Georgia Webster on Tik Tok and "Tell Your Mom"

AN INTERVIEW WITH GEORGIA WEBSTER ON TIK TOK AND HER NEW SONG, “TELL YOUR MOM.”

THIS IS YOUR FIRST RELEASE, BUT I FEEL LIKE I ALREADY KNOW YOUR MUSIC BECAUSE I FOLLOW YOU ON TIK TOK. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO START POSTING SINGING VIDEOS ON THE APP?

I’ve been writing songs for a while, since the fourth grade actually, but I didn’t really know what to do with them. I posted “Tell Your Mom” on Tik Tok just to see what would happen. I woke up the next morning and it was blowing up. 

HOW DID YOU REACT WHEN YOU FOUND OUT THAT THE SONG HAD GONE VIRAL?

I was freaking out. The night before I posted it—this is 100% the truth— I was contemplating whether I wanted to do music or not. I didn’t know if it was for me or what I wanted to do with my songs. I was laying in my bed. I was upset and I was literally like, “I need a sign to know if I should keep doing music.” That was the night before the song went viral.  I opened my phone the next morning and it was like, “This person and 100,000 others liked your video.” It was totally insane. I started crying. 

THERE ARE SO MANY COMMENTS ON TIK TOK COMPARING YOU TO TAYLOR SWIFT. WAS THAT AN UNEXPECTED COMPARISON FOR YOU?

Oh no. I love to hear that. I love Taylor. I think she’s so good. Hearing that is the biggest compliment.

WHO ARE SOME OTHER ARTISTS YOU’RE INFLUENCED BY?

I love Lennon Stella, Chelsea Cutler, and Julia Michaels. They are all incredible songwriters and they make super catchy songs. I love all their music. 

WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE? HOW DID YOU WRITE “TELL YOUR MOM?”

Usually, I’ll get an idea from something that happens to me and then I’ll sit down and write about it. If it's a good song, it just comes and takes twenty minutes. I usually don’t keep writing songs if it takes more than one sitting. Those songs never turn out as good. For “Tell Your Mom” I just sat down and started writing it.

SO IT TOOK LESS THAN TWENTY MINUTES TO WRITE THE WHOLE SONG?

Yeah. It was really fast. 

AFTER “TELL YOUR MOM” DID WELL ON TIK TOK, WAS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE TO RELEASE THE SONG QUICKLY?

I recorded the song right after I posted the Tik Tok. The process was definitely rushed. I got a version of the song back and was planning to release it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would regret releasing the rushed version. I decided that I needed to record it again the right way. I wanted it to sound a little bit country but also very raw and pop. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN THE TIK TOK VIDEO AND THE FINAL VERSION OF THE SONG?

The production for sure. The video was just me and my guitar. The recorded version has drums and extra stuff to spice it up a bit. I’ve been wanting to put out my songs for so long. I just didn’t know how. Now that I have the opportunity to release my music, it’s really exciting. 

“TELL YOUR MOM” BY GEORGIA WEBSTER IS OUT NOW. YOU CAN FIND THE SONG ON SPOTIFY AND APPLE MUSIC. MAKE SURE TO STREAM AND SUBSCRIBE TO TWENTY MINUTES LATER FOR MORE INTERVIEWS LIKE THIS ONE.