Singer Ian McConnell Talks Songwriting, Taylor Swift, And New Single “Call Me When You’re Bored”

Ian McConnell is on a roll right now, and we definitely don’t want to stop him. A newly Nashville native, originally from Virginia, he’s making it very clear that music is something that he excels at.

The songwriter and instrumentalist has been releasing one song per month since May 2019 and has since racked up more than 9.2 million streams. Watch out Olivia Rodrigo!

We had the absolute honor of interviewing Ian on all things songwriting, music inspirations, and his brand new single “Call Me When You’re Bored”

Q. What inspired you to start creating your own music?

I: “I started out writing music for others and learned pretty quickly that there were things I wanted to say that other existing artists weren’t going to say. Writing from my own perspective allowed me to be completely truthful, and producing all my music on my own gave me the opportunity to craft a truly unique sound.“

Q. Tell us about your newest single, “Call Me When You’re Bored”

I: “Call Me When You’re Bored” was a late-night write with my roommate and fellow writer-producer Joe Tounge. We had just gotten off work and were talking about an old Jimmy Eat World song we loved, and were lamenting that there wasn’t a lot of music that sounded or felt like that anymore. One thing led to another, and we cranked out this song to intentionally sound like something we would have listened to in 2005, but with a Nashville storytelling-style lyric, setting it apart from being purely a nostalgic piece. The production was fairly easy on this one, since the song’s style lent itself so well to punk rock instrumentation.“

Q: If you could feature on a song with any artist, who would it be and why?

I: “It’s gotta be Taylor Swift. I learned how to write music from listening to Speak Now and Red, and she is by far my greatest influence both as an artist and a businessperson. She’s not the only reason, but she’s the biggest reason I pursued a career in music.“

Q. Did your move to Nashville, our Music City, change your approach on your music?

I: “Absolutely. Before living in Nashville, I was releasing music under a pseudonym (Mack Russell – don’t look him up, I think I scrubbed him from the internet and I don’t want to find out I’m wrong), and the songs were just bad. I moved to Nashville thinking the city wasn’t ready for my *MASSIVE TALENT* and very quickly learned how very much there was to learn about writing, performing, and being a person in the real world. Nashville is my favorite city in the world and I feel incredibly lucky to be here making art with my friends for a living.“

Q. What are you biggest goals when looking a your music career?

I: “I want to be able to look back on the product I’ve created and be proud of it, and know that it represents who I am or was at the time. Music is deeply personal for me, and I do it because I can’t imagine doing anything else, with the added benefit of finding out I’m not the only one who feels the way I do from folks who listen to my songs and relate. I would very much like to continue sustaining myself financially by doing so, but if I don’t become ridiculously rich and famous beyond my wildest dreams, I think I’ll live knowing that I’m proud of the work and it impacted a few other people out there in a positive way.“

Q. Have you been surprised by the large success on your music?

I: “I don’t think there’s a good answer to this question. I’m not surprised in the sense that I make music that I would like to listen to, and I’m just not that special, so surely someone else will like it too. But I am surprised sometimes at the speed at which some songs catch on and resonate with listeners. I think mostly I’m humbled and thankful to have a really awesome base of followers/listeners/fans that give me constructive feedback (positive and negative) and spread the word about my music.“

Q. You have performed live over 500 times. What has been your favorite performance so far?

I: “I haven’t played a SHOW show in so long now because of the pandemic, but honestly I think some of my favorite performances have been TikTok livestreams, where I’m just chatting with followers, testing out new material, and throwing different spins on previously released songs. I do a livestream about once every week, and those have kept me from going totally crazy over the last 14 months. But I’m excited to get back out on the road and see some real faces soon!“

Q. Where can we follow your amazing journey?

I: “I release a song every month that I write either alone or with my friends, and then produce, mix, and master by myself in my bedroom, so I have a huge catalog to listen to! Hit me with a follow/subscribe on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, or wherever you listen to your music, and find me goofing off on Instagram and TikTok @ianmcconnellmusic. Merch and live dates are available at ianmcconnellmusic.com.“

“Call When You’re Bored” is out now on all streaming platforms!