PRESS RELEASE: MEGHAN TRAINOR COVERS NOTION MAGAZINE ISSUE 73


 

'ALL ABOUT THE BASS' and ‘NO’ super songstress MEGHAN TRAINOR is the second of five covers to be revealed from NOTION Magazine Issue 73

The outspoken American singer talks exclusively about her new look, new sound and her rise to stardom. ‘THANK YOU’, Meghan Trainor’s second studio album, is out now via Epic Records.

 

 

 

On her breakthrough album and changing direction on ‘Thank You’

“I didn’t have as much freedom [on the first album] as I did on this one. The last album they loved the bass thing, the 50’s thing was working. [So] the label said ‘Let’s do a whole album like that!’ I did sneak in some urban, some rap songs and I was told to my face, ‘You’re gonna ruin this album'. It’s very hard because everybody has their opinions of what you’re gonna do to ruin your career. So at the end of the day, I just go with my gut.”

“I kept writing doo-wop thinking that was right and the label turned around and said, ‘You’re doing what everyone expects you to do. Why don’t you be the songwriter you say you are and shake it up?’ So I said ‘Make me a beat that Meghan Trainor wouldn’t do’, and we wrote ‘No’ in a couple of hours. Once they heard it, the label freaked out; everyone freaked out. It was like ‘THAT’S what we’re talking about!’ They wanted the song that every other artist wished they had and I was like… ‘Got it!’”

 

Reflecting on the track that launched her solo career and the accompanying video that made her a household name, Meghan reveals the idea for the ‘All About That Bass’ wasn’t her idea

 “That first thing I ever did was the music video for [‘All About That] Bass’ and I had no management, I had no glam team, I was terrified - I just remember eight hands were all over me shoving me into these outfits and they were like ‘GO!’ And I was just faking it! A lot of my first year was fake it till you make it. I had no idea what was doing.”

 “I wrote that song, and I did not feel that way while writing it. It was more like, ‘I WISH I felt like this’. A lot of my songs were like that, ‘I wish I felt like this’. I was so insecure when I was younger; we would go the grocery store and my mum, and I would see the magazines that on display while you wait to purchase all your food, and I’d be like, ‘Ma is that real? How does she look that perfect?’”

 

On overcoming her own personal insecurities

 “Man, I was at a place before where I didn't want to take a picture of myself you know? I was just too insecure to think that I was pretty enough to be the artist, or that I could perform live or do photoshoots and now I can’t wait for the next photoshoot so I can Instagram a cool pic!” I Instagrammed a selfie today because I was like dang, I look beautiful!”

 

Meghan’s response to adhering to the industry’s stereotypical body traits

“I mean with Instagram and all the Photoshopping apps that I see I think no matter what we do, it’s gonna be there forever! And it’s almost gotten worse! It’s just crazy to me, and I worry about my little cousins! I’m always saying ‘don't be using all those apps! Don't be shaving off your nose, tweaking your face, just put it up normal!’”

 

 On rejecting the photoshopped images of her by her own team

Photoshopping the crap out of me! I called them, and I’m like, ‘I'm insulted yo! Please give me my nose back! I like my nose bump; I’m fine with that!’ I asked my label, 'Have you heard my song?! It goes ‘I see the magazines working that Photoshop, we know that shit ain't real, come on now, make it stop!' You can’t do that! I have the original pictures and there’s nothing wrong with them! I look the BOMB!’ 

 

 On the backlash she faced for the use ‘skinny bitch’ in her song ‘All About That Bass’ and criticism to conforming to gender stereotypes

“I wanted to make something fun and upbeat that would maybe really help people. I still get asked ‘Was it your intention to bash skinny people?’ NO! Absolutely not. I just wrote a fun song to help ME out with my insecurities - and the world loved it – that’s all I have.”

 

 On her sassy new look and second album

“We dyed my hair red. We wanted something different because the album is so different. So it’s sassier, just like the album!”

 

 On experimenting with rap on tracks such as ‘No’

“We tried to put more urban into it - and I tried to rap more.” She pauses, looks me straight in the eye and then bursts out laughing. “I mean I did NOT expect to rap! I was writing songs and one day I thought ‘You know what? I’m just gonna rap on this one’ as a joke, so I tried it and was like, ‘hang on… I can rap! I’m good at this! I have rhythm!’”

 


Photography credit: Charlotte Rutherford/NOTION Magazine

**ISSUE 73 RELEASED 8TH JULY 2016** ORDER HERE: http://notionmagazine.com/product/notion-73-meghan-trainor/
Website: www.notionmagazine.com  
Twitter: @NotionMagazine
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 **ENDS**

NOTES TO EDITOR:
Notion Magazine is a leading quarterly music, fashion and culture publication based in London and reporting internationally, spotlighting the newest styles, sounds and trends, from the underground to the mainstream, and the lifestyles which surround them. Previous NOTION covers include The Weeknd, 5 Seconds of Summer, Chris Brown, Adam Lambert, Lindsay Lohan, Pharrell Williams, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Bruno Mars.

July 8, 2016 6:14am ET by Notion Magazine   Comments (0)

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