An Interview with Pop Rock Singer-Songwriter Tatum Quinn

Montreal’s own “powerhouse in a little package” Tatum Quinn is a 25-year-old, Pop Rock singer -songwriter. She was trained at Berklee College of Music and featured twice on Ubisoft's massively successful game, "Just Dance." Tatum Quinn has opened for Kool & the Gang, The Pointer Sisters, April Wine, and Boy George. Tatum Quinn’s goal is to inspire the world through her music as well as give her fans a place where they belong in a world that wants you to fit a stereotypical mold. Tatum Quinn is no stranger to bullying due to a learning disability, dyslexia. She struggled to get out of high school alongside teachers who would tell her “she’ll never amount to anything," and to “give up on music and get a real job," which only pushed her closer to music! Music saved Tatum Quinn and continues to be there for her everyday! That's why it's so important for Tatum Quinn to create a safe and fun environment where everyone could be exactly who they are with zero judgement! She wants her listeners to know that whatever they’re going through, they’re not alone because she’s right there with them.

With her single and music video, “Sell Your Soul,” out now, we took some time to hear more from Tatum Quinn. Read below to learn more about Tatum Quinn, the story behind her single, and what’s to come.

Hi Tatum Quinn! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?

Haha! Funny enough, I get that question a lot! When I was younger, I had the honour of working with Ubisoft, where I had two original songs featured on their wildly successful video game series, “Just Dance." After those two singles were featured, Ubisoft's music side decided that they’d like to keep me on as an emerging artist, where they told me that I needed an “older/catchier” name than just “SAMMY or SAMMIE," (which is what I was going by at that time). They found “Sammie” sounded too young. When I tell people this story, they often ask “didn’t that bother you?" But, in all honesty, it didn’t because I had already been dabbling with the idea of having an artist name. Anyways, they ended up telling me that I had one week to decide what my new name was going to be! So, as you can image, the pressure was on! My brother and I started writing lists and lists of names that we thought were cool! We talked about just having one name, versus two names. But, as time flew, we ended up narrowing it down to a handful of names (Tatum Quinn being one of them). My brother and I ended up going shopping a couple days later to find him a new pair of shoes, but of course, me being obsessed with shoes, I ended up trying on a few pairs! I started strutting around the shoe store in these thigh-high black suede boots. Totally feeling myself, I looked at my brother and said, “these are totally Tatum Quinn boots." He replied, “who the f@%! is Tatum Quinn?" I looked at him all confused (not even realizing what I had just said), and I replied, “I guess me?” He replied, “is that the name? - that's the name!" The rest is history!

What city are you from and where are you based now?

I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and am still currently based there.

At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?

Basically from the time that I could make sound, I was into music. I had a karaoke machine in my room where I would spend hours singing and dancing. But, I think it really changed for me when I started going to elementary school. Growing up with a learning disability (dyslexia) made traditional schooling extremely difficult for me, where I was subject to A LOT of unfortunate bullying. Kids used to make fun of me, calling me stupid, dumb, slow, etc. because I couldn’t read or write the way the other kids could. To put it in perspective for you, when I was in high school, my reading level was that of kid in grade 4. I used to come home everyday after school, lock myself in my bedroom, and sing/cry for hours until my mom would come in to tell me it’s enough singing and time to go to bed. Music was the only escape that I felt that I had, the only place that I felt that I “fit in," and it allowed me to release my built up frustrations. It still has that effect on me.

Has your upbringing played a role in shaping who you are and defining your sound today? If so, how?

I think my upbringing played a huge role in influencing my music style and shaping who I am today! My parents have always been extremely into music, which got my three brothers and I very into music as well! We used to have this room in our house that had an entire wall of CDs, records, and cassettes. When I was younger, I would come home from school, and my parents would have me choose an album off the wall (whichever album I thought looked cool). They’d put it on, and then talk to me about the songs and the bands/artists. We’d listen to everything from Aerosmith to The Eagles to Stevie Wonder, Eva Cassidy, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, the list goes on and on! I was exposed to so much brilliant music from such a young age, which I think is a big reason as to why I spend so much time picking the perfect sounds to use in my own music!

How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?

This is always a tough question to answer, haha! I would say to the people who are unfamiliar with my music that I like to walk the line between Rock n’ Roll and Pop music. I was heavily influenced by Classic Rock, but I’m also a 90’s baby, which has me taking influence from Pop as well! My music is honest, relatable, unapologetic, punchy, edgy, and upbeat. I encourage new listeners to take a chance on independent artists because you might find something that you really like!

Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?

I do have some hobbies outside of music! When I’m not working on music, I spend most of my time drawing! Some of my other hobbies are longboarding, daydreaming, and pole fitness!

Who are some of your main musical influences?

I don’t know where to begin on answering this question, haha! There are just SO many! Of the timeless legends, I’d have to say that I’m influenced by Steven Tyler, Elton John, and Freddie Mercury (just to name a few). As for the more current musicians, I’m influenced by Miley Cyrus, YUNGBLUD, and MGK!

What are some of your future music career goals?

My overall goal in music is, honestly, just to inspire others through my music, to be a voice for those who are afraid to speak up, and to give people a safe community where they can feel accepted for exactly who they are with zero judgement. As well as, I’d love to be able to make a living off of doing the thing I love most, music! My daydreamer goals are to sell out Madison Square Garden, tour the world, and make a song with Steven Tyler and/or Elton John. I’d also love to connect with fans and basically give them relatable music to let them know that they’re never alone!

Now onto your release, “Sell Your Soul.” What inspired this song?

"Sell Your Soul" was inspired by something most of us emerging artists experience at some point or another: disappointment, self-doubt, and frustration. I wrote "Sell Your Soul" when I was going through a really rough time in my music career. I’d been in the music industry since I was 14, working to build a name for myself, but was constantly let down over and over again (which of course is a very common thing in this industry). I became so discouraged over the years, seeing people put in a fraction of the work and dedication that I had, yet they’re making leaps in their careers, but I wasn’t! At that time, I was so discouraged that I decided that I’d had enough, and I was done with music. In reality, I was just too jaded by all the let downs the music industry throws at you! My frustration never came from a place of wishing others achieved less, it came from a place of being unsatisfied in the results that I’ve accomplished! I used to say to my mom, over and over again, “I’d do anything to have a music career, I'd even sell my soul." That was the raw inspiration behind my song, "Sell Your Soul."

What is “Sell Your Soul” about in your own words?

"Sell Your Soul" is about wanting something so bad that you’d do anything for it! You’d even "Sell Your Soul" for it! It’s about feeling defeated after getting up time and time again when life only wants to push you down and the cycle we can get trapped in when self-doubt has the upper hand!

How did the music video for “Sell Your Soul” come about? What was your vision for the video?

The music video came about when I was working on the set of the TV series called, “The Bold Type" (fun fact: when I’m not doing music, I work as an extra in television and film). I was talking to one of my friends, Karine Dashney, who was also working on the same set! Karine is an aspiring director, so we’d spend endless hours talking about our careers and our goals. I ended up talking about this new song that I was in the process of writing ("Sell Your Soul") and how I’d love to shoot a music video for it some day. We dove deep into talking about the song and what my vision was while writing the song. I told her that when I wrote "Sell Your Soul." It was like this endless cycle of me sitting on the floor in my room, dead-face, empty heart with my keyboard, in the same clothes that I wore for the passed days. I told her that I’d want the music video to reflect those same feelings, being 50 feet of crap below rock-bottom. Karine ran with that idea and made this music video better than I could’ve ever imagined! I’m so grateful to have been able to work with such a badass director!

What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from “Sell Your Soul?”

What I hope fans take away from my music is that it is MORE than okay to have feelings and to feel those feelings! It’s okay to have bad days and then totally feel yourself other days! Don’t try to “fit in” where it doesn’t feel right! We have to live OUR truths and find the people who love us for us because those are the people who truly matter!! Something I say to myself pretty often is “being 'normal' is average, and I don’t want to be just average!" Be who you are and love yourself, flaws and all, and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

What’s one of your proudest moments of your music career so far?

One of the proudest moments that I had in my music career was actually a recent one! After almost three years of not being able play a live show (thank you Covid!), we finally got to rock the stage again!! Looking out into a packed crowd, seeing them vibing, and singing along with huge smiles on their faces was absolutely incredible and something that I’ll cherish forever! We even had fans that I never met before come from out of town just to see us play live!! What an incredible moment! Truly was our best shows yet, and we have only the fans to thank for that!

What would you say are the greatest lessons you’ve learned so far?

The greatest lessons that I’ve learned so far are also recent ones!

1. You don’t have to be perfect 24/7, and that applies to everything! For me, I apply it to writing and releasing music (mostly), but I also apply it in day to day life! Sometimes you’re allowed to just "have a day," whatever that may mean to you!

2. Peoples opinions are just like a**holes, everyone's got one, so don’t take them too seriously!

3. Be grateful for everything you have (the good, bad, and ugly) because everything in life is part of YOUR unique story (nothing good lasts forever, and nothing bad lasts forever, so enjoy the ride)!

4. Be yourself and screw what the haters think!

5. Be a good friend TO YOURSELF (it’s so easy to get caught up with the negative)! Remind yourself that YOU are just as important as your friends, so speak to yourself with kindness!

What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects that we should be on the lookout for?

Next to come is TONS more music! In July, I’ll be releasing my next single with a visualizer called, "Short Supply;" then at the end of August or early September, I’ll be releasing another single with an epic music video called, "Back In Time" (you’ll definitely get to hear the Classic Rock influence that we talked about in this one!)!

Where can we follow you on social media?

All my socials can be found by using this link —> https://linktr.ee/tatumquinn

Before you go, let's ask you a couple of random questions:

What are some of your favorite foods?

Easy - Cheeseburgers (with A LOT of pickles) and CAKE (preferably chocolate - just not cheesecake)!

What is your favorite television show and movie?

My favourite TV show is F.R.I.E.N.D.S (I’m pretty certain I can win at FRIENDS trivia against the main cast)! And as for my favourite movie, it’s Cool Runnings!

I’d like to take a quick second to thank you, Meikhel, for this wonderful interview and for taking a chance on my music! What an absolute pleasure this has been, and to all of the fans, I love you ENDLESSLY! Grateful is a total understatement! So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so supportive with my music! xx

The pleasure is all mine! Thank you for the great interview; wish you much continued success!