Roma Rose is a pop/folk singer-songwriter who launched her career in 2020. Her latest single ‘Stay Like This’ was originally written through the eyes of her child. The song is a modern-day love song, encouraging us to live as we want.
There’s magic in simplicity and Roma Rose caught my attention with her silky voice and honest lyrics. For someone who doesn’t have kids yet it is easy to take things for granted. If only more parents would be sharing their emotions like this. Thank you Roma Rose, it’s truly inspiring.
It was such a pleasure to get to know Roma Rose a little better and she opened up about her songs and that becoming a mum was one of the most life-changing experiences and she wanted to put those emotions into her music.
Congratulations on your latest release, the third single of 2020 ‘Stay Like This’. Tell us about the journey up until this moment!
Thank you so much! I’ve written songs for as long as I can remember and I’ve performed with various different groups over the years, but I took a bit of a step back from music when I fell pregnant a couple of years ago. I trained as an actress and I also work as a cartoon/gaming voice, so I had my hands quite full, but it’s been a total dream to get back into music this year. This is my first solo project, which is both scary and exciting in equal measure!
What does it mean for you to be releasing music and starting your career in this historic time?
Creating music again has really kept me going through this crazy time. I call it my COVID silver lining because if lockdown hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have had the space to get things properly off the ground. I also think this time has really put things in perspective for all of u. How everything can change in an instant and how nothing can be taken for granted. It really gave me the guts and drive to go for it and put some music out there and not overthink things.
Your second single ‘How To Feel’ is a hauntingly beautiful ode to motherhood. Was it hard to put such a personal song into the world?
Thank you. Yes, in some ways it was. It felt very vulnerable putting it out there. But it was also a side of early motherhood that I really wanted to share and the response has been so heartening. Lots of mums have reached out and said how it’s resonated with them and
I think it’s so important for mothers and fathers to be able to talk about the harder side of becoming parents.
ROMA ROSE
You can be so grateful and happy, whilst also feeling completely overwhelmed, terrified and unprepared – at the same time.
Let’s reflect on each of the singles you’ve released so far: What do these songs mean to you? What are the stories behind them?
Motherhood is a massive theme that I’ve been exploring with all three tracks, in different ways. But I also wanted them to feel universal as well.
In My Head
‘In My Head’ is a song for anytime that you feel you’re not being your truest self. You know those times when you feel yourself close down, or you start saying really awkward things and your inner monologue is like, “What the hell are you saying?? Be normal!!”. Happens to me a lot!! …and that’s what this song is about! For me, it was definitely inspired by becoming a mum and trying to match up the person I was before with this new identity, which felt so alien to me at the start.
How to Feel
‘How to Feel’ is a song about bringing my newborn home and the massive rollercoaster of emotions that came with it. It touches lightly on post-natal anxiety and the huge surge of fear that comes with this new, life changing love. But it’s also a song for any big life moment that overwhelms you and makes you feel like a child.
Stay Like This
I wanted the third track ‘Stay Like This’ to pull all of this together and then let it all go, finding a sense of freedom where it doesn’t matter what is deemed right, wrong or normal. Jess (co-writer) and I were really inspired by Glennon Doyle’s Untamed. We chatted about it lots while working on these tracks and we wanted to bring similar messages into this one. It is written totally through the eyes of my daughter, as I think we can learn so much from toddlers and children about being free and letting go. But we also wanted it to work simultaneously as a love song, that anyone can dream into – whether that’s as a love song to someone else or to yourself.
You recorded songs remotely during the lockdown. Was it easier or harder to collaborate and release music?
It had pros and cons! Pros were that we could fit things around everyone’s schedule and working this way meant I could collaborate with amazing people, who would have probably been crazy busy and unavailable if lockdown hadn’t happened. It’s amazing what can be achieved remotely, from zoom writing sessions to remote mixing/mastering. But I do think nothing beats getting in the room with other creatives and riffing on things in the moment. I had to record all the vocals in stolen moments when the little one was napping, which made things hard sometimes in terms of getting in the flow and having continuity. But we decided early on to just embrace the situation and let the songs evolve as a product of the time they were made in.
What would you like to achieve with your music?
To connect with people, to resonate with their stories and open conversations. And sometimes, just to have a bit of fun!
What is one piece of advice that you will never forget?
“Lightly, lightly…”
It’s a quote from Aldous Huxley. I’ll find the whole thing because It’s amazing!
“It’s dark because you are trying too hard.
Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.
I was so preposterously serious in those days…
Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.
So throw away your baggage and go forward.
There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,
Trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.
That’s why you must walk so lightly.
Lightly my darling.”
– Aldous Huxley
How did you come up with the idea to use the recordings of super cute baby sounds for ‘In My Head’?
I think because everything was recorded at home with her crawling about, I just one day had the idea that we should put her in the song. And as it’s about letting your inner child out, it made sense! We did briefly think about also having her in How to Feel, maybe crying or something, but then we thought no no, that’s a bit too far!
Apart from the world in the lockdown, what are the challenges that you are facing as independent musicians?
Terrible royalty rates, the need for constant online content and life in social media land – sometimes stuff just takes time and the current industry doesn’t always allow for that.
How do you define success in the music business?
It’s so easy to get sucked into what success is, but I think if your music is reaching people, resonating, making people think or escape (regardless of how many people) then you’re doing something right!
How do you know that the song is finished?
I find it varies song by song. Some come together really naturally and you just know. And some feel like they could be tweaked and played around with forever, and at some point you’ve just got to get it out there! They can also get a whole new life with remixes or stripped back versions. One thing I’m hoping to do with these tracks is rediscover them all acoustically.
You have very different artists amongst your influences. Is there one particular musician that made the biggest impact on you?
I love so many different artists and different kinds of music. Really hard question, but the one that made the biggest impact from a young age was Mariah Carey! She’s totally not the genre of music I make, but I’ll always love a bit of Mazza!
How would you summarise 2020?
A whole lot of sadness, a whole lot of change and light at the end of the tunnel.
What you got planned for 2021?
More music! I want to experiment further with my sound, collaborate with some awesome people and see what happens. Also hopefully fingers crossed some live shows!!
Make sure to connect with Roma Rose
