Back in 2018, Catie Turner brought life back to American Idol the second she stepped into the audition room. At 17, she performed an original song for her audition, where viewers became immediately captivated by her musical ability, her voice, and her refreshingly candid personality.
After her American Idol season came to an end, she began releasing a few singles with the overwhelming support of her audience that she has cultivated on social media. She released her first EP, The Sad Vegan, in 2019 and has only continued to prosper since. On July 16th, she released her second and highly anticipated EP, Heartbroken and Milking It. The project consists of 6 tracks that showcase Catie’s musical versatility and phenomenal lyrical abilities.
I got the opportunity to chat with Catie following her EP release, where we talked about everything from her writing process, how moving to LA has changed dating on Hinge, to running stan accounts and being fans of One Direction and Fifth Harmony.
There was never a dull moment during our fast-paced conversation
…
BRIGID YOUNG: Congratulations on your new EP release! That’s so exciting.
CATIE TURNER: Oh my gosh, yes. Thank you so much!
BY: You’ve been putting out singles for a little while now. How does it feel to have put out
a full body of work? How does it compare to releasing singles?
CT: [I’m] just so relieved. It’s so cool having a body of work out. It’s so fun! I’m just feeling really relieved; it’s really just more fun. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s really fun to name another EP a really stupid name!
BY: Hey, I think it’s a great name!
CT: Thank you! [laughs] I’m kind of hoping this is just my “thing.” I don’t take myself too seriously, and I want to show that in my music.
BY: It keeps it genuine, though. Your lyricism is really honest, so I feel like it all works together.
CT: Thank you so much. I really try to keep things as genuine as possible.
BY: When you’re writing, what’s your process like? Do you usually start with lyrics?
CT: I’d say I start with concepts, so I know what to write the lyrics about. When you have a concept, then the music just kind of comes in. You can be like, “okay, I want to write a ‘f—k you’ song,” and then you can play chords and be like, “these don’t sound like ‘f—k you’ chords.” So I’ll decide on the vibe, then I’ll write a lyric, and then do a bit of the instrumental, kind of at the same time.
BY: It’s like fitting puzzle pieces together.
CT: Yeah, it’s like a HelloFresh recipe: it tells you how to cook, you throw everything in at
different times, and then you pray it works. [laughs]
Courtesy of Atlantic Records.
BY: I love that. You’re from the East Coast, right?
CT: Yeah, Philadelphia. Philly.
BY: Do you live in LA now? Did you make the big move?
CT: Yes, I did! I feel disgustingly cliche here, though. When a dude on Hinge is like, “what do you do?” I’m like, “ugh, I guess I’m the f—king musician who moved to LA to make it!”
BY: I feel like to be in LA, you kind of have to buy into being a little cliche.
CT: Yeah, and being on Hinge is like… the worst. Maybe I would feel way better about myself if I wasn’t on that app! [laughs]
BY: Have you ever written a song about a Hinge experience?
CT: No, but I should! Dating apps have definitely brought chaos. On Hinge, they’re always in love with their ex. Why are they even on a dating app? Why are they on the classiest dating app?! I haven’t written a song about that, but there’s definitely something there.
and Milking It. Courtesy of
Atlantic Records.
BY: Where do you find songwriting inspiration? With your EP, were the songs inspired by real situations, or were some of them hypothetical?
CT: Oh, it’s real! When I was younger, before I had all those experiences, I would write from hypotheticals. I was way more pretentious with my vocabulary. Then when I did start dating and having those experiences, [songwriting] just became more of a diary entry. So these are all real experiences with real people. It has to happen to me in order for me to write about it.
BY: I feel like that’s where the best lyrics come from, your own stories.
CT: Yeah, I think I’m the only one who can describe my own crazy feelings. When you write from your own experiences, you can really dig into that crazy.
BY: I know you’re pretty active on TikTok, and I wanted to talk a bit about that! First off, I loved the Twilight edit you posted to promote your EP.
CT: Thank you! Something about the blue filter just brings me comfort.
BY: When it comes to your for-you page, do you know what “side” of TikTok you’re on?
CT: I get a good mix… I’d say ‘alt TikTok’ with some weird ones mixed in there. Sometimes I’ll get basic ones, like an outfit video, but I’m not on Charli D’amelio TikTok. I’m on songwriter TikTok, too. Now you’ve got me thinking about my for-you page. I haven’t thought about it until you asked that, like where do I fit in? [laughs]
BY: I also saw one of your TikToks about Zayn from One Direction, and I’m dying to know: was he your favorite member of the band?
CT: It always switched! I went through a few phases. Zayn had this hairstyle in like, Japan in 2013…
BY: The blonde streak?
CT: No, it was more like moppy bangs…
BY: Oh, yeah!
CT: That was my favorite. It’s so weird that One Direction has been broken up for like six years, and there are still new people joining the fandom. They’re so young! I hate to sound old, but you guys weren’t there!
BY: I know! They really missed out on an era. Were you on stan Twitter?
CT: Yes! I f—king was! When they had tie-dye backgrounds…
BY: I had a feeling you had stan Twitter experience just based on your current social media presence, I was like “this girl knows!”
CT: On American Idol [everyone] had this thing where they were like, “Catie is trying too hard to be quirky.” Like, no, you guys should give me the respect I deserve! I was probably traumatized by catfishes on Twitter. I stanned Fifth Harmony! The Harmonizer-to-music-industry pipeline is insane.
BY: Do you think having that experience of being a fan has impacted how you interact with your fans and how you use social media?
CT: Yeah, I think it’s a unique perspective. I think why Fifth Harmony became so big at the time was because they were a girl group that felt accessible. I think that’s why they had so many fans. You know, Camila [Cabello], her whole story was that she was the fan. They would answer questions, they would have follow sprees. You could reach them, they weren’t like One Direction where they were too big. They felt so real.
BY: You felt like you were a part of something, and felt like you could genuinely connect with them.
CT: Yeah! When I was voting for the VMAs, I would stay up and tweet for [Fifth Harmony] because it felt like I was helping a friend.
BY: Totally, and having that experience allows you to know how to connect with your fans. I just have one last question: after celebrating your EP release, what’s next for you?
CT: Well, this pandemic is making the future unknown. What I want to say is “yeah of course I want to tour!” but the pandemic is saying no. So, who knows. The plan for now is just to continue writing songs, the next album is going to be the ‘f—k you” album. I’m really excited to show that side of myself.
BY: I’m definitely looking forward to that! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me. I’ll be keeping up with your social media for sure.
CT: Of course, it was so fun!
Listen to Catie’s EP Heartbroken and Milking It on Spotify via Atlantic Records.
