Blake Rose may be a mostly unknown artist currently, but he has all the makings of a popstar. Hailing from Australia but based in Los Angeles, the singer songwriter is making waves in the music industry. The talented musician creates all of his songs from start to finish himself and is a force to be reckoned with. Blake Rose recently released a new single “Rest Of Us” on all streaming platforms, Beyond The Stage decided to get to know the up and coming pop singer and find out what makes him tick as an artist.
BTS: how did you get your start in music
Blake Rose: When I was in university (The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) a DJ hit me up on Facebook and asked me to write a song to his track. Before this, I’d never even heard of toplining but after doing his track I figured out that I was quite good at it. I then started hitting up a bunch of DJs until I did a song for a duo called Bad Decisions who were really impressed by the song I wrote and invited me to come out to Sydney and make music with them. We ended up traveling around the world together for a while and eventually, we decided to go over to Los Angeles for the first time. Once I was there I fell in love with the place and the hustle of it. I would spend a couple of months in LA networking, come back to Australia and build up some money through busking, pub gigs, or selling CDs door to door, then head back to LA as soon as I could afford it. After a few trips, I met Amanda Samii who worked at Kobalt Music at the time who then introduced me to my manager, Brandon Goodman. We put out my first single “Hotel Room” in late 2018 and haven’t looked back.
BTS: As an artist from Australia do you feel there have been bigger hurdles for you to jump to get your music heard?
BR: I think Australia has a really strong music scene but it’s a little more alternative leaning on its big platforms such as Triple J. Because I’m more pop than a lot of artists who have seen success in those markets I was afraid to put all of my eggs in just the Australian scene and wanted to make sure I had a strong international team. It definitely took a few dodgy managers and situations to navigate through before finding such a solid group of people who feel passionate about this project but I felt like being Australian in America actually served as a slight advantage. I think the whole foreign aspect sparked some curiosity to listen to my music when I was networking. The biggest thing was just taking the leap. Once I was there and in the action everything became a blur in a good way. Even though I was encountering twists and turns they didn’t feel like hurdles.
BTS: What made you decide to be a solo artist rather than starting a band?
BR: I’ve always been in this alone. I never knew any other musicians until I went to University at WAAPA when I was 18 so being a solo artist was kind of inherent of my social situation. Aside from that, I’m also heavily influenced by solo artists such as Ed Sheeran, Passenger and Jack Garratt. Even the hype of Justin Bieber’s career lit a massive fire in me. In saying this though, I will definitely be putting a band together once I start playing some bigger shows. I’ll never be one to just use tracks.
BTS: What is your song writing process like? Do you start with lyrics/melody or with music & then put lyrics to it?
BR: My songwriting process constantly changes. Sometimes I will write a full song on guitar or piano before producing it. Sometimes I will start with production and topline it. The most common though is starting an idea on an acoustic instrument and after I’ve developed a melody for the verse and chorus I will start producing ideas and go from there. Lyrics are usually last.
BTS: What has been the most exciting part of your music journey so far?
BR: The most exciting part has been releasing these songs I’ve worked on and seeing everyone’s reactions. I’ve had a few people start covering my music which is extremely weird, cool and full circle. Also, I finally started to play shows and that has been epic!
BTS: Do you have a lot of creative input into your videos or do you rely more on directors etc for that?
BR: For the videos released so far I’ve left most of the visual creative input to the director of each project but there are a few videos that I’ve yet to shoot which I have pretty clear visions for so it just depends on the song.
BTS: If you could collaborate with anybody in the industry right now who would it be and why?
BR: I’d love to work with Jack Garratt as I think his music SLAPS and I love how creative and interesting yet digestible his productions are. Also working with Matty Healy and George Daniel would be a dream as I am a huge admirer of their work.
BTS: Who are some of your biggest influences?
BR: The 1975, Ed Sheeran, Passenger, Coldplay and Jack Garratt.
BTS: How have you been handling being in quarantine right now, have you been writing more or less? How’ve you been staying creatively stimulated?
BR: I’ve been doing ok! I have continued to work on writing new music and finishing songs that are half done. I’ve also been spending a lot of time just hanging out with family since I am back in Australia. My mum and I have agreed every Sunday to go without any technology which has been very refreshing.
BTS: Do you have any projects coming out or things you’ve been doing or sharing online you’d like our readers to know about?
BR: I have a new single that just came out called “Rest of Us” which I’m really excited about. I wrote it with Tim Pagnotta and essentially it’s a bit of a “Fuck You” to anyone who doesn’t want you to live your dream. I think it’s something a lot of us go through and are constantly facing so I really wanted to turn that idea into a cathartic anthem that anyone can belt out. I can’t wait to get it into the world and see what people think!
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