Interview: Michelle Treacy Returns with a Self Care song we could all use

October 31, 2020

What has Michelle Treacy, one of the few Little Monsters who's sung on stage with Gaga -- and got a record deal from it, no less -- been up to since we last spoke with her? Self care, and lots of it!

She returns to the music scene this week with her new track, "Time Off From a Letdown".
It's perfect for those days when you need some time for you, or to get over a bad breakup.
Check it out here:

She spoke with me today about her creative process behind the track, and what's been keeping her busy during the pandemic:

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It seems like a trancelike moment of melancholy, that captures the raw healing process when a relationship goes south and what we as survivors have to do to internalize what happened, express, and overcome. To heal.

I love that interpretation of it, thank you.

Because at first I was like, "oh, this is sad.", and "Oh s!&t! That's a black widow!" But by the 3rd or 4th playthrough I began to get it, like, I see what you're trying to tell me about this woman's experience. We've all had those moments where things have just not gone right. And we have to pick up the pieces and go through the motions of getting better.

It also goes with the whole pandemic vibe, too.

Yes, we are taking a lot more care of ourselves in this time.

That's lovely. I'm glad you liked it. It's very different from me, so I was worried about it [how it would be received.]

I think every artist needs to show this side from time to time. To show the diversity and the spectrum of emotion. And the video, was quite tastefully shot, too. Where was it filmed?

It was filmed in a trailer park somewhere, in the middle of nowhere! The lady was really cool. She had 27 cats. It was in Carp.

Did she let you hold the cats?

Yes! I got to play with all of them. Basically, people drop off their cats to her, when they don't want them anymore.

Awwwwwww..... that's also melancholy!

I know!

The whole vibe was melancholy!

Yeah, the whole vibe!

It's also self care, not necessarily in the selfish sense, but self care in the healing sense. I got vibes of healing in this video. Like when she goes for the milk bottle in the fridge.

Another layer of that video is, I was told for so long who to be. I was just trying to do what I was told. "If you do this, you'll make it. If you do that, you won't." I got to the point where I had a mental breakdown, ending up in the hospital. A nurse said to me, "Restart your life and be selfish. Get what you want."

This whole is about saying what I want and doing what I want to do. I'm taking some time off from letting others down, because it's time that I put myself first, and don't let ME down.

It's so true, too. Because traditionally as women, we give so much to everyone around us, we try to be what "they" want us to be. To function in the society that's been constructed for us, and we get lost in the shuffle.

Exactly.

So, how has your art changed now versus, say, your last release that we heard from you?

Well, the last release, I didn't even write, that was "Emotional", and that was written for me, and it was a great experience, but it wasn't like, my art, you know? We've talked so many times over the years, and I feel like, I've done a lot of work on myself, and I'm at a point now where I don't have anyone really telling me what to do, and I'm just who I am. And the music is coming out how it's supposed to be. I'm not trying to force something. It just is what it is. Which is cool.

You must be very empowered by that freedom.

It's cool! I feel really chill. Like very mellow and cool. I've been working on so many different things. I have a pop EP that's finished. I'm working on a 60's surfer EP, and then I have this kind of stuff that's going towards, more like, rock.

I've got my hand in a bunch of pots! It's exciting. I think you're all gonna love the music that's coming out. The whole pop EP, it's called, "Love Me Till I'm Me Again", it's about a whole journey, figuring out who I am and not giving up. You will love that for sure.

So you've got the pop, you've got the beach rock vibes, and you have this slow rock sentimentality throwback vibe going on here, that's great! You're just a rainbow of genres!

Some people think that's bad. Like I'm too many things. Honestly, I'm at the point where I don't care what people think, and I just want to make art. Like, people have contacted me and said, like, "have you hired PR to push the song around", and I'm saying, "No, it's all DIY."

Like I am literally right now pitching playlists all day with a friend that's helping me. I am just doing it myself. And it's not about like, "Let's blow this song up", it's about, "Hopefully people will hear this, and it will help them through this time, be a song they can cry to, to hear someone saying how they feel.

I just want to make a song people see, that's all. I just want to make art. It's not about being famous. It's not about fitting into a box or whatever. I just want to make art at this point.

Well said. It's organic.

Exactly.

Who would be, at this stage in your career..... I know I've asked you this question before, when we've done other interviews, but who would be your dream songwriting partner?

Finneas.

Very interesting choice!

I wonder who I said before. Probably Rufus Wainwright.

That's correct!

It's not about the pop sh*t anymore really. It's about just the cool vibe. I'd also love to write for Miley.

How has the pandemic limited or enhanced what you're doing now creatively?

Well, obviously, I'm staying home. I've been recording out of my closet. This song, "Time Off From a Letdown" was recorded in somebody's attic in February, which was really dope. Everything's done from home, so I'm not going out anymore, I'm not searching for producers. My boyfriend and his friend produced this track, it was awesome to keep it in the family. Everything was done at home. The song and the video was done in quarantine also, just me, and my friend Zoe.

Everything's done from home. It's great. I don't have to go out, I don't have to buy an Uber, I don't have to travel, I can just chill at home. It's been fun too, because, a bunch of different producers that I like from LA or from different parts of the world, I can hop on Facetime with them and just do it now like that through the Internet. That's how I'm writing the Surfer EP. I'm doing it with a buddy of mine out in California.

And you don't have to hop a plane, or run around now, now everything's by Zoom! With the quality advancements in microphones these days, we can record stuff in our homes that doesn't sound like it was done there.
You're even more liberated now, then you were before, because of the pandemic.

Also, because of the pandemic, I got to sit and think, "Ok, what do I want to do with myself." What kind of music do I want to make. And I've never had time to sit for months and months and months, and think about it, it's always been, a rush. To get stuff out, and hurry up. It's time to just chill. I wear my pajamas every day. I eat good food. And I write music.

As it should be...

It's a good life. I'm greatful to be healthy. We go to the grocery store but that's really about it.

That allows time for you art to mature, kind of like a fine wine, give it time to mellow. And you've got your support system, friends and family, to bounce ideas off of. You can kind of craft the pearl from the piece of sand that is this pandemic and isolation.

It's been fun. I'm kind of sad for when things are going to go back to normal. It's gonna be back to the hustle. People are gonna go back to work, it's gonna be different.

Have current events that have been going on around you politically and socially affected your songwriting? The various movements, concepts, ideas, and struggles for example in the USA, have you seen those too in Canada and been inspired?

Not sure how political I want to get, because that's a whole other thing. But I'm greatful to be Canadian! *laughs* I really hope that everyone in America gets out and votes on November 3rd. Vote with your heart. Don't vote with what everyone else is saying around you. Vote for what's right. Obviously, everyone's seen what's been happing in America. We need to vote. Get out and vote.

On the musical side of things, it definitely has encouraged me to write different [ideas]. "Time Off From a Letdown" is very pandemic based. The lyric literally says, "I'm staying home tonight." It's about staying home, starting to look after yourself, and find yourself. Spend the time, sitting in your bedroom, thinking about who you are, instead of thinking about what you're missing out on, like "Oh, I can't go out, or I can't do this or that thing." Well, if you can't go out, maybe you better put your time and energy into what you CAN do, which is, work on yourself.

And I don't mean, like work out every single day and get fit or whatever, I mean like, seriously, chill. Enjoy yourself. Eat the food you want to eat. Have a good ol' time. I've been watching movies, and writing. Some days I work on myself, and some days I don't care. This whole thing has made me realize --- really --- We are gonna die one day.
So I want to have a good time right now. I want to do what I want to do. Just hang. That's all it is.

It's all about self care.

Yes.

Thanks for taking some of your time to chat with us as we follow your journey!

Of course, I love my fans on GagaDaily!

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You can check out Michelle's new video here!
And let her know what you think on her Instagram and Twitter.

Till next time! -- Chica