ROSIE LOWE
Fusing R&B, electronica, jazz and soul, Rosie Lowe has presented a highly recognisable sound since the release of her debut single "Right Thing" in 2013. It is difficult to pinpoint Rosie's sound, as she is constantly evolving and adapting her sound to whatever is going on in her life, always staying open to new styles of music: "Tomorrow I might want to do an ambient or classical record, so I like to keep my options open." Now she is back with her new single 'Gratitudes' from the forthcoming album 'Lover, Other', out on 16 August. Rosie Lowe spoke to Copypaste about how it felt to start singing at a young age, the importance of self-development and personal growth, and the importance of being in control of all aspects of her art. photography by Abiella Aland
How would you describe yourself as an artist and your music?
I’d describe myself as someone that just deeply loves music and responds to whatever is going on in my life and around me through music. I hate to pigeonhole myself or my music as I don’t want to stay in one place. Tomorrow I might want to make an ambient or a classical record so I like to keep my options wide open.
You started singing on stages at an early age. Can you tell us how you became interested in music and performing on stages?
I was born into a musical family, my dad is a musician and music teacher so music was an integral part of our upbringing. My parents took us to a lot of gigs from an early age (Annie Lennox, Courtney Pine, Whitney Houston, James Brown to name a few) and throughout school I spent a huge chunk of my time in the music rooms playing and practicing as well as composing my own music. My dad was in various gigging jazz bands and I would join them on stage from a young age singing jazz standards. When I was 14 I was approached by a music manager and began travelling to London and the USA for writing sessions. This was integral in learning the song writing process from experienced pop writers. Music was the thing that really excited me from a young age and there was never anything else I imagined myself doing.
In previous interviews you have often talked about self-development, therapy and wellbeing. Can you tell us more about the importance of these aspects for you and your music?
I think self development is key to growth in all parts of life and something I’m passionate about actively working on, both in and out of music. I want my audience to hear my growth from 1 project to the next, to hear different shades of my character (the light & the dark) and to be part of the journey of my growth as a musician. Alongside my musical output, I’m always keen to dive in deeper to difficult feelings, because I feel like it’s in these moments that we can make the biggest revelations which in turn make us a better friend, lover, daughter, mother etc. 'Diving in deeper’ for me can be sitting at the piano, having a therapy session, taking a long walk or sitting in silence. I feel eternal gratitude to have music to pour myself into and it can be my biggest confidant when I’m feeling most stuck.
How important is it for you to have control over all aspects of your music, such as production?
It’s very important for me to be steering my own ship when it comes to my music. I have a clear vision of how I want things to sound and that goes from a lyric to a drum sound and I love the process of seeing something through from beginning to end. I made a very conscious decision to be across everything on this record and make sure that I’m telling it the way I want it to be told and feels true to me & where I’m at at this point in my life. That being said, I love collaborating with others and this album is very collaborative. I picked some very special people to collaborate with me on this record that I think are amazing; to collaborate best is to know when to step back and give people space to breathe and do what they do best.
Can you already tell us something about the upcoming album ‘Lover, Other’? How would you describe the essence of the album?
I’d describe the album as a collage of the different parts of my musical output; there’s some vocal choral moments, some more upbeat electronic songs & some more live slow jams too. I didn’t want the album to be one thing and I wanted to show different shades of the things I love to listen to and make, and all of the messiness in between.
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During the production of ’Lover, Other’ you traveled a lot. How did different places like Berlin, Barcelona and Florence influence the work on the album?
The different places I travelled to sonically live on the record, whether that be a vocal I recorded in an old church in Florence or dogs barking in the background in Spain. I took around a small studio set up everywhere I went so that also influenced how the songs were written as I was limited to whatever I brought in my suitcase on that trip. Sometimes I just brought my mic and computer so that might have influenced something more vocal led to when I had my SP2400, where I would have been sampling more records I was listening to in those spaces.
Is there anything you would like to add?
Before beginning this album process I decided that if nothing else, I wanted to have as much fun as possible. And I really did. It was the most joyous album making process to date, and I hope you can hear that in the music. I try to not take myself too seriously these days. Life is so short, so if I'm not going to try and have fun en route, what’s the point?
