Tate McRae
My writing was very much like my diary, and I just put it out there to put it out there because I didn't really know what I was doing. The fact that people related to the songs made me feel less alone in a lot of situations.Collection: Alone
I have some big dreams. I really want my work to be worldwide and for a lot of people to hear it, just because I have a lot to say.Collection: Dreams
Obviously I'm very proud to be Canadian because there's a lot of crazy cool artists that come out of Canada. It's always been my home ground, even if I'm traveling around the world dancing or singing or in L.A. all the time. But Alberta doesn't really have a music industry.Collection: Cool
My mom used to be a dancer, so I always wanted to be like her growing up.Collection: Mom
I always say The Weeknd and Post Malone are two huge dream collaborations. Ariana Grande would be cool.Collection: Cool
I'll be a wreck for the simplest things in life, and just not affected by cool things.Collection: Cool
I go through regular problems. It's funny - there's still two sides to me: the normal one and the work one. I feel like I'm pulling a Hannah Montana.Collection: Funny
I traveled so much as a child. When I was four, we moved to the Oman in the Middle East. We lived there for three years and I got to explore Oman, as well as many places around there.
My idea of my music is constantly changing so I feel like how other people react to my old songs just ends up putting more pressure on myself from my own perspective.
I have this rubber band that I have all the time on my wrist, and sometimes when I get nervous or anxious, I'll do this twiddle thing with my finger and I'll snap the rubber band. A lot of people use rubber bands to cope with things like anxiety and depression and addiction.
There are so many situations when you feel like your heart is breaking. I keep those emotions pent up, so I can create stories around them and shape what I would say from another perspective.
There's this big rumor that I was a backup dancer when I was 11. Not true!
I'm really good at envisioning things. Even when I haven't experienced something, it doesn't mean that I haven't felt it before.
Usually I'll be with my friends and I'll observe everything, and grab emotions from that to write my songs.
It felt like dancing was my only way of expressing myself until I got into writing, and then I realized that there were two sides of my brain that I needed to work all the time.
Since I danced really intensely, singing was more just something that I enjoyed.
As a dancer, you get trained to carry on no matter what happens. You have to stay professional.
With writing, I felt like it was just my free place where no one told me what to do because it was just my own.
My favorite way to get into the songwriting process is to get into the studio, and then usually, they play a loop of four chords, or something, or guitar, and then I just start singing.
Post Malone is one of my biggest inspirations. I just love his songs and his writing. He's a genius. Then person-wise, I'm a huge fan of Zendaya. I love her. I watch her interviews and everything she does all the time because I think she's just such a crazy good human being.
You know those little talking relationships that never go anywhere on Snapchat? Those are the worst. You dedicate so much time and energy to one person just to find out that they're talking to 50 other girls at the same time.
As a dancer, when you're moving, you're listening to music so much because you're trying to portray it with your body. You're dissecting a song way more than anyone would actually think you are.
Canada in general is a beautiful country.
I just kind of transitioned right out of the dance world into the music industry. I started writing and I just fell in love with the whole process.
I would love a career on Broadway. It's always been my dream ever since I was a little girl and some of my biggest idols are on Broadway right now, like Melanie Moore and Ricky Ubeda.
I think performing has been the weirdest realization, because for the longest time I thought that no one was listening to my music. Now seeing people let it affect them emotionally and put it into their own lives is the coolest feeling.
The interesting thing is I don't get nervous for big things. I don't know why this happens, but I will get like, puke-nervous when I'm going to do a presentation at school or go fill up my gas, but if I'm about to go on Jimmy Fallon, I am stress-free.
I feel like I kind of go with the flow. The biggest source of pressure is most definitely from myself because my opinion changes every second. One day I'm literally obsessed with all my songs, and the next I despise every one of them and want to throw them all out!
I'm still dancing - my mum owns a dance company - but I felt like there was more freedom in the music industry. You can take your vision and really bring it to life no matter what, because it's just you.
Coming from a dance background, I was in competitions every single weekend, so I've been put on the spot since I was eight years old. When I first got into singing and went on tour, it kind of just felt like home, because I'd been there so many times.
I have this thing in my brain that I just wish I lived in a different time era. And I think that's honestly just because of social media and everything, like phones and the whole shebang. I feel like relationships are more superficial.
New York City is so big with all the lights and the people and it just makes me feel like I'm living in a dream when I'm there.
I'm bad at doing social media. I don't feel like I post enough. My content is so random.
I put the most pressure on myself. I'm so critical and I think that's a hard mentality to live with. You're not really satisfied with anything you do.
I like to try to analyse structures of different albums and see what kind mine might be similar to.
I have to juggle school, dance training every night, work-outs and all the writing sessions.
Yeah, I started on YouTube. I posted videos every Friday and wrote new songs every week. Back then, I was in a very vulnerable place with all my fans. Now in a pandemic, it feels like I'm going back to my roots and playing on my OG piano that I played when I first started.
I really want to start pushing my merchandise. I want to design something clothing-wise one day. I think that would be really sick.
When I was 13, I started posting songs every week that I'd written. They weren't fantastic, but people connected to them in some way. And that's the only way that I grow my audience as a writer.
Part of me is super private, and I'm put in this position where it's scary sometimes because you never know what people are gonna think. It's just making sure that you show what you want to show and making sure that you're presenting your best self always and making the right decisions.
Dancing used to be my one and only thing and then I started getting into poetry and writing stories and then music just ended up taking over my life and it's been amazing.
I am obsessed with turquoise water, waterfalls, swimming holes... Wherever I am, there has to be lots to do, though, because I am not good at sitting around. I do not enjoy sun-tanning or sitting and always need to be going somewhere or exploring!
I love Christmas. It is my favorite holiday of the year. I love being somewhere cold at Christmas so that there is snow.