Feel the vibe with Tara McDonald

She is the voice behind some of the most significant house music projects of the past years. She is one of the most amazing performers I've ever met - always looking fabulous, always in a good mood and with the BIGGEST heart someone could ever imagine! She is Tara McDonald, a young and very talented UK song-writer and singer and I'm sure, that she doesn't need to be introduced. Her talent lives through her music, which touches people all over the world. One day after her new project with Sherry Flavour "The Grand (We're not alone)" got released, Tara found some time to talk to me about her fans, her shoes and her new album:)






E: Tara, your new single called “The Grand (We're Not Lonely)” was released on 22nd November on Selekted Music, after getting big support by Armin Van Buuren, Cosmic Gate, Above and Beyond, Flash Brothers and many more. Can you tell me something more about it?



T: I had heard the instrumental of this track “The Grand” by Sherry Flavour and really loved it. Then I was approached by 3 different people from completely different sources to write a vocal line for it, so it seemed something that I was destined to do. I decided to write a song called "We’re not lonely" because when I hear the music I am uplifted and it can completely change my mood. I work in club life and sometimes you can have a bad day and don't always feel like going out. But once I hear the music playing I am transported and know that many other people feel that way. I want to remind myself and others that no matter where you are in your life you are not alone.

Sherry Flavour & Tara McDonald - The Grand (We're Not Lonely) (Radio Edit) by Selekted Music



E: Have you ever thought about an own album?

T: Yes! This is my next ambition I want to fulfil. I am a very cautious person. I wanted to feel ready for such an important stage in my career. I used to get so nervous about performing and had to overcome that. So I started backing singing and recording vocal sessions for pop and rock stars to get more experience in the studio. Then I started touring with them. After that I wanted to make records but was still too scared to do my own one so I wrote songs with other producers (mainly dance) and released tracks for their projects. This was great as I got to tour doing my own club shows and had to do some press and radio interviews and sometimes big live performances especially when I was working with David Guetta. Now I feel that I have experienced nearly every aspect of putting a record together and I'm now ready to work on my solo album (in fact I have already started and I'm so excited about it!)




E: What came first? The singing or the song-writing?

T: I guess what came first for me was singing as this is something you enjoy doing when your very young. When I was about 5 years old I was at a friend’s birthday party and there was a magician there. All of us children were singing happy birthday and the magician came over to my father and said "is that your daughter there?" My father nodded. He said "all the other children are shouting but your daughter is really singing" so I guess that was a sign of what was to come.



I didn't start writing songs till I was around 8 or 9, these were not good! But I was aware of song structure and interested in words/lyrics and how they could make you feel and tell a story. I started working in music at 9 years old traveling to London to perform in the musical “Les Miserables”. I had always loved to sing and dreamed of performing on a stage, I had to persuade my parents to let me be in the show. They took me along to the audition for fun, I don't think they ever expected me to get the part and I haven't stopped working since.


E: How comes that you’re in the house music business?

T: House music opened its arms to me and I have been very grateful. I was very shy growing up and going to nightclubs for me was pure escapism. In the day I felt I couldn't express myself because I was very insecure about my appearance and found it hard to talk to people except my trusted circle of friends. But somehow all that changed when I walked into a dark nightclub with the music pounding so hard it rocked my whole body. I wasn't image conscious there, I felt free. I became a different person like my bad ass alter ego :D So I always felt very comfortable in this environment, it was a way to escape. Simply dance music made me feel good and I was soon addicted to it.


E: Can you tell me about the moment, when David Guetta and Axwell got in touch with you, asking you to work with them?

T: The Axwell situation was through a music publisher, they gave me the track as they were finding it hard to get the right vocal line. I had always loved the instrumental and lucky for me they liked what I did.





The song "Delirious" with David Guetta was born out of another unusual situation. I had been contacted on MySpace by a guy called Sven Kirshner from a company from Yamabooki. He wanted to send me some tracks to write on but didn't tell me who they were from. It was good as I decided what tracks I wanted to write to on the strength of the music alone and I fell in love with one piece of music that I decided to call "Delirious" and another track I wrote too from that time was an instrumental from the Todd Terry Allstars that I called "Get Down". This was a really creative time and I feel very proud of both these records. David and I then met up in London and he got a real shock as he had only heard my voice before on "My my my" that I featured on with Armand Van Helden, he hadn't seen me before and thought I was going to be a big black woman.




E: When you write a song text, do you always know the melody already? And which way round is easier?

T: When I write with DJ/producers it's usual that I am sent a track, this can be rough and then I will just listen to this over and over again. I will start singing melodies that come into my mind and maybe I will get some lyrics at the same time. This happens sometimes but more commonly I will find the melody first and an idea to write about. Then it’s like a puzzle adding the pieces together. It has to be natural, it’s all about feeling and instinct.




E: How did you discover your passion for house music?

T: My passion for dance music came through my love of the nightlife in London, it was a real mix of excitement, fashion, glamour and a love to dance all night long. Now I'm in the process of putting together my own album, it's such an incredible time. I'm experimenting with different sounds in dance music, adding in different flavours too and I can't wait to share these songs with everyone!


E: You play a different role in every music video. Have you ever thought about acting?

T: To be honest I am loving working in music right now and haven't thought much about acting although a couple of people have asked me recently. It's defiantly something I would consider in the future but it would have to be a very special project and right now I want to concentrate on my album.



I have however just presented my own radio show for Sarah Main's "The Main Room", I had never done this before and it was a great experience to pick out some of my favourite tunes. I decided to concentrate on focusing on the singers and songwriters in house music as I am one myself. I had so much fun doing it.


E: Which was your most personal gig experience?

T: I feel so blessed to have had some truly amazing experiences over the years that have meant so much to me. It doesn't matter if it's a massive event or a small club gig, they all matter! The best feeling is sharing your music to an electric crowd. I have a few experiences I would like to share with you....



One of the biggest gigs I did was about 10 years ago, I was working with Planet Funk and we were performing at the MTV dance festival in Ibiza. I had never been to Ibiza before and was so excited to finally be on the island which is the mecca for all things dance music. We performed alongside Basement Jaxx and Faithless and the gig was at Privilege the world’s biggest nightclub. I was so nervous but the audience loved it and I felt such a high afterwards.




Another great memory was when I performed in Jakarta last year, I was singing "Get Down" and I usually put this in the middle of my set as it was a big club track but not so well known commercially. I had no idea how big this sing was in Indonesia. It was crazy, normally the biggest songs of the night from me are "Delirious" or "My my my" so I was really pleasantly shocked with the reaction I received.



More recently this year I played at the Tomorrowlands festival on the main stage in front of 90,000 with Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike & Dada Life. We wrote a track together called "Give Into the Night" which was the official Tomorrowland anthem and went to number 16 in the commercial chart in Belgium. I am really proud of this record as it's the first track that I have recorded the vocals for myself at my home studio and the artwork for the single cover was so beautiful. It was a great honour to play on the main stage after the Swedish House Mafia and I was blown away by the audience. It was really crazy!




E: Which was THE most strange fan gift?

T: I haven't had many strange gifts but I do feel so touched that the music I make reaches people and through that the fans care about me. I had one fan from Cairo in Egypt travelled all the way to Moscow on a private jet just to give me a rose before a performance which was pretty special because he thought I might be nervous. Also when I was in Germany recently a guy put something in my hand while I was singing. (yeah T, I saw that! :D) I gave it to my tour manager as I was performing in a dark club and couldn't really see what it was plus I was singing too. When I got off stage I saw it was a beautiful necklace in 22 carat gold. I really wanted to thank him but it was too late, he had gone already. So hopefully he'll read this and know that I kept it and I was very touched. Another fan in Romania is a very talented designer Anca AKA Little Artist she made me this beautiful leather bag in leopard print with a record on the front with my logo on.


E: Who makes your outfits for your gigs?

T: I am a bit of a shopperholic to be honest and I love to find new outfits. That’s my best excuse for shopping - "I need it for my job"! I will buy things from the high street, designers and also I do have some things made just for me. I'm not precious about where my clothes are from. Sure, I love expensive designer clothes like all girls but I'm just as happy with something from H & M. I did have one dress especially made for me that I wore for a Playboy party that I was performing, designed by Prince Charming who lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He wanted to make me into a modern day Jessica Rabbit!




E: How many pair of shoes do you have? :)

T: I honestly can't tell you...but it's a hell of a lot. I'm not good at throwing things out so the collection is getting bigger and bigger!


E: It seems to me that you love to tweet :) what is Twitter for you?

T: I love twitter and anyone out there that wants to follow me my address is http://twitter.com/taramcdonaldtv Follow me! :D

Twitter for me is amazing as it's such a quick and easy way to communicate to fans and update them what you're doing, new records, where you're playing and to thank the people that are supporting you. It’s also a great way for me to find out what other artists or my friends are doing. Everyone has such crazy schedules these days. Like last week I was playing in Dubai I tweeted about it and Afrojack tweeted me back saying he was there too. Without twitter he probably wouldn't have checked my web page. So it can be a good social tool too :) My mum likes to follow my tweets as she never knows where in the world I am so she can look at my twitter post and say ok she's ok she's just landed in China and is doing soundcheck LOL


E: Do you love your jet set life or do you sometimes get tired of being away from home every day?

T: I do love my jet set life......now. When I first started touring and doing my club shows I wasn't as well known as I am now so I used to travel everywhere on my own which could get very lonely. Also living out a suitcase can be hard, especially as I hate packing! It’s easier for the male DJ's and singers in a way as they just roll up to the gig in an old T-shirt, but for a girl there is a lot more pressure to look good. Trying to travel light with only hand baggage (in case the airlines lose your bags) but when you’re away for a week can be tricky. Touring has become such a big part of my life and now I'm in hotels more than I'm at home so I'm used to it.
This month for example I have performed in Miami, Dubai, Milan, Paris, Marrakech, Warsaw, Luxembourg, Belgium, and a Russian tour.



On average I'm on more than on 6 flights a week. Sometimes I get to stop and see something of the country and I love that. When I was performing in Egypt earlier this year, the ash cloud incident happened and I couldn't get home. This ended up being great as I got to explore Cairo, saw the pyramids and the museum and made some lovely new friends there. Also I played a show in Rome this year too and took a late flight back so I got to see the ancient city of Rome.



Sharing my music with people is such an incredible feeling. Believe me, the things I miss at home are a small sacrifice. I love what I do so much and know I am very lucky to live through my music. I am blessed and I’m learning to get better at packing my luggage!


Pictures by artist.