it.
Um wow. I kind of like that. I don't know,
I always wanted to be on Broadway, and then I
actually like realized that the repetition of like Broadway, I
(29:02):
think it's incredible, but I would just I don't think
I'm the type of person to be stuck on one
stage for so long songs, same songs, you know. I'm like,
let's go, let's go like super fast, super quick, like
always ready to do a new thing and super creative.
So I think I would get like a little um,
we get a little bit repetitive, But I mean some
(29:24):
people are rock at it and can kill it every
single night and make it look like they've never done
it before. Do you have a dream broad or like
favorite Broadway show that you've seen. I saw Hamilton's and
it was amazing. It's incredible. It's definitely my favorite show
of all time. And speaking of Hamilton's, a main theme
throughout the show is legacy. What would you want your legacy? dB?
(29:45):
What do you want to be known for as an artist? Honestly,
I just want to make sure at the end of
the day that everything I said was real and everything
I said I wanted to say. I think there's so
many people who tell you what's right and what's wrong
and everything you should be doing. There's a step by
step process of how to be successful, and I think
it's all bullshit. I do. I literally think that I've
(30:06):
seen this TikTok's. You literally need to be your own
person and you need to be proud of yourself. At
the end of the day, if I hate a song,
I'm always going to hate that song like it's just
a thing. If I and that's why I like writing
all my song because it's all my opinion in my ear.
But I've released songs before that I've been like, oh,
why did I have to release that? Like there was
(30:28):
no point in that, And I am not proud of
it anyway, and I don't love it, and I think
I just never wanna, never want to feel like that
because it's at the end of the day, like no one,
no one really cares. It's everyone has their own lives
to figure out, and everyone has their own lives to live.
You're just like a little a little spec So I
(30:50):
mean that's completely true. Is there is there anything coming
up that we can look forward to? Because I know
you just release a single, but is there is there
anything else you can you can talk about. I'll be
releasing hopefully a new single within the next month, and
then in the new year, have a couple of collapse,
which I'm very excited about, and then honestly just like
(31:12):
rolling out all that I've been writing and putting out
singles so manifesting it will be a great year. It's
not gonna be was just a rough year. We'll get
over it. It's almost done. It's almost done, and you
know what in we can maybe meet each other in
person instead of doing this virtually, we can meet more music.
(31:32):
I think that's what's going to happen perfect. I mean,
I'll we'll put it out into the universe, do it.
Another thing that I'm doing for my podcast is that
I feel, like many others, I've been feeling very helpless.
UM and so this year, for this season, I want
to have an artist promote charity that they're passionate about. UM.
(31:53):
Is there any charity that you've worked with or that
you love that you want to talk about. It's funny
because I'm just doing this thing where every month I'm
doing like a new charity for YouTube. I'll sing a
whole bunch of live songs on my piano and I'll
pick a charity if there's like this live stream thing. So,
I mean, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm
gonna do for the month of November, but I think
(32:14):
I'm gonna go for like either mental health awareness or
cancer research. I mean, I'm like it was a big
part in my family. My mom's mom died of cancer,
so I am always always up to support cancer research
for sure. So I will have We'll find you'll send
us an organization and we can promote it and the
episodes out. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank
(32:38):
you amazing. All Right, you guys, thank you so much
for listening to this week's episode of the Let's Be
Real Podcast. If you haven't already, please hit subscribe, leave
a comment if you want. I'd love to hear your feedback.
And don't forget to follow me on Instagram at it
Sammy J. That's I T S S A M M
Y j A y E. And don't forget to follow
(32:59):
Tate McRae on all of her socials Instagram, TikTok Twitter
is that tat mcgrae, And don't forget to visit my
instagram because I will have a link to the charity
that we talked about, so you can go check it out.
All right, you guys, I'll see you next week and
I can't wait for the next episode. Bye.
Host
Sammy Jaye
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