I’ve had the pleasure of knowing this incredible human being for awhile now! The remarkable, American Idol alum, Catie Turner! She is so beautifully herself, she is strong, talented and just truly the sweetest + funniest person I’ve ever met! This is the most personal interview I’ve ever done 🙂 It is truly my honor to call her a friend and to have her be apart of our On The Rise series! Check out our conversation below! #STREAMSADVEGAN
For readers who aren’t familiar with your music, can you share with us how you began your musical journey?
I wish I could say my story was super interesting, but it’s pretty much like unseasoned chicken: bland. I needed something to do and pretty much sucked at every sport there is, and when I picked up a guitar and sang, it was the thing I was like “huh…not AWFUL at this. let’s go and pursue this.” what sucked though – and something I didn’t consider because I was too busy practicing my killer rendition of yellow submarine by the Beatles (so bad ) – is I had the worst stage fright known to man kind. It was kind of a sick irony – be good at and interested in the one field that requires you to run around on stage with eyes on you at all times. yay!
Tell us more about your debut EP “The Sad Vegan” What was it like to be able to formulate a body of work? Do you feel like it embodied who you were at that time??
it felt weird. but in a good way, but definitely weird. i’m so used to doing everything so …. low budget. and by low budget I mean no budget at all because it’s me on my bed with a guitar writing songs for no one to hear; Suddenly I was having to acknowledge that PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY GONNA HEAR THESE SONGS. insane. there was also a pressure element in there. Coming off a show where you are known for your voice and not really your artistry is scary. people could’ve liked me as a singer, but as an artist wanted to spit on my literal physical cd (don’t think anyone’s done that yet so that’s the best review i can give). I think it did embody me at the time, yeah. What’s scary though is that i already feel like i’m kind of outgrowing it – and it’s been five MONTHS. I’m aging too fast I need boys to stop breaking my heart
I was able to be apart of your American Idol journey as a viewer, How was it like for you? Did you ever feel pressure from being on a strict televised program?
First of all, I love you, Tori. seeing YOU grow since me being on American Idol is one of the coolest things and I am so proud of you. SENTIMENTAL MOMENT OVER, I’M SORRY. American Idol was incredible. I really do owe everything to them. I think sometimes it’s easy to see yourself growing as an artist post show and thinking “this was all me!” but at the end of the day, American Idol is what gave me the option to even be an artist considering I was from a town right outside of Philadelphia with no musical connections, experience, and a huge pile of stage fright and social anxiety on my shoulders. I definitely did feel pressure, for sure, but not from the tv portion; i wanted to impress the viewers more than anything. you see the other contestants as friends, and then when you read comments, it’s an “oh shit” moment of realizing “these people are my competition”. having to balance the competition element of it all was very, very hard for me.
What does your typical songwriting process look like?!
Honestly, it varies. But most of the time it’s pretty consistent: Shit happens, I’m very passionate about said shit that happened, and now I have to get it out on paper. I always have to feel very into an idea to get a song out of it. if it’s something broad like love, i lose interest too quickly to get started. What about love, you know? I need more specifics .Or i’m just totally sad at 3 am and pants less and cry on my acoustic guitar. Not gonna lie to anyone and say that’s not how it mostly goes.
We are both from the Philadelphia area, from my own curiosity, have you ever felt the “chains” of PA lifestyle? such as feeling constricted here forever, or lack of opportunities. What was it like to leave home and chase your dreams?
I definitely did feel the chains. My life was pretty much planned out for me – the typical small town outside of a major city fate that one experiences. I would’ve gone to school in the city, not known what the hell to do with my life (because I didn’t), graduated, gotten a job, and live the suburban dream. Which, if that’s for you, I am totally not judging – some people are fine with that and that’s okay. But for me, I didn’t want anything else other than music. The first day I flew into LAX was magic. Everything just felt …. achievable; I was so used to never feeling that feeling and once I did, it was dynamite.
What is your stance on female discrimination within the music industry? Have you ever felt judged or belittled in your career for just being you?
It’s bullshit. Women have to work ten times harder as any man, and I’m not talking behind the scenes, the important jobs that give the public the illusion of a pop stars job being easy. Even the pop stars themselves! And this is nothing against the men, they are extremely talented when I bring up these examples, but Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, James Arthur, Sam Smith, etc … all examples of men who have charted with ballads. Since Adele, when can we honestly say we have heard a female ballad on the radio if it’s not a feature on a produced track? Ed Sheeran can show up on a red carpet in jeans and a t shirt, but if a female did that she would be lazy. I’ve never felt belittled personally, but I am always warned on how much harder I’m gonna have to fight to get where I wanna go – it’s just a known fact. But with more artists like Billie Eilish going against the grain, wearing baggy ass clothes but being praised for her MUSIC, or Lizzo, a woman of color who preaches self love no matter what your size, I do have a lot of hope that the tides are being shifted.
What has it been like for you as a musician to have such positive feedback on your music?! How did you first react to the insane love on “21st-century machine“?
It’s so …. amazing. But also weird. I know I keep using that word a lot but it’s true. I feel so … normal! So to have a bunch of people praise the work I write in my bedroom back home is so foreign to me because I’m still trying to wrap my head around why anyone would even want to listen to me. But I am so thankful to everyone who even presses the play button and gives me on stream – it means the world and I don’t think people realize that.
Being apart of stan culture, which artist would you want to collab with that you’d go crazy over!!
I want to say Harry Styles but I realistically know that can never, ever happen due to the fact he’s someone I just…. can’t ever meet? I cant. He is too important for me to ever meet. When I was in his presence for 20 seconds of my life, I was speechless. God. Anyway, I think I’d love to do something with Lorde. Or Billie. But they’re all so good and I feel like UGH I CANT DO IT. maybe it’s safe to collab with no one. For some reason, I am still very intimidated of celebrities, no matter how many times people tell me they poop
What are your tips for people who are struggling with being able to learn how to be creative but still staying true to themselves?
Create for yourself. Never create with the intention of it going “viral” or “number one”. If you’re passionate about it, that’s all that matters. When I put Prom Queen out, everyone told me not to do it. “Too slow!” “Too sad!” “It’ll never do numbers!” but I just felt like I wanted it out there. It took six months to get any traction. But in those six months of it just sitting there on Spotify, getting some streams here or there, I never doubted my decision to put it out: I was proud of what I have created. If you fuck with your work, the accolades will come in due time. Be your biggest fan.
What are your goals for 2020?!
Be one of those people who makes their bed every morning when they wake up. Maybe have more people listen to my music? I don’t know. It’s still kind of hard to believe this is my career, so when I do say goals like “ATTEND A RED CARPET! PERFORM A LIVE LOUNGE FOR BBC!” I feel almost silly. A goal could be more self belief.
What’s next for you! can you share with us any upcoming projects?!
STUFF. Haha, no really – stuff. But not in a cool mysterious way of “keep your eyes peeled ” but in a way of “I am making this up everyday please be patient with me and my indecisiveness”. I promise things soon – I just don’t know which things! Hopefully good ones.
CONNECT WITH CATIE TURNER: INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, SPOTIFY & YOUTUBE
