Young Sydney newcomer Elizabeth Rose is no stranger to getting attention. The 21-year-old electronic/pop producer gained attention in 2011 with Triple J audiences with her debut track “Never Fear”. Now she is gearing up to head out on her first headlining tour, as well as release an EP in July; and while one might assume that an inclusion in the Triple J Next Crop would put pressure on an artist to deliver something worthy of the hype, Rose is far from worrying about it.
“No, no way. I would be a stressball if I worried about everything that was written online!” Says Rose, “I am happy to go at my own pace. I am definitely going to have the EP out in a few months and I know Triple J are supporting me with my music really well. I feel really good about this year.”
Originally beginning her foray into the world of music at a young age with her father’s acoustic guitar, when asked about making the switch between this standard form of music to electronica, she states, ‘I thought I was going to keep with the guitar but I got really bored with it quickly. I guess it was because it could not do very many interesting sounds.”
“I have a lot of fun experimenting with samples and sounds,” she continues, “which is why I think I got into producing electronic music specifically. I kind of only got into the electronic side of things in the last three years. I have always been a big fan of electronic music and dance music from a young age, with my brothers living at home and listening to The Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. I used to love a lot of that… and I still do.”
Stretching back even further into Elizabeth’s musical beginnings, she recalls an interesting hobby from her youth that saw her using instrumental tracks from CD singles and writing her own lyrics for the song. She lets slip that she once re-wrote lyrics for Wyclef Jean’s “Two Wrongs” and also Britney Spear’s “Oops!… I Did it Again”.
‘That’s pretty much what drove me to buy singles,” she said, “If they had an instrumental on them, I would buy them.”
Having just released the single “Ready” off her upcoming EP, the song has some deep meaning for Rose. ‘I really do feel like I was at that point where I could not wait any longer on somebody else to release something, I felt like I really had to do it on my own. I was ready to do this on my own. I think that’s where the meaning behind the lyrics comes through. I was waiting on a major label to do a deal for it and there’s so much stuff you have to go through before finalising everything, so I was just sick of it. I decided to do it independently.”
For those that have heard this thoughtful dance track, you will instantly recall the haunting voice sample that is used throughout. When asked where the sample is from, Rose answered, “That’s me! That’s me singing “Lollipop” by The Chordettes! I reversed it and pitched it down.” Just one example of Rose’s twisted knack for creativity, and no doubt an indication of what’s in store this July, when she unleashes her EP.
Until then, we have Elizabeth Rose’s first headlining tour beginning this week in Adelaide and then taking in the east coast. “I like to play around with genres, that is pretty much what my set is,’ tells Rose when asked if punters will be getting a mix of the more dance-orientated and the atmospheric tracks. “I like to do a mix of the dancey tracks and then the down-tempo, more moody and darker songs. A lot of people think it’s strange that I have a dark side to my songs. They seem to think I am this bubbly little thing.”
While she has a collaboration with Essex DJ Sinden on her upcoming EP release, there may be a local artist collaboration brewing that is sure to gain some attention. Rose met Gotye at Field Day and they hit it off. “I have been sending him demos and he has been giving me a lot of feedback on them.”
“He wanted to do the collaboration, he suggested we work together,’ said Rose, who recently re-tweeted a message on her account in the hopes that it will keep this fresh in Wally’s mind. ‘I am hoping he saw that re-tweet! I really want that to happen.”
Until we hear from a new Gotye-starring duet, we can all make do with her first headlining tour through May and June. The talent is raw. The music is great. And the hype is warranted.
– Marcus Roberts
