Goldie Boutilier’s “The Actress”: How the song happened

Call it Goldie Boutilier’s declaration of independence.

Armed with her new song “The Actress” – and demonstrating an incredible amount of charisma and poise in its accompanying video – the Cape Breton native is taking back control of her life, and metaphorically, declaring herself to be “The Director.”

“That’s precisely what I’m saying,” Boutilier confirms. “I wrote the song ‘The Actress’ because that’s where I’m at right now. I feel like a lot of my past music was somewhat of a cry for help. And now I’m stepping into my power, and it feels like I’ve conquered my demons. I’m much more confident than I was before.”

Although she may seem like a fresh face and voice in the music world, Boutilier has been around the block, recording for a while under the pseudonym of the more dance-oriented My Name Is Kay, circa 2011. As chronicled in her nine-minute, autobiographical documentary  Emerald Year,  Boutilier has been through the wringer. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of 20 and signed to Interscope Records, landing a development deal with OneRepublic superstar songwriter/producer Ryan Tedder (who’s worked with Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, U2, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Adele, and many  more).

But, as often happens with new signings – more so than you may imagine – Boutilier ended up spinning her wheels creatively, without any meaningful direction. “I was maybe a grain of sand in the beach that is Ryan Tedder,” she says. “Where he was, like, the beach for me, you know? It was a big deal in my world. When things stopped working with Interscope – that was my first major record deal I had, when I was 21 – the label was looking for Ryan to really take me under his wing, which I think he definitely tried [to do].

“But, like everybody else, when things weren’t coming together easily, people just stopped returning your phone calls and answering your e-mails. I was shuffled around. And when you’re asking for advice from everybody,  people will give it.  It just sent me in a million different directions.”

Career uncertainty sent Boutilier down a dark path. At one point, she ended up escorting in order to make ends meet, and subsequently delved into an existence marred by alcohol and drugs. So, how did she turn her life around? “I wish I could say I had this great epiphany, and I just got my shit together,” she says. “But it was more that I hit rock bottom over and over again. I had to take a look at my life and see what I was doing that could possibly be getting in the way of my success.

“I went back home to Cape Breton, to my family. I needed time to heal, and just have the basic necessities. I was in such a fragile state. I really was at rock bottom, and I wasn’t well. Little by little, as I removed all these things from my life, and I started feeling healthier, all of a sudden I was making better decisions, and surrounding myself with better people. I really had to start from absolute zero. When I decided to release the documentary, that was when I put a full stop to that lifestyle.”

Which is why the assistance she received from SOCAN Creative Executive Liam Russell to record “The Actress” – also the title of her new six-song EP, out Sept. 27, 2024 – was a refreshing change for her. “Liam was the first person I reached out to when I realized I didn’t have a producer,” says Boutilier. “I was in a panic.

“He went  back and forth with me, with all these different suggestions, and we were reaching out to people. Also, being an independent artist, I’m still growing. Not everyone is interested in working with an independent artist, because the financial gain will be smaller. So,  finding people, last-minute, to be invested in a project – he helped me navigate that.”

Russell also arranged for Boutilier to spend time at the SOCAN Nashville House to stoke her creative fire. “SOCAN did more for me than a lot of the major labels,” says Boutilier. Russell’s fellow Creative Executive, Racquel Villagante, connected her with non-performing, professional songwriter Simon Wilcox (who’s co-written with/for Carly Rae Jepsen, Demi Lovato, Lennon Stella, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, Josh Groban, Enrique Iglesias, and many  more), who in turn brought her pro songwriter colleague and frequent collaborator Thomas “Tawgs” Salter into the mix.

“I frankly don’t like working with new people,” Boutilier admits. “But SOCAN had introduced me to Simon. We grabbed a matcha latté together, as you do in L.A., and she was so smart and witty. And, dare I say, similar to me,” she laughs.

“I hit her up because of that, and she was, like, ‘I have the perfect guy for us to work with – this guy Tawgs.’ We talked a little bit about the music industry, and our life experiences, and she knew that I was sensitive to working with people. I’ve been through it enough, so I’m very careful about who I work with, and protecting myself and my energy. But we all got together, and actually wrote and produced the whole EP in two weeks. My last EP took me a year.”

Earlier this year, she toured with Orville Peck, and also played Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits. These were all firsts, but not for the reason you might think. “I had a running list of goals, and people that I wanted to work with – shows I’ve wanted to do for years – and I got booking agents for the first time in my life,” Boutilier says. “They asked me who I wanted to work with, and I explained to them why Orville Peck made sense. So, they were able to help me connect those dots. And I’m so grateful for that. It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to put together a band. I never had that opportunity before. This was overdue.”

Boutilier would like to inspire others with “The Actress,” and her future work. “My hope is that my story, and standing in a good place of confidence, and power, and kindness, can maybe be a cautionary tale of what not to do… or the blueprint to someone who’s going through something similar,” she says.

“You can get out of this, you can have a successful life, and you can heal yourself, and have a community – if you keep going.”