On March 4, Tate Logan debuted his solo career with his single “Kill Me To Try.” Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with Tate Logan in a detailed discussion about his first solo release, the transition from being a front man of a band to a solo artist, the future of the industry, and so much more.
Let's open things up with a fun one. What would be your Joker origin story and why?
Oh, wow. Oh, man, I feel like this is an answer that I should already have in the bag and I don't. Honestly, I think that my Joker origin story would be growing up in a super, super small town in the South and being an emo kid. Like, because everywhere I turned, it would be like, “Hey, does anybody want to start a band?” And they're like, “Yeah, do you want to like cover Jimmy Buffett?” and I'm like, “No, absolutely not.” So I think that like, the truth is, is like getting out of the south. I mean, listen, don't get me wrong. There's plenty of good things about the south. But like being an emo kid and wanting to be in a rock band, punk band, pop-punk band, emo band, or like whatever you want to call it. Like, it's really hard when everyone around you is like fishing and like riding tractors and stuff like that, you know what I mean? So I definitely think that that put something in my soul to be like, I have to get the fuck out of here. So that's gonna be my answer for now. If I come up with something better, I will let you know.
I love that. I honestly love that. Switching back to reality. How was the transition from fronting a band to becoming a solo artist?
You know, it's actually really funny. I feel like I've gone kind of in a full circle because when I started Happy the original intention was for it to be just me. Like I started the band, I wrote our entire first album before I even brought other people in, the record was kind of like, not recorded, but it was completely finished. I had written all 10 songs by myself. I was like, “Cool. I'm going to be a solo artist. Let's go!” and then I got kind of nervous. Just to be totally honest, at the last moment, I was like, I don't know, I've never done a solo thing. Maybe it would be better if I did the band sort of thing. I called up some friends and I was like, “Hey, do you wanna play drums? You wanna play guitar? Do you play bass?” and then Happy kind of very quickly transformed from being a solo project into a band. They were like, kind of like baby steps. I was like, “Okay, I'm going to be solo.” and I was like, “Wait, maybe I'll just have people come and play live shows with me and I'll write the music, but then when I play live, there will be other people on the stage.” I started playing with the same people every time and I was like, well, shit, here we are. We're a band. I didn't want to discredit their efforts because they definitely were working hard. They were showing up, they were learning the songs, they were playing the songs, and like, that is what a band is in some capacity. So I was like, it feels right for this to be a band.
“Just to be totally honest, at the last moment I was like I don’t know I never done a solo thing. Maybe it would be better if I did the band sort of thing… I started playing with the same people every time and I was like, well shit, here we are. We’re a band. I didn’t want to discredit their efforts because they definitely were working hard. They were showing up, they were learning songs, they were playing the songs, and like, that is what a band is in some capacity.”
As the course of Happy went on, you know, things change. I get asked a lot in the last few months was like “What happened? Why did Happy break up?” It's not even that we broke up. It's just that I cared about music and wanted it in a way that the rest of them didn't, and that just happens sometimes. I think that music for several of the guys that were in my band, it was just kind of a hobby. When things started to get really serious and we were touring the country and having to fly out to LA five or six times a year, especially John he was like, “I'm not built for this.” Like he wanted to be an accountant, have a baby, and have a white picket fence. And that's beautiful, that's wonderful. He has those things now, and I'm so happy for him. But that's just not what I wanted. I was ready to full send. Like, I wanted to do this forever and I have it built into my soul. I was like, “And if you guys want to settle down, then let's do what makes us happy.” We had that conversation kind of at the beginning of the pandemic. It was like what do we actually want from life, and they wanted different things. We all hugged and we cried. It doesn’t mean Happy is over forever, it just means that I'm ready to take this [career] to the next step.
So with that being said, it was like, “Well, I'm moving to LA, like, let's do it. If we're gonna do it, then we're gonna do it,” which was fun anyway because I was already kind of writing music that was a little bit different. Not totally different than Happy. I think that all like I’ll probably always live in the world of punk being, you know, rooted in that, but I wanted things to be a little bit more poppy. I wanted to experiment with synth sounds and I wanted to write stuff that was a little bit more funny and quirky and not so serious. I think that it all weirdly just fell into this beautiful place all at the same time. It was weird, because it was like, maybe this is what I was built to do the whole time and Happy was this stepping stone to give me the confidence to be where I am now.
“I feel like for me, as an artist, it's so much bigger than just music. I want to be involved in every aspect of the things that I'm creating and putting into the world.”
It just feels like this breath of exciting fresh air to now be able to kind of do what I was already doing, but just in a capacity where I am able to explore all of the ideas that I have. I always wrote the treatments for the music videos, I designed all of our album art, I came up with all of our merch; like I was doing all of it anyway, which I like that I'm not complaining by any stretch, I'm just extremely hands-on. I feel like for me, as an artist, it's so much bigger than just music. I want to be involved in every aspect of the things that I'm creating and putting into the world. So now I'm just still doing that and it's exciting because I don't have to necessarily run the ideas that I have by other people. If I get excited about something, I can roll with it. That's like, really thrilling for me right now. I feel like kind of everything has led me to this point, which is really exciting and I'm just super stoked.
That’s really cool. Seriously, that's amazing. You had mentioned how you recently switched coasts from East to West, landing in LA. Tell me more about it.
It was definitely like a culture shock at first. Well, not entirely, because I had been having to come out here a lot for filming videos and like doing writing sessions and stuff, and every time I flew out to LA, I liked it more. When I was growing up, I always thought I wanted to live in New York City. That was like my number one. I was like, “when I get cool and famous, or what the fuck ever, I'm gonna move to New York, and it's gonna be so sick.” Then I kept flying out to LA and every time I was like, damn, it's beautiful here. It's sunny and it's warm every single day and all of my friends are here. There's just something about LA that is exciting every day when I wake up. Like, I go outside, and every day feels like a new, exciting opportunity. I might walk past somewhere that was in a movie that I liked pr I might run into a musician that I'm really fond of. It's just like infinite possibilities. Coming from a super small town, like where I grew up we didn't even have a movie theater, so it was just so different. I think that the coolest part for me was like actually doing it. I could tell myself all day long that I was going to move across the country, but to actually load up all of my shit into a U-Haul and say goodbye to everyone and everything I've ever known, is actually pretty fucking scary. But one day, I was just like, you know what, I'm just gonna do it because what's the worst thing that could happen? I'm 50 and then can say I tried? So I think that was kind of what really cemented it for me, but LA has been super sick. I'll always love the East Coast. That will always be my home. I will probably end up back there eventually. I think that the East Coast is the best coast, I'm not gonna lie. but right now, I just want to try a million things. I want to try as much as I can while I'm young and experiment. I might love things and I might hate things, but I won't know until I try it. That's where I'm at right now. So far it's been six months and I love it but It is nice to go home and see my family during the holidays and stuff.
For sure. I've always like wanted to venture off into the west coast, the furthest I've ever gotten really was Arizona, but I’m also spoiled in Massachusetts. We've got a rich history here and also the New England scene is pretty heavy.
Some of the best shows I've ever played have been [in] like Philly, New York, [and] Boston. That whole area just thrives on indie music, which is so sick. So I agree.
That actually leads me on to my next question. Between the two coasts, how different would you say the music scene and culture is?
I think that it's really funny. Like, with touring and stuff like that I would always get more excited for the West Coast, only because I knew that the East Coast would show up and be good and the West Coast was like a mystery. Especially when we toured with Super Whatevr. I didn't know. I'd never been to Portland before. I'd never been to San Francisco. I'd never been to Phoenix or Seattle, and it's so sick and so cool to go into a city for the first time and have fans there. Like, that still blows my mind. You can post on the internet all day and have kids from all over the place be like, “Oh, I'm in insert city. And I like your stuff,” and that's cool, but to actually pull up in a van and get out and [have] there be people there to see you, it still baffles me. It always will like that. I'm just so humbled by it. But I will say that being from the East Coast and playing on the East Coast, those shows are always good every single time. I don't know if Portland will show up and be a cool crowd. I don't know if Seattle will [either], but I know Philly will and I know Chicago will. Even in the south, like Atlanta's always really great. Orlando is always really great. I think that maybe what it is, is that people on the East Coast don't get it as much as people on the West Coast. When you're in LA, everyone here is making music. When you go to, you know, Orlando, it's just not the same and so I think that kids get more excited. Not even just kids; teenagers, moms, dads, grandparents, whatever. When you get less of it, I think that it makes you more excited about it, which is really cool. But I definitely think there’s truly pros and cons to both. I can't pick a fight. I think that they're both great for different reasons. And that's my final answer.
Smart answer, haha. Even when I went to Dallas, Austin, New York, and Philly the energy is unreal. As I said before I'm from Boston, I'm spoiled, but maybe it’s just the scene as a whole where the energy is unmatched.
Yeah, no, that's true. I don't know what it is about Chicago specifically. Every show I have ever played in Chicago has absolutely slapped. It's ridiculous with like crowd surfing. Just because the venue is packed, or like sold out doesn't necessarily mean that the crowd is going to be awesome. For example, I played a sold-out show in Seattle one time. Awesome. It was fun. But the kids didn't crowd surf. They didn't mosh, they just kind of were like, “Yeah, you know, whatever.” And then I played to less kids in literally North Carolina and they were crowd surfing so much that they were stepping on my guitar pedals, and making my guitar make crazy sounds. I was like, “You know what, I don't even care because this is so awesome.” There's so much energy, so like, you're right, you never really know what's going to happen. I also feel like we should shout out the middle of the country. We've just been hyping up the East Coast and the West Coast, but right down the middle, Texas is always fun. There's really good food in Texas. Um, I've weirdly never played Salt Lake City because when I was supposed to we got stuck in a blizzard and we didn't make it, which is a bummer. I've been to I think like 42 of the 50 states and rarely do I get let down in places. It's very variable. The whole country is cool and I think that every state and every city has something to offer. Except Ohio. No, I'm just kidding. If I have fans in Ohio, I'm just making a joke. But yeah, everything is cool. Touring is fun. Shows are fun. And speaking of setting off, I was listening to their new album earlier. It's very cool.
Alright, so swinging into your actual music, your single “Kill Me to Try” was released March 4. What was your favorite part about creating such a killer single pun intended?
This is my favorite story to tell when people ask about this song because it was so wild. So, I got to work with Matt Squire, which he's like a hero of mine, just someone that 14 year old me would be really proud [to have worked with.] I kind of use that a lot with anything that I do in music, art, life, or like, whatever. If teenage me thinks this is cool, then I'm gonna do it. Matt squire just produced so many of my favorite records and so many records that aren't necessarily my favorites. He's worked with One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ariana Grande, and Panic at the Disco, so working with him felt like it was just a true honor. I was so humbled and excited to just be in that man's presence. But because it was still the [middle of a] pandemic, I couldn't go into the actual studio. We didn't know if it was safe. We did the whole thing remotely. Matt was in New York and I was in North Carolina, and we did everything over the computer. What was funny is the way that it all panned out is that we finished the song the day before I moved to LA. So we had packed up everything like our entire apartment was empty. All of our furniture, our bed, our clothes, everything was in a U-Haul and I was sitting in an empty apartment with a microphone, a guitar, and my laptop. That was just so funny and weird to be working with this producer who I admire so much and literally knowing that as soon as we wrapped, I was gonna pack up my stuff, put it in the car, and drive to LA the next morning. It's just a moment that I think that I'll remember for the rest of my life. Like no matter what happens for me in music or in anything, I think that moment will always be something that's cool, that like I got to work with my favorite producer and move to one of the coolest cities in the country within a 24 hour period. A lot happened to [me] all at the same time. That was just an extremely exciting situation.
“If teenage me thinks this is cool, then I'm gonna do it.”
It kind of goes back to what the song is about; when we were writing the song and working together and everything. The original OG version of the song is PG. There's no bad words in it, which is actually out of character for me. I'm a big fan of the F word. I was like, “I don't know, maybe I'll try to keep it more PG,” and Matt was like, “Absolutely not.” He was like “You have a potty mouth, first of all, so let's be real. And second of all, moving across the country is fucking scary. Let's talk about that. Let's be more real about that.” So instead of saying, “I'll pack up the stuff," it was like, “I'm gonna pack my shit. I don't want to have a fucking boring life.” It just felt truer. I think that Matt just pulled out the best version of what was already happening in my head, which is what makes him a good producer. He was like, “Go home tonight and make this more edgy, because that's what's more real,” and I was like, okay, fair. So the original lyric was like, “I want more than an ordinary life,” which I'm so glad I changed. That's so boring. I came back and was like, “How do you feel about stupid fucking boring life.” and he was like, “Way better.” So that's, that's my little story on how the song came to be. But yeah, in the context of the lyrics for the song, had very much to do with what was happening literally in that moment, which also, another side note was kind of the first time I've ever written that way. A lot of the time you write songs, and then you don't record them for maybe a month, or two months or a year. It just depends on where you are in an album cycle. Because it was so new, branching off to do my own thing, there were like, no rules for the first time. I wasn't under the same record deal. I didn't have to abide by the same box that I always had to kind of be in, which was really exciting. If this is how you feel today, let's write that song today. That was really exciting and I think it made for a sick song. So I'm very, very stoked and proud of it.
For sure, what was your favorite part about creating the kill me to try music video?
I think having to film for the first time in front of hundreds and hundreds of people. Every other music video I've shot in my life has been on like a closed set, or like we are, we rented an Airbnb or we rented a studio. It was like, just the people creating the music, the director or the videographer, and the people behind the scenes and stuff. But for this video, I really wanted to just walk through the streets of Hollywood. I wanted it to be this kind of daydreamy sort of situation because it was and still is. Hollywood was such an enigma to me my whole life. I heard about Hollywood, I knew what Hollywood was, but I'd never been there. I didn't know what that actually felt like. When my team and I sat down to figure out what we wanted to do for the video we were like, it would be so cool if we just walked through Hollywood because that's what it feels like to just look around and see all of these things that I had heard about my whole life that I had never experienced. That was the idea, and I got really excited about it. Then we get to the day of the shoot and all of a sudden I was nervous. I'm a pretty outgoing, confident guy. I don't have a lot of shame. I don't get embarrassed very easily. But like I said, I'd only ever shot videos in full privacy. To go and just be like, alright, walk down the street and everyone's gonna look at you and we're just gonna film I was like, okay, all right, it's gonna be fine. It's gonna be cool. When we got there, there were tons of other people doing the same shit and it made me feel better immediately. Like, I got out of the car and they were doing a full-blown fashion photoshoot in the street two blocks down. I was like nobody gives a shit what I'm doing like this is normal. We're in Hollywood. So that was probably my favorite part. Also, Alex Bemis, the director is incredible. He's shot some of the coolest videos for bands that I've always looked up to, so working with him was really fun. You never really know what it's gonna be like when you work with someone you've never met. They can be super, super talented, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to, not necessarily get along, but just like have a great time together. Different people work differently and that's totally normal and fine, but Alex is such a funny and cool dude that he just made me feel comfortable immediately. The whole day we were just like dying last week. We kept having to like redo takes because I would start laughing and stuff. That was a lot of fun. I'll definitely work with him again in the future.
I can’t wait! Here goes a couple of fun questions. If you could collaborate with any artist Dead, alive, or fictional? Who would you choose and why?
Dead, alive, or fictional? Wow, you're giving me a big, broad range there. Can I give more than one answer? I feel like I have an answer for each of those questions. Okay, so currently right now, if I could work with someone that's like actively making music and I think is really sick right now it would actually be Royal & the Serpent, which I know sounds weird because it's not necessarily the same genre. I saw her perform live. I didn't even mean to. I was at the show to see someone else. I can't remember [who], but she was doing a showcase and there were multiple people performing. But because it's hyper pop, I was really expecting her to come out and it’d be like just her with a backing track, which would have been fine. Tons of artists do that. That's no big deal. But it wasn't. She had a full band and they were all playing guitars and they were running around the stage like spitting water. It was just such a raw and gritty experience that it really inspired me in a way. Like, there are no rules. You can do whatever you want. And so, regardless of how people feel, whether they like her music or don't like her music, I think like as an artist and as someone that creates art period, I think that she's super sick. I don't even know if we'd have to write a song together. Like I think it would be cool to just hang out and just ask her questions. Like, I just think she's super sick. Now if I can work with anyone fictional, have you ever seen the movie Almost Famous?
Rings a bell, but I can’t remember if I have actually.
You have to watch it. That's my favorite movie. I have almost famous tattooed on my legs. It is my favorite movie ever. I won't describe the whole movie ‘cause nobody wants to hear that. But in a quick, like two-sentence blip; it's a movie about this band in the 70s that's just getting their start and they just tour around. The main character is actually this teenager, who's a journalist, which I think is kind of cool. And he like lies about how old he is and how much experience he has so that he can go on the road with the band. It's a movie that I've loved since I was a kid because I went to school for journalism, and then I played music. It was like my two favorite things coming together. So fictional band, it would be the band Still Water from that movie. These guys aren't dead, but if I could go back in time, I feel like working with Motley Crue would be so sick. It's not even necessarily again about their music as much as it is about the atmosphere, attitude, the vibe, the aesthetic, and the just the world in which people cared about music in like the late 70s, early 80s, late 80s. That was before you could buy a ticket online. If you wanted to go see a band you had to stand in line for three days outside the box office of the music venue. There's just something really cool about that. It's probably just because I wasn't there and like things feel cool when you're not a part of it, you know. But so those are going to be my three very strange and very different answers. Just because why not. I really admire Awsten Knight from Waterparks. I think he's a cool guy. We talk somewhat frequently, about horror movies mostly, which is really funny. He'll hit me up and be like, “Hey, do you have a horror movie recommendation?” I'm like I do. But we have yet to hang out. I'm trying to think. I mean, there's so many artists. I think that I have like an endless list of people that I admire and that I think are cool. There's also a new band here in LA called Beauty School Dropout. They're doing something really cool. I like them a lot. They're really like, grungy and funky and like they have clothes and they've got great music. There's a lot of really amazing art happening all the time and I'm down to work with anyone. I can't really like get into specifics, but I did just record a cover of a song that I love with one of my favorite bands of all time that I'm really excited about. And that's really all I can say, but it's a band that I've loved since I was probably like 12 years old and I have seen live a ridiculous amount of times. I weirdly just sent him a DM and I was like, “Would you maybe be interested in like singing on this cover that I'm doing? I think it would be fun,” And he was like, “Yes.” And I was like, “Are you serious?” So I do have a very cool collaboration coming out somewhat soon. I'm going to stop talking about it before I accidentally say who it is.
Aw dammit. I was getting excited. Moving on, if you have to sell your music to the sharks on Shark Tank, what would be your pitch?
I'm a trans artist making punk rock [and] there's not a lot of that going on right now. Like, at least that I'm aware of, which the craziest part is there could literally be hundreds of trans people making rock music and I don't know about it. And it's like, why not? There needs to be more visibility on people like me, and in any situation. I think that it's so freaking incredible that bands like Meet Me @ The Altar, Magnolia Park, and Pinkshift are getting the recognition that they absolutely deserve, and I think that it's opening up this world to young black kids that they can do that. Because for some reason before now, there wasn't that to look up to. I think that we're making really big strides towards this more diverse world in which, you know, people on the cover of Alt Press aren't always straight white guys and that's very exciting to me. I want to tell trans kids that they can be rock stars. Yes, I'm trans, but I am just as cool as all of the other people. Like, it doesn't matter. And so is anybody else that's queer, a minority, disabled, or any of the things that make you not what has been normal in the scene and in popularity. People like us have always existed, it's just a matter of having that be accessible to other people that were not able to access it before. That would be my pitch, like, “Hey, let's put more trans people on stage so that other trans kids can see that this exists and that it is absolutely possible for them as well.” When I was growing I had nobody to look up to. There was Laura Jane Grace, and she's fantastic, but she's a trans woman. So that was still different for me. Now we've got artists like Noahfinnce, he's a trans guy making pop-punk. That's super sick. We're making strides, and that's really exciting.
“Yes, I'm trans, but I am just as cool as all of the other people. Like, it doesn't matter. And so is anybody else that's queer, a minority, disabled, or any of the things that make you not what has been normal in the scene and in popularity. People like us have always existed, it's just a matter of having that be accessible to other people that were not able to access it before.”
Absolutely sold, and absolutely important. I've noticed you've been active on TikTok promoting your project and single. How do you think TikTok has helped artists and do you think it will be beneficial or harmful to the industry in the long run?
Okay, so here's what's funny about TikTok, labels hate TikTok because they don't have control anymore. You know, not all labels but most labels, are just big cash money machines. They're like “ We have control. We tell you when to put the song out. We tell you which song to put out. We tell you what video you're going to shoot for it,” because they think that they know what's best. TikTok has absolutely blown that concept out of the water because now anyone can get on TikTok, and play a song, whether it's finished or not. It doesn't even have to be this crazy expensive production of a song. There are people that can get on TikTok, play the ukulele, and reach hundreds of 1000s of people, and that is incredible. I truly believe that it is putting the control back in the hands of the artist. That's awesome. And if a label wants to sign you because of what you're already doing, then that's really sick, because again, that puts the artist in control. Also, to go back a little bit to what I was saying about like diversity, you can scroll through TikTok and see people that look just like you, act just like you, and have the same interests as you. So even if you live somewhere in the middle of nowhere, a super tiny town full of like very like minded people, you can scroll through TikTok, and find a community of people that believe the same things you do or dress the same way you do. I think that is super valuable and super incredible. If you get on TikTok it's giving you access and exposure to different ideas and different concepts and a more accepting world. [The] downside to TikTok, it's infinite, and that can sometimes be stressful as an artist. You can post something, and you're like, “Oh, why isn't it doing as well as this other thing?” I mean, at the end of the day, none of that really matters. Whether you have one fan or a million fans, if you're helping anyone, I think that's great. It is very strange to be in a world where you can exist as an artist and not necessarily have to tour or ever have to play a live show or do any of those things. Because if you have a big enough following on TikTok, none of that matters, which is weird. I haven't quite decided how I feel about that yet. I mean, I'm someone that's going to play shows either way. I'm going to tour, I'm going to do all of those things, but it is interesting to see artists out there that don't have to do those things. I like TikTok, I think it's cool. I hated it in the beginning. I think I was like everybody else the first time they open the app, and they're like, I don't understand how this works and I don't know what to do or whatever, but I think that after you spend a little bit of time on the app, you can find the really cool benefits of it. It connected me with a lot of people that I probably wouldn't have been able to connect with before, and I think that's really sick.
Back to Kill Me To Try, if you could have any artist in the world cover your latest single who would you choose and why?
Anyone in the world? Okay, go big or go home. Lady Gaga hands down. I am the world's biggest Lady Gaga fan. I always have been and always will be. I saw her play live to like 1000 people in 2007, so I've just always been on that train, and I think she's only gotten more talented and more honed in on her craft. She's always been an artist, but being recognized as an artist in a capacity where people respect it I think is really cool. She's just very inspiring to me. I know, it's a completely different genre of music, but I'm inspired by all the other aspects of her artistry. If I woke up one day and Lady Gaga covered my song, like, I don't think there's anything cooler than that, I would lose my fucking mind. I also want to throw her into the question from earlier about collaborating with anyone. I would cut off my legs to work with Lady Gaga.
That is the stuff of dreams. Wrapping things up, is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
First of all, I just want to thank anyone that's reading this when it comes out, I'm so grateful. I am at a very new and exciting beginning of a journey right now, and so it's really, really exciting to switch up music projects, and to still have people excited and still have people care is wonderful. I am so grateful for that. There's only more to come. There's more songs, there's going to be more videos, and I'm going to play live shows. I'm going to do it all and I'm very, very excited for people to kind of see how this is different from all of the things that I've done before because I have a lot of new ideas and that's really exciting. The second thing that I'll say is just the obvious plugging of the socials. I have a website now. You can just go to tatelogan.com, it’s super easy. All of my socials are there; TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music– it's all right there, which is pretty sick. I'm really grateful nobody else has my name because it made it very easy to make a website. And thank you again for chatting with me today. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. I'm very grateful that you are interested in talking to me always. Again, I'm just very grateful to be here and be making music and doing what I love.
Likewise! It’s always a pleasure catching up with you!
Be sure to follow on all social media and streaming platforms to keep updated on his latest adventures within the scene. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my review of “Kill Me To Try” as well as all the other amazing content we have to offer.
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