Today we’d like to introduce you to Jensen McRae.
Jensen, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started playing and writing music as a little kid, and I’ve known I’ve wanted to be creative for my whole life. I started taking songwriting and performing seriously when I was in high school — I went to GRAMMY Camp in Los Angeles and then applied to the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where I’m about to graduate with a degree in popular music performance.
I’ve been gigging around LA for the last couple of years, I’ve done a ton of writing sessions with producers at every level, and I’ve put out two EPs (‘Lighter,’ on SoundCloud in April 2017, and ‘Milkshakes,’ across all streaming platforms in September 2018). I’m also a poet, novelist, screenwriter, blogger, essayist — I’m just super passionate about language, and I love telling stories through any medium I can.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m lucky enough to have emotionally and financially supportive parents who have encouraged me at every step of the way. I got a full ride to USC, and I’ve always been pretty self-aware and self-motivated. I’ve faced the normal obstacles in a creative career, though — people don’t always “get” me or what I’m trying to do.
I write really personal music, and I don’t think people expect my songs — angsty folk-soul-pop — to come out of me. Plus, living in LA and trying to carve out a long-term career in the music industry during the age of social media is really challenging. I don’t have a lot of Instagram followers or streams on my songs.
Recently, I’ve started building a team that’s really passionate about what I create and who I am, and they’re totally unfazed by my “numbers.” But for the first few years that I was working on my career in earnest, it was hard to find people who actually cared about what I was doing.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I call myself a “word girl.” I write anything and everything. Growing up in Los Angeles as a half-white, half-black girl who spent her whole life in academically cutthroat private schools while trying to pursue a career in the arts gives me a unique perspective on the world. I’m also extremely sensitive and extremely political, two characteristics of mine that are obvious in my writing.
I’m deeply concerned with questions of identity, and why we are the way that we are. I’ve never felt like my identity could be boiled down to a single category or trait, and I don’t think my writing can be, either. I’m most empowered when I talk about race and gender and love and mental health and everything in between because it’s only through engaging with all of those factors that I can fully illustrate who I am.
What were you like growing up?
I was pretty similar to how I am now–loud, opinionated, stubborn, bad at asking for help, sensitive, dramatic. Despite my volume, I was and am quite introverted; I need time alone to recharge, and being in large crowds gives me a lot of anxiety.
I’d rather speak in front of a crowd of hundred people than individually meet ten new ones. I’ve always loved music and reading and writing. And I’ve always been hard on myself, even as a kid.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/jensenmcrae
- Facebook: facebook.com/jensenmcraeofficial
- Twitter: twitter.com/mcraejensen
Image Credit:
Christine Meisenhelter, Francisco Roel, Alyssa Yung, Sara Rose
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