catching up with blake rose
Interview by Sydney Hise
Australian artist Blake Rose has been taking over the internet, with accomplishments such as snagging a spot on Taylor Swift's playlist and garnering millions of streams per song. To celebrate his recent releases, including a stunning music video for his hit "Lost," we caught up with him about everything from his inspirations to Taylor Swift.
Ease Up: Tell us a bit about yourself — how did you get your start? Was music something you always dreamed of or did you have other life plans?
Blake Rose: I was always pretty musical but I didn’t realize I wanted to do it as a job until I was a teenager. Before that, I was into film and acting, but that all quickly faded as soon as I picked up music. I went on a 3 month road trip with my family when I was 14. I brought a guitar with me and a laptop and started writing more and began experimenting with production on GarageBand. Over the course of this trip, I began realizing that music is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Once we got back to Perth, I started busking, which landed me a lot of opportunities over the years. Eventually I began traveling with the money I made and flew back and forth to LA, which is where I met my team. We’ve been working together since I was about 19-20 and I couldn’t be more stoked.
EU: What bands or artists helped shape your personal sound?
BR: Early Ed Sheeran had a massive impact on me when I first started getting into music. I saw him live at Perth Arena and that show lit a fire in me. I went home, bought a loop pedal the next day, and did that whole thing for months. More importantly, though, it got me really into songwriting. I also became a big fan of The 1975 over the past few years and they’ve had a lot of impact on my sound, especially where it’s heading towards now. Also my Mum used to play Elvis Presley a lot when I was younger, so there’s probably a bit of the weaved in my music somewhere.
EU: I read that you produce and write all of your own music! Can you tell us a little bit about how that process looks? Do you normally write the instrumental components first or the lyrics?
BR: It changes a lot but probably swings in favor of starting ideas on a piano or guitar first. Often, though, I will start with a production idea and start building out a track first so it’s a bit of both. Usually, at some point, the 2 methods marry and I will be finishing production ideas at the same time as I’m finishing lyrics.
EU: Taylor Swift added you to her curated Apple Music playlist — that’s so awesome! How did you find that news out? What was your reaction?
BR: That was insane. I’m pretty sure I found out because someone messaged me on Instagram letting me know. I thought they were playing a joke at first because they didn't specify it was only on Apple Music and I was looking on Spotify. Then I went to her Instagram and she had the swipe up link in her story which I click and, lo and behold, there was "Lost." My Twitter went insane for 24 hours and, the next morning, I woke up to a local radio station wanting to do an interview about it and the state newspaper wanting to do an article. It was such a random, unexpected thing to happen and caught me wayyy off guard. I’m extremely thankful that Taylor did that, though, and just the fact that she’s heard it and likes it means a lot, as I really respect her as a songwriter.
EU: Your music video for the song "Lost" - tell us a little bit about the filming process, who was in it, etc.
EU: The live video for Lost was shot here in Perth (where I am at the moment) in an abandoned mental hospital. I’ve been wanting to shoot this video for a long time but I really wanted to do it with my friends from here. Finally, all the stars aligned over the past couple months and I was able to get it done. The video was directed by Matt Sav and in the clip there is Christian Zappia (guitar), Josh Wright (drums), Trevor Stockton (keys), and Marley Donnan-Cook (bass). These are all friends of mine from University. They’re amazing musicians and even better people, so I couldn’t have asked for a better crew to shoot with.
EU: Are there any Australian artists we should keep an eye out for?
BR: Keep an eye on Supathick. I think they’re going to do really cool things.
EU: You once said you want every song to be an experience: where do you picture people listening to your music?
BR: I think while driving. There’s summer road trip vibes, pop hype up vibes, and rainy midnight drive home vibes.
EU: Finally, what can we expect from you in the future? What do you want to accomplish by the end of 2020?
You can expect some more music before 2020 is up. I’m not sure yet how much I’m going to put out, but there’s definitely more on the way. I would love to play some shows here with the band and get the live show in top shape so that, when touring starts up again, we’re all ready to go.
The official music video for "Lost" is out now. Check it out and stream the song below!