Tate McRae
That’s why she would like to live in the early 2000s
Tate McRae recently graduated from high school.
© RCA / Sony Music
Tate McRae made his breakthrough in 2020 with “you broke me first”. Here the young Canadian reveals how she reacted to the success.
In Corona summer 2020, Tate McRae (17) achieved the international breakthrough with “you broke me first”. After the release of her current single “slower”, the young Canadian from Calgary is now following up with her second EP “too young to be sad”, which was released on March 26th. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, she talks about how she imagines love in the 90s, why she would have liked to have started her career in the early 2000s and the challenges that success brings with it at a young age.
Their new EP is called “too young to be sad”. What is the message in the title?
Tate McRae: “too young to be sad” is all about being present and living in the moment. I write a lot of deep, sad songs. At the same time, I live by the motto that you shouldn’t waste time hanging up on irrelevant things.
In one of your new songs, “I wish I loved you in the 90’s”, you sing about a decade in which you were not yet born. How was love different in the 90s than it is today?
McRae: I think the romantic aspect is being partly lost today due to smartphones, social media and other technology.
Is that why you would have loved to live in the 90s?
McRae: I would just like to live in a time when communication wasn’t that easy. Our generation should learn to personally invest time and effort in people who matter to them – not through their phones.
For artists in particular, communication via social networks is an important tool today. What good and bad aspects do you see in it?
McRae: Social media can be helpful in a million ways and can provide a platform for you in no time. At the same time, however, they are toxic. There is so much negativity and hate out there that some days it can be difficult to even use social media. I would like to be an artist in the early 2000s.
Why?
McRae: Back then, social networks were just starting out and they hadn’t taken over our lives that much.
But they were also not yet able to make young artists internationally known in a very short time without having to leave their home. Last year, despite the corona pandemic, they achieved their global breakthrough with “you broke me first”. How did you react to the success overseas?
McRae: That was very surreal. It didn’t happen in a second, but grew gradually. But when I got messages and private messages [in den sozialen Netzwerken, Anm. d. Red.] regarding the song being in the charts worldwide … that freaked me out.
Like your US colleague Billie Eilish, you are still very young. What are the challenges of success when you are only 17 years old?
McRae: One of the most challenging aspects of growing up in the internet age is keeping all eyes on you. A big part of growing up is making mistakes, learning from them, and growing from experience. If you are constantly looked at under the microscope, moments of anxiety, depression and stress arise much more often – while you are trying to find yourself at the same time.
Has your mental health suffered as a result?
McRae: Yes, of course. I’m a very private person so I don’t usually talk about my ups and downs very often. I am writing about them though. In my opinion, it is a difficult time to be a teenager. The world can seem like a very dark place, and the social networks make it feel even worse.
What do you do in such moments?
McRae: I’m trying to stay calm. When dark thoughts arise, I focus on all of the things for which I am grateful.