INTERVIEW: Meg Smith is Creating the Pop Star Persona of Her Dreams

Over the years, I’ve had many people tell me that I have a knack for finding artists before they “make it” and predicting their break out several months, and sometimes years, before they happen. I feel the same enthusiasm when I tell my friends and fellow music fans to listen to Meg Smith: an independent singer, songwriter, and girly pop star extraordinaire who has consistently been delivering some of my favorite pop music over the last few years.

I first discovered her in early 2024 after hearing “jesus christ in a mini skirt” (which eventually got a placement in the 2026 movie “Forbidden Fruits“), and the subsequent album The Gospel According to Meg Smith, which was released in November of the same year, followed by DISCO DYSTOPIA in 2025. Her artist aesthetic—music, outfits, visuals, everything—has always been impressive to me: her ability to build such a cohesive identity within her music felt larger-than-life—and much bigger than her current platform allows.

She’s toured with artists like Baby Queen, ellise, and Molly Grace, and over the years, has dedicated nearly all of her free time to cultivating a strong fanbase online: posting multiple times a week, documenting her journey to improving herself in songwriting, dancing, and instrument playing, and overall, being authentically real about just how much work it takes behind-the-scenes.

Meg was signed to a major label and then eventually dropped, but it didn’t deter her from building her dream career as a one-woman show. Now, she’s just about to wrap up a nine-date headlining tour across the US: one that she managed to execute on her own, without the help of a label or team members that some working musicians take for granted.

We sat down for a video interview just a couple weeks before her headlining tour kicked off, and talked about her inspirations, future plans, and more.

[This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity].

KRISTIN: You are super cohesive and have a brand that you stick with. It’s just so cool and fully realized. How did you develop that?

MEG: I think it’s something that has evolved a lot over time. I have so much fun, obviously, making the music, writing the songs, but another big part of it is the visual components. 

I started thinking about my visual brand in 2023 when I released Rom Com Pop, I was like, “okay, there will be a brand there.” It wasn’t until “Jesus Christ in a Mini Skirt” came out when I was opening up for Baby Queen on the East Coast. For the last show, I got a halo and angel wings. And the photos looked so sick that I was like, “Oh, I have to use these all the time.” There’s something about the way stage lights hit, especially in photos, where it was so heavenly.

And with that, I had this whole project of songs that had a lot of religious imagery, which was not on purpose. It just happened that way. And it’s been fun to continue to build that. My sister is a costume designer, so she’s fun to work with. Because of her background, I think a lot about the clothes I’m wearing. 

My friends, Mitch and Gary, who I do all my music videos with, are so incredible as well. Mitch is also a makeup artist. So they have helped me a lot in developing my makeup looks and styling, all that stuff. It’s been a really fun process and a lot of trial and error. I genuinely like doing it. I love when I go on tour and there’s people wearing halos in the crowd. 

KRISTIN: That’s amazing. You work so hard. I see all the content! So, how do you do this and not avoid burnout or just the desire to be “done?”

MEG: I think my issue is that I do burnout a lot. The past month [I’ve been] dealing with the ramifications of doing too much and overcommitting myself. I think for a long time, especially when I got signed to a label, I was like, “this is crazy.” Someone was paying me to make music! I was able to do all of these things I’ve wanted to for so long, like improve my dancing, learn new instruments, and spend my days becoming a better artist. 

I didn’t know how long it was gonna last. And I was doing all of it. It was really fun. But I think I have this complex about needing to prove that I’m working really hard or something. I think that’s partly the popstar bootcamp thing, which is fun. And I love doing it. But also I had this feeling like I needed to prove to people, especially with the record deal, that I was taking complete advantage of it and doing everything I could to be the hardest working girl in the room.

Once I got dropped and left my management, and then I did my two headline shows, which I put so much effort into, I really burned myself out. [Now], I’m actually letting myself breathe a little bit more, which is nice. But I think it’s weird, because I’m leaving for a tour in two weeks. I need to take care of myself, but also, I want this tour to be really good. I want people to have a lot of fun.

But yeah, I honestly need to figure out a better balance. People were like, “How do you do all that?” And I’m like, “Oh, I’m exhausted.” And it has come to a breaking point. I’ve done so much touring, which is really fun. But I mean, you’re in a sprinter van for eight hours a day. It’s so much work, especially when you don’t have a team. I’m even designing the merch myself.

So yeah, thinking about this next year, I’m like, “okay, if I’m not posting as much on social media, the world won’t stop. Life will keep going.” I’m really excited for the music that I’m gonna make when I let myself breathe a bit more and focus on making good music.

KRISTIN: So are you working on anything right now? Or are you just kind of taking a break because you have so many shows coming up? 

I’ve started writing more by myself, which has been really fun. Right now I’m super focused on this tour. But I’m looking to October, November, December, I just want to be writing. I’m excited for that. A lot of my projects have felt haphazard in the way they were created, a lot of songs from random periods of my life.

And I’m really proud of those projects, but I’m excited to go into this next one. Giving myself the space to take time, which I’ve never done before. Literally ever. It’s gonna be so nice to be able to think about whatever I release next in this more cohesive way, and just spend time making music. I mean for the past five or six years, I’ve been posting on social media almost every single day. And I’m like, “girl, like too much.” I’m excited to take a breath and focus on the music.

KRISTIN: Do you struggle with imposter syndrome? Because it doesn’t seem like you do, like, obviously take that as a compliment.

MEG: Honestly, no. I think I have my insecurities manifest in different ways. I have many insecurities, but I don’t know, over the past year, especially with everything that’s happened in my career, the highs and the lows and everything. It has solidified my confidence in what I’m doing. I feel like I know where I can grow.

I’ve been in so many rooms where I was trying to prove to someone I belong there. I am so over it. I’ve gone through so much rejection at a certain point, you’re just kind of like, whatever. I’ve spent so much of my career waiting for people to bring me on tour. And I’ve gotten to do a lot of really cool tours that I’ve had so much fun on. But I just got to this point where I was like, I’m tired of waiting for opportunities. 

[I decided that] I’m just gonna do my own thing. If people respond to it, that’s awesome. And if they don’t, whatever, because I’m not going to disappoint a label. I’m not going to disappoint a manager. It only affects me really. So like, whatever. I’m tough, I can deal with it.

So yeah, I think my insecurity just manifests in different ways of like…

KRISTIN: Being a woman?

MEG: Honestly, yeah, being a woman. And I think because I do so much on the business side, logistics side, the social media side, I think sometimes my insecurity comes when I’m focusing too much on those things and not my songwriting. I’ve always been a songwriter first. So when my songs suffer, I’m like, “wait, am I a horrible songwriter?” That’s where my insecurity goes.

KRISTIN: Well, we need more women in pop music who are confident. So that’s great. Who inspires you to keep going? 

MEG: Right now, Slayyyter. I saw this clip where she was talking about how before her Coachella performance, she found out she was being cheated on. That really resonated with me, with everything going on and that has gone on in my life. If she can find out that she was cheated on and give such an incredible performance. I was like, “I’m gonna be okay.” I just love her. I think she’s so cool.

Those artists who have been doing it for a really long time and then have a breakout moment, you know, four or five albums in. Because so often we see the Taylor Swifts, the Olivia Rodrigos. You know, those artists who are breakout stars from their first project. 

And you look at that, and my first EP was a mess. It made no sense. I’m happy I released it! But yeah, I’ve been doing it all myself and it has been really messy and I’m figuring things out as I go.

KRISTIN: So I know you’re gonna start your tour in a couple weeks. What are you most excited about? Anything specific, you’re planning that’s different or a big change to your live performance, anything like that? 

MEG: It’s a good question. I’m excited because the only other times I’ve done this show was in LA in New York, where they’re kind of both my hometowns and I had a lot of friends come, which was really fun. Like the LA show, my whole family came out and that was great. But it’s kind of a different experience when you go on tour and you’re playing to people who don’t have to be there. It’s really cool when people are there just because they like the music and they’re excited about the show. I’m also excited to learn different covers, which is fun.

We’re also doing a VIP thing, which I’ve never done before. I get to play some songs that aren’t on the set list: songs I haven’t played in years, which will be cool. 

KRISTIN: I know you mentioned that after you do these shows, you’re gonna take a break and work on music. Anything else you want to plug?

MEG: That’s such a good question. I’m like, what am I doing? The tour? 

KRISTIN: Have you played in these cities before? 

MEG: Yes, but never as a headliner.

KRISTIN: So this will be very different.

MEG:  The thing I’m most excited for is that it’s me, two backup dancers, and my tour photographer. And this amazing drummer, Sierra. It’s just gonna be an amazing group of people. There’s no straight cis men, and I’m just excited to be around, like, people who I love. And I just know we’re gonna have so much fun. We love putting this show on. I’m excited to just be able to do it with these people. 

KRISTIN: And you did it all yourself, which is so exciting and admirable. 

MEG: Genuinely the hardest thing I’ve ever done. That’s why people have booking agents. I didn’t get it before – it’s like, do I need a booking agent? Then I put this tour together. And now I understand why they have jobs. It’s so hard. Not to mention the creative stuff, the show choreography, the dancing, all of that.

But yeah, it’s been insane. So I’m excited to actually get on the road and experience it.

KRISTIN: Yeah, definitely. You’ll see all your hard work come to fruition. 

MEG: [The last time I was in Chicago with Molly Grace] we did Lincoln Hall if I remember correctly. That was a crazy show because, I have in-ear monitors, where I hear the music and I hear the click track and stuff. And if you don’t have them, you can’t hear anything. When I started the show, I was getting no sound. I was like, “I really hope this is the right key.” 

KRISTIN: Well, you did it. You’re ready for anything now.

MEG: Honestly, yeah.

Meg Smith’s tour closes tonight with a show in Indianapolis. Find her on Instagram HERE, TikTok HERE, and Spotify page HERE.

Photos by Joanna Uruchima for Staged Haze