“After the show, my team was like, ‘it’s kind of weird, Bellah, because a lot of your fans knew a lot of the songs… and they haven’t been released yet.’ I was like, ‘oh, I don’t know why that would be…’”
Bellah Mae is equal parts popstar and big sister. Growing up surrounded by the world of country music, she early on mastered the art of crafting a story through lyrics. Bringing that vulnerability, power, and relatability into the pop sphere, she creates catchy, tongue-in-cheek tracks that simultaneously make you dance and feel understood. Her stellar vocals are crystal clear, piercing right through the soul — emotional and explosive all at once. Exponentially growing her TikTok account and loyal fanbase by the second, Bellah epitomises the positive influence that the social media platform can have. The Hottest Girlfriends Club, as she calls her fandom, look to the musician not only for her music, but for community. Bellah beams as she tells us, “they’ve all become really good friends [with each other]. Even at this early stage in my career, if I have a show, they get together and they know each other, which is so cute”. Music is a powerful tool, and Bellah knows just how to use it.
Her trio of picture-perfect pop anthems, “Boyfriend Of The Year”, “Drama King”, and “Date Your Dad” proves Mae is rising to the very top. We had the honour of speaking with her about blending country and pop, being a role model for young girls, and her songwriting process.
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Now for the interview…
When did you start creating music and how has your sound evolved to where it is now?
My intro to music was very southern and country because my granddad was in a rock and roll band. And my dad played in his rock and roll band. That was my mom’s dad and then my dad — that’s how my parents met, so I was born into it and always put on stages with them. And so the first music I was ever around was rock and roll and southern stuff. My granddad actually used to work in Memphis. So I really thought I was going to be in country. I absolutely love country. I first went to Nashville when I was 18. And I was picked up by Dolly Parton’s management for a song that I had put out, which was my first ever single. And so I spent a bit of time there and was part of an amazing show called Song Suffragettes, which focused on how bad the representation of women in country music is. I mean, it’s a huge issue across the industry, and probably in every industry, but the gap in country is really prominent. So they had this female-only writer’s round, which I was part of, that was really cool.
Then we went into COVID and I had two years pretty much thinking I was going to be in country, and then making music every single day and realising that I didn’t get that buzz from making country music. I loved the songwriting, but I wasn’t excited about the actual music itself that I was making. I loved listening to it, but what made me excited to write was fun and upbeat stuff. But at the same time, I wasn’t vibing with the really dancey, upbeat pop in this country. So, I took a bit of a risk, because it wasn’t happening that much at the time, and started to blend country lyricism — hyper specific words and lyrics — into really upbeat, slick, fun pop music. And then I wrote my debut single, “Boyfriend of the Year” in the middle of finding that sound. It was the first song that I teased on TikTok and it kind of blew up and got loads of label attention — and then I got signed off of that. And then I’ve just been writing with the most amazing team ever since! I write songs on a day to day basis nowadays that I used to dream of writing. They just feel like home to me.
How do you bring country lyricism into pop music, as you mentioned?
Pop music is traditionally very commercial, with well rounded lyrics that aren’t too pigeonholed in any which way, so you can fit into that commercial square box. Whereas country, they don’t stress for it to be commercial. Like the best country songs are the most specific ones like that just hit people in the feels. They write a song for the song, not for commercial reasons. But then actually, it’s tended to like blend over really well, because like in Boyfriend of the Year, I have a line that says, “the first night you had her over, did you cook her up a carbonara?” When would you ever hear carbonara in a pop song? But when I was releasing the song, I would go out with friends and we would go up to guys and, as market research and for social content, and be like, “Can I ask you a question? If you’re gonna cook a girl a meal when she comes over for the first time, would you cook?” And honestly, eight times out of 10, it would be bolognese or carbonara. So when I put the song out, the amount of people that messaged me being like, “oh my god, he cooked me a carbonara!” It’s honestly so funny, the minute that you stop trying to be relatable and just be honest, almost as if it’s a conversation you’d have with your friends. And then if you can put that into a song, you’re actually going to be way more relatable, just by being so honest.
Do you have a typical songwriting process?
I do, actually. So the songwriting is where I came from, it’s how I got signed, and it was my first love. So that’s home base to me, writing the actual songs. But how I actually write them is always a title first. So I love a fun title. So obviously, the first three are “Boyfriend Of The Year”, “Drama King”, and “Date Your Dad”, like very weird little titles. So I love that. And then I’ll think of an emotion. And then I’ll think like, the step beyond that, I’ll be like, what does that mean? Or what could that mean in this direction, or that direction? So I’ll bring a title into the studio the next day and then work with my collaborators and we would just like, unpack that. But I love going in with a strong idea and concept and title because then everybody in the room knows what we’re working towards.
So how did “Dad Your Dad” come about? Can you talk me through the inspirations behind it?
So “Date Your Dad” originally came from this trend on TikTok, where people were saying, “I’m officially of an age where I can either date you, or I can date your dad. So if you don’t start acting right…” and it’s always a joke, but it’s just so funny. So originally, the song was going to be like, “don’t mess with me, because I will date your dad”. But then the more that we unpacked it, it became about how hard dating in your 20s is, with straight relationships, because girls and guys tend to mature in different ways. And to be on this same trajectory is really difficult in relationships. For example, by the time a girl wants to settle into a relationship, she might want it to be more of a mature thing. Whereas a guy, if they’re the same age, often still wants to go out to the clubs. It’s quite difficult to get that synergy in relationships, which is why I think dating in your 20s is just so difficult, especially early 20s. And so you often feel like you’re raising a guy, you really do. So that’s the idea we were playing with. And then we started talking about what it means to go for somebody’s potential, which so many girls do. You know, if he could just do these few things, then he’d be the perfect guy. And like… that’s his dad. But obviously, it’s all a joke. I’m definitely in my tongue in cheek era.
How has TikTok influenced your career and helped you grow such a strong fan base?
I think TikTok is amazing for artists and for anyone trying to get their stuff out there. I think all of my core fans have come from TikTok, honestly. Because there’s a huge community over there of people who love finding new artists and love finding new music. Especially girls. There’s a huge audience of young girls there, which is my ideal demographic, not just by stats but by choice, I really choose to put a lot of time into the influence that my content I put out has on young girls. And the more that I go through this journey, the more I realise just how important it is to me. Especially because a lot of them are like 14, 15, 16, into their early 20s, and it’s such a tricky time. And obviously, I only have experience being a young female, so if I can help and share anything, and be a supportive figure, that’s been the most rewarding thing I’ve done so far. By far. And it’s not like I do it because I need a loyal fan base. I do it because it’s genuinely like a hit-home moment. Which is amazing. And it kind of gives this whole thing a bigger meaning. So TikTok, I think has been amazing for that, because the outreach is so powerful and you can be so personal. You can literally record a video within 30 seconds of you saying something about how you feel and then put it out there. And then it just reaches the perfect audience, if you put it out there right.
Are there any artists that did that for you? Or who have really inspired your career?
There’s definitely artists that have inspired my career. I don’t know if I had the experience that I have right now, because it’s just an entirely different world. I loved Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana when I was younger, and Taylor Swift. There were so many artists I loved when I was that age, but because of the way that social media is now, there’s more of an opportunity for that instant connection. It just wasn’t possible then, not because they weren’t amazing women, they are. I also think Taylor has been incredible with supporting other female artists, the way she brings arenas of women together.
I have an Instagram group chat with my fans, we call it the Hot Ex Girlfriends Club, and they’ve all become really good friends. Even at this early stage in my career, if I have a show, they get together and they know each other, which is so cute. It’s super important to me because there are a lot of schoolgirls that are going through GCSEs at the moment and I have a little sister who’s 16, also doing her GCSE exams right now, and so I literally feel like everyone’s big sister at the moment. I had a really hard time in school and I actually left school and was homeschooled, because I was quite bullied. So even being a little voice for that, the amount of messages I get saying that my music has really helped them, even though it’s nothing to do with that topic. I just think it’s because you can have a friendly figure and music is such a device for so many people. It’s very special. It’s a very special position to be in.
Do you have a career highlight?
I just recently had my first headline show, which I sold out, and that was the first time that I got to meet a lot of the fans in person. Even though it maybe wasn’t the biggest thing I’ve done, that was probably the most special. To walk out to a sold out show of people that have been supporting me since day one was amazing.
What are you most looking forward to in the future?
This year, I’m most excited to meet as many people as possible. I’m probably going to have another little body of work out later in the year, hopefully an EP, which I think I can say because I keep teasing it to everyone… so I would love to be able to tour that, or just meet as many people as I can through that. And then in the next few years, there’s so many things I want to do. Definitely a world tour? My love is in performing, as well as the songwriting.