The Wylde Interview: Tate McRae
KIDS THESE DAYS! VIRAL ALT-POP SENSATION TATE McRAE HAS GARNERED 2 MILLION YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS IN TWO YEARS – NOT BAD FOR A GIRL STILL IN HER TEENS. PHILIP GOODFELLOW CATCHES UP WITH THE CANADIAN WHIRLWIND
PORTRAITS BY FIONA GARDEN
“Hi, I’m Tate. I’m 16. Kinda crazy, kinda chill.”
So begins Canadian singer-songwriter Tate McRae’s online biography. Despite her young age, Tate has already spent much of her life preparing for impending stardom. “I’ve basically been dancing my whole life,” she explains. “My mom’s my dance teacher, so she was – and still is – such a huge influence for me. As dance really took up a huge part of my life, music was always involved.” Tate started taking music more seriously several years ago, when she set up a YouTube channel to showcase her talents, under the endearing catchphrase Create with Tate. “I started posting on my YouTube channel just to get involved in another platform, to share my work. At first it was mainly for my dance videos, then slowly shifted into singing when my first original song kinda went viral.”
With over 31 million views and counting, One Day served as an early indication that an exciting new artist had arrived, its emotive melody combining with disarmingly heartfelt lyrics and Tate’s wise-beyond-her-years vocal to create something really quite powerful. Subsequent tracks such as Teenage Mind, Dear Ex Best Friend and Hung Up On You have also gone on to rack up millions of views, each one created using Tate’s approach of improvising with melodies before allowing her subconscious to inspire what message she wants to convey with the lyrics.
The result is a collection of songs that offer an intriguing window into the psyche of a young woman dealing with the tumult of emotion that teenage years can bring. Having garnered her so much attention, Tate’s videos have also become a valuable opportunity to connect with people. “It’s crazy to know that so many of my listeners live through the same problems and situations that I do. My favourite part is when people come up to me and are able to be honest and feel like they can talk to me about anything.”
Since those early days of sitting alone at her piano in her bedroom, things have moved pretty fast for Tate McRae; signed to RCA Records, she now finds herself working alongside the likes of producer Russell Chell and co-writing with Billie Eilish. It is a transition that Tate is relishing. “I love it,” she tells me. “I love finding new perspectives on things and working with other people to tell a story in a way that I couldn’t just by myself. Looking at things from a different point of view can completely change the direction of a song.” Tate has also started touring and will be spending April travelling around the US, having recently played a number of dates in Europe. At this stage, Tate’s main hope is that her live performances serve as a good introduction to her and her music. “I just hope people walk out of there and feel like they got a glimpse of who I am as a person. I hope they can connect with me and honestly just have a good time.”
