Five Questions With… Tara Macri
Toronto-born pop singer Tara Macri finds a way to bottle up bliss with her new single Baby You Got Me, available now on all platforms through LA-based indie label 10 Count Records.
By Jason Schneider
Toronto-born pop singer Tara Macri finds a way to bottle up bliss with her new single Baby You Got Me, available now on all platforms through LA-based indie label 10 Count Records. Written by Tara and Andrea England, the track was produced by Garen Gueyikian (Kill The Alarm) and mixed by multiple Grammy Award winner Chris Lorde-Alge.
Unfolding like a tender diary entry, Baby You Got Me captures the moment when you realize the special someone in your life has changed from a “maybe” to a “for sure.” For the song’s video, viewers are invited to spend the day with Tara in Venice Beach, California, beginning with a lazy afternoon on its iconic pier and continuing into a glorious evening date.
Along with her singing career, Tara has an impressive list of acting credits to her name, from pivotal roles on Broadway (Hairspray, Jersey Boys, The First Wives Club), to starring as Amber in Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl opposite Nick Jonas and John Stamos. Tara was also the voice of Young Tigress in the Kung Fu Panda prequel Secrets of the Scroll, co-starring Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogan, and Lucy Liu.
Tara’s previous hit single Prettiest Girl in the Room cracked Billboard’s Top 80 and received extensive airplay on terrestrial radio and Sirius XM. Tara followed that success with her out of this world single Meet Me on Mars with both pop and acoustic releases. Find out more at taramacri.com.
How did your new single, Baby You Got Me, come together?
The chorus came to me one night while I was sleeping. I would always say, “I will remember the song in the morning,” but I never did! So this time I recorded it on my phone. I still have the scratch recording, and it's so funny because you can hear the melody and some of the lyrics, but I am half asleep. I began to play it at my live shows not ever thinking I would record it until someone at the label suggested it. So I was introduced to the producer Garen Gueyikian and we began to put the pieces together. It was so much fun, and I love how it turned out!
The video also looked like it was a lot of fun to make. Who came up with the idea?
I was doing a photo-shoot on a beach in Santa Monica, and I asked her also to take some video because I thought the beach the vibe would work well with the song. So I took clips of what she recorded and put it to the music and played around with it. From there, I brought up the idea with the team, and we all collaborated.
You're back and forth between Toronto and LA quite often. What are your favourite things to do in each city?
Yeah, I’m all over the place right now doing press for Baby You Got Me. My favorite thing to do in when I get to go to Toronto is to visit this gym I love called One Academy. I love it there; the workouts are insane in a good way. All the trainers and the owners have such a positive attitude and make working out so much fun.
In L.A, I love doing hikes and then after hitting up one of my favourite restaurants—which is also Canadian—called Terroni's.
You recently sang the anthem at the Toronto FC/LA Galaxy game in Toronto. What was that experience like?
Oh wow, it was so much fun! It was for July 4th, so the fireworks were magical. When I started to sing the anthem, there were so many Canadians in the stadium, and they began to sing with me. I didn’t expect that. I felt honoured to represent Canada.
What do you have planned for the near future?
Right now, I have a number of shows coming up. One is a cool event that’s been going on in Hollywood for some time now called Street Food Cinema. It brings together some awesome food trucks with live music and an outdoor movie screening. I’ll be performing on August 17, and the movie is Bridesmaids, so I’m excited about that. I also have a few projects in the works but can’t talk about them yet... but I will announce them on my socials soon!
