EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
EARMILK EARMILK
EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Interviews
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Talking inspiration, grilled cheese, and "Canyons" with ROZES [Q&A]

  • July 14, 2017
  • Jason Heffler
Total
0
Shares
0
0

You all know her voice by now.

It's the enthralling, Sia-esque one made famous by the Chainsmokers in their 2015 breakthrough hit "Roses." However, ROZES is no one-trick pony. The time has come for her to shed her snakeskin as a featured singer and rattle the pop music scene as a solo artist. Today she hits the ground running by unleashing her new single "Canyons," a heady dance-pop tune that bounces to a hypnotic moombah rhythm under vocals as cavernous as the title would suggest.

I had the distinct privilege of chatting with ROZES before her show in downtown Los Angeles about the road ahead, what inspires her, and her status as one of dance music's most sought after lyricists.

EM: You’ve become a go-to vocalist in the electronic world. How’s life been since you dropped “Roses?”
R: It’s been a hurricane. I think I’m constantly catching up and trying to understand life, and trying to give myself time to breathe but also letting myself feel the excitement. I feel like I’ve been a hamster in a ball. It’s constant movement and I love it, but it’s constant.
EM: Are you just getting feature requests left and right?
R: Yeah. It’s hard too, because I write my own music. So I have a lot of stuff in my inbox that’s like “I have the perfect song for you!” And I have to tell them, “that’s awesome, I appreciate your art but I like to write.”

"It was like 'BOOM.'"

EM: How did you first get into that world? Was there an “a-ha!” moment?
R: I originally wanted to go very alternative. I wanted to be like BANKS alternative. So I ended up doing a collaboration with this kid Just A Gent, and that was my first step into the electronic dance music world. He sent me a track, which ended up being “Limelight,” and I didn’t even consider it “EDM.”

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/172390982" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

EM: That kid can really produce. Very talented.
R: Super talented. And this was the first time I’ve ever written to a track before. I was sitting in my room doing my makeup and getting ready to go out and I just had sent my manager a voice memo and said, “This is the song I wrote.” So it got released, and then The Chainsmokers found me. It was like 'BOOM'.

"BOOM" is the perfect onomatopoeia to describe ROZES' impact on the electronic sphere since that first track. A mere one month after the release of the eponymous "Roses," the Philly-born crooner dropped her solo effort "R U Mine" before commissioning remixes from Lost Kings and StéLouse – two relatively unheralded acts at the time who are now staples in the dance-pop genre. In other words, she had a finger on the pulse of dance music and didn't even know it.

Her influence only grew stronger. She went on to pen and perform vocals for Louis Futon's "Wasted On You" and Big Gigantic's Brighter Future cut "All of Me," solidifying her reputation as a voracious workhorse and formidable songwriter. Eventually, she found herself in the studio with global dance trio Cash Cash.

EM: "Matches" is one of my favorite songs at the moment. How did that collaboration come to fruition and what was it like working with Cash Cash?

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310561684" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]

R: I met Cash Cash at Amp Radio's Let It Snow show, and I had already written “Matches” on my piano. I love the things they’ve done and I think they’re so talented. They’re also really genuine, nice guys and I love working with people like that. So I said “Hey, I have this demo I would love to send you and see what you can do with it. Because it’s a sad song and I would like it to be uplifted a little bit.” So they added their magic and it literally made the song ten times better.

"Matches" has been flat out dominating, with over 12.5M streams on Spotify alone.

EM: I’m sure you get asked about those two tracks enough, so let’s move on. With “Canyons,” you’re shifting gears to become a solo artist. I can imagine proving yourself as a solo artist after being a featured singer is extremely difficult – how do you go about the transition?
R: Yes, it is, but I just signed a record deal! Honestly, it was a validation for me that what I’m doing is working. It was like getting a college degree. So I have them working with me to release “Canyons” and I’m super excited. I’m nervous because I don’t know how people are going to take it, but I guess we’ll see.

"It was like getting a college degree."

EM: Your lyrical style is very passionate and even aching at times – where do you look for inspiration? Are there certain people, places, or things?
R: I could sit down and watch a couple fighting in a restaurant and I would feel that. I will bring it back to when I felt that way, when I was fighting about that. And then I make it about me, and I pull my emotions back in that direction. So it could literally be a movie, a book, a TV show, my friend, anything. I could wake up in the middle of the night from a dream and write down the concept and then the next day I’ll write. Everything is inspired from things that happen in real life.
EM: So you could write a love song about the grilled cheese truck over there?
R: Definitely (laughs).
EM: I think that would be a hit. Last but not least, can you shed some light on anything special you're working on at the moment for our readers?
R: I can’t say much! But I do have a really big collaboration coming in the fall that I’m very excited about. I’m also touring with MAX and we actually wrote a song together that we’ll be playing on tour.

Connect with ROZES: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Canyons
  • Interview
  • rozes
Jason Heffler

E: jason@earmilk.com

Previous Article
  • Future Pop
  • Pop

Float into the weekend with BAYNK and Shallou's spellbinding "Come Home"

  • July 14, 2017
  • Jason Heffler
View Article
Next Article
  • Hip-Hop
  • Music Videos
  • Uncategorized

Nanna.B links up with Hodgy over an Anderson .Paak produced beat on "Golden" [Video]

  • July 14, 2017
  • James Schiff
View Article
You May Also Like
View Article
  • Electronic
  • Electronic
  • Folk
  • Pop

Becca James Blossoms with Soulful Alt-Pop Anthem ‘Bloom’- A Journey of Healing and Renewal

  • May 31, 2025
View Article
  • Alt-Pop
  • Electro Pop
  • Electronic
  • Hip-Hop
  • Indie
  • Music Videos
  • Pop
  • R&B
  • Rap
  • Rock

Artists to put on your playlist for Summer 2025

  • May 30, 2025
View Article
  • Americana
  • Country
  • Indie
  • Mainstage

Imogen Clark finds strength in new single “The Art of Getting Through” [Video]

  • May 30, 2025
View Article
  • Indie Pop
  • Music Videos
  • Pop

ILUKA takes down LA’s “California Boys” with sharp new single [Video]

  • May 30, 2025
View Article
  • Dance
  • Mainstage

House Of Hustle releases a collection of dance-floor ready tracks in May

  • May 30, 2025
Bowden
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Pop
  • Rock

Bowden melts hearts with “Glacier”

  • May 29, 2025
Sinularia
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Sinularia shares a new album ‘Subwater Beats II’

  • May 29, 2025
Zinoleesky
View Article
  • Afrobeats
  • Indie
  • Indie Rock
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Zinoleesky delivers a body of work with his new album, "GEN Z"

  • May 29, 2025
Popular Music
  • Artists to put on your playlist for Summer 2025
    • May 30, 2025
  • Hoodtrophy Bino and Lefty Gunplay prove you should never underestimate them on “123” [Video]
    • May 30, 2025
  • Cory Cullinan, Riley Max and Sidney Cullinan collaborate for riveting "2025 Alive" [Video]
    • May 30, 2025
  • House Of Hustle releases a collection of dance-floor ready tracks in May
    • May 30, 2025
  • Imogen Clark finds strength in new single “The Art of Getting Through” [Video]
    • May 30, 2025
Recent Scoops
  • Matt Oakley is redefining country music with heart, soul and modernity
    • May 5, 2025
  • Texas’ Blacktop Mojo does rock music the way it should be done
    • April 29, 2025
  • Tha Rapper Haiti blends authentic style with musical passion
    • April 28, 2025
  • Glorybots redefines rock with latest album 'mad.end'
    • April 10, 2025
Community Voices
  • From Machismo To Mujeres: Women As The Face Of Reggaeton
    • July 14, 2022
  • Tyler the creator
    4 things I learned on the 'Call Me If You Get Lost' tour
    • March 31, 2022
  • 4 things every artist needs to think about in 2022
    • January 27, 2022
  • The TikTok Takeover of Hip-Hop
    • January 11, 2022

EARMILK EARMILK
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
All Milk. No Duds.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.