On the inspiration for “Rest of Us,” he said, “It started in a writing session with Tim Pagnotta. I went to his studio in LA and we chatted for half an hour or so before I jumped into the live room and jammed on the piano. The first part of the song that came to life was the intro. We tracked that and began riffing melodies. Almost instantly the first thing that came out of my mouth was the tag at the end of the chorus ‘for the rest of us’.”
He continued, “After we had that, we mapped out the rest of the chorus and post-chorus melodies. I went home that night and finished writing the lyrics to the chorus then came back the next day and we wrote the melodies for the verses and bridge. I then sat on the song for a while, finished the lyrics, and produced it which took a long time to get right but I’m stoked with how it turned out.”
Regarding his music and songwriting inspirations, he said, “Generally, I just start and inspiration tends to strike when something I play or sing makes my ears perk up. Then I hit a flow and just roll with it. Lyrically, a lot of the time I start singing gibberish, and lines begin to form themselves and create dots to a story that I try to connect. Sometimes though, I will have a specific concept I want to explore and craft my lyrics around it.”
On being a musician in the digital age, Rose responded, “It feels normal to me as I haven’t experienced anything different. I’m sure it would’ve been a whole other world before the Internet and social media existed which I would’ve loved the experience but unfortunately, I will never get that opportunity. One thing I will say is though technology has its downsides, I’m very thankful for social media as it means artists that haven’t broken through to mainstream/signed a record deal can still have a voice.”
When asked about his biggest musical influences growing up, he shared, “Mum used to play a lot of Elvis around the house and on road trips when I was younger. I had an iPod shuffle which had a bunch of songs, some of which I can’t even remember how they got there (I think my sister put them on). There were artists like Eminem, Green Day, Simple Plan, and Coldplay. When I was a teenager and started wanting to do music, Ed Sheeran became a massive influence for me and later on artists like Passenger and The 1975 as well.”
For young and aspiring singer-songwriters, he said, “The best advice I could give aside from writing all the time is to start learning how to produce music. That has been the most helpful skill I’ve acquired as I can get all my ideas out, save money, and also make sure the music I’m making is authentic. Other than that, I would get yourself out there as much as possible. Do gigs, busk, meet people, travel to music hot spots like LA, New York, or London.”
On his dream duet choices in music, he said, “I’m pretty much 100 percent sure it’d never happen but I’d love to do something with Matty Healy from The 1975. I would also love to work with Jack Garratt.”
Regarding his definition of the word success, he responded, “I don’t know, I don’t often like to use the term success as a broad stroke. Sometimes I think it puts a full stop (period) on something that shouldn’t have one. I’m sure in music you would recognize that you’ve become “successful” once a significant amount of people notice and appreciate your work and you’re making a decent amount of money, and playing to a lot of people. But to me, it’s just making and playing music. whether you’re successful or not is really up to other people’s perspectives.”
For his fans he concluded about “Rest of Us,” “It’s a song I hope opens your mind up to realize that just because someone doesn’t want you to do what you love, doesn’t mean you should listen to them. You have to follow your heart, even if it leads you down an uncommon path or one that doesn’t exist at all. And if you are a person who constantly belittles people for wanting to live their dreams, maybe don’t.”
“Rest of Us” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
