TOM Magazine’s Brendan Dousi recently caught up with young musician Chris Rose about his new single ‘We Are’ and his experiences as an up and coming artist.
TOM Magazine: Thanks for talking with me today, Chris. You must be very busy lately with your first single dropping on Youtube and all of the interviews, how are you finding the experience?
Chris Rose: I’m absolutely loving it. It’s absolutely amazing, it’s pretty much my dream come true. I’ve been working towards this since I was, I dunno, twelve years old. To have my own video clip on Vevo and to be promoting my own single is just absolutely amazing.
TOM Magazine: Have you been travelling around much at all? What exactly have you been up to?
Chris Rose: Last year I went on a pretty big tour, I was doing a support tour for Harrison Craig. A 17-date Rural Tour. I drove around the whole country, just myself and my guitar, about 10,000 kilometres in 21 days, it was a pretty big mission. I got to see a whole bunch of the country side and heaps of experience playing to live audience so it was so much fun. Awesome experience. Apart from that, just been playing heaps of gigs, recording as much as possible and just promoting myself any way I can.
TOM Magazine: Do you have any interesting stories from your Rural Tour?
Chris Rose: It was pretty flat out. Every single day I was just walking down the street and had these little ‘fan cards’ just handing them out to all the shops, signing them for people and just promoting myself any way I can. After the shows each night I was just getting swamped by hundreds and hundreds of people, just trying to sign these cards for them and all that sort of stuff. It was a pretty overwhelming experience. The whole things was either driving, performing or promoting myself; there wasn’t much time to rest. It was epic. So good.
TOM Magazine: Listening to your songs, you have a really unique sound. When did you realise that singing and song-writing were your passions?
Chris Rose: I’ve been song-writing since I was about 14 years old, I started singing at around 4 years old when I realised I could sing, pretty much before I could talk. I’ve always been a super creative person, I’ve always been into art, I used to draw a lot, I used to sit in the corner of my lounge room and just make things as a kid. I guess I just realised that song-writing is a really big passion of mine and just became my art as I got older. I just used it to express myself as I got older, but now it’s about the passion. I try to write every day, just write a different story every day, mostly about my life but I also like to write creatively as well.
TOM Magazine: Do you think that growing up in Port Macquarie helped inspire you and your sound at all?
Chris Rose: Massively, yeah. It’s really given me that acoustic edge. Everyone’s into chilled out surf music there and there’s a lot of Rock n Rollers up there as well. There’s a really big scene for Rock n Roll and acoustic Blues music so I’ve got a bit of a mixture of everything. I grew up playing in rock bands, I’ve always been a solo artist and a singer/song-writer so that definitely comes out of my music.
TOM Magazine: There seems to be a little bit of a country inspiration in your music as well.
Chris Rose: Yeah, well I don’t know if it’s a real Country thing but there must be something imbedded in my voice. There could be a real Country twang but I like to mix it up with a bit of Pop and all that sort of stuff.
TOM Magazine: Are there any artists in particular that you would say influence your work and your development as a musician?
Chris Rose: So many artists. Every song that I write I pretty much have a different influence for it. Growing up I had so many different influences, from Fleetwood Mac to ELO to John Mayer, Pete Murray was a big influence; just so many different people. I think right now my favourite band would have to be One Republic. Ryan Tedder is an amazing song-writer and he really inspired me with his lyrics. There are just so many different people. It’s really the songs that inspire me; I just love a really great song.
TOM Magazine: Do you have a favourite song of all time, at all?
Chris Rose: I’ve got a thing for ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’ by Aerosmith. It’s epic. Oh, and ‘Go Your Own Way’ by Fleetwood Mac. That’s epic.
TOM Magazine: So, from Port Macquarie you went to Sydney, is that right?
Chris Rose: Yeah, basically when I was 18 years old I was an apprentice spray-painter, I worked at my Dad’s panel shop and we’d listen to so much music. I would just be by myself singing along in the spray-booth marking up cars. Music was in my veins, I knew I wasn’t doing what I wanted so I decided to move down to Sydney and just crash with my Uncle. I started networking and getting a few gigs, eventually I got this development deal with Sony Music which is unbelievable. A huge opportunity for me. I just took it on with both hands, moved down here full-time just with my guitar, didn’t know anybody, and just started writing and recording. I recorded so many demos and I eventually got that song which turned out to be my first Single and I eventually got signed.
TOM Magazine: You were part of the Talent Development Project, is that right?
Chris Rose: Yeah, the TDP (Talent Development Project) is a program held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. I used to travel backwards and forwards between Sydney and Port Macquarie and just go to these workshops. It was a two day workshop every month, I’d go meet consultants and play these new song that I’d written. I’d play two new songs every time I’d go there, ever month. It’s not like Australian Idol or anything like that, but there’s a culling process, the best can only make it through. So, I eventually got to the stage where I graduated and we performed at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in front of 5,000 people and it was such a huge thing. That’s how the doors opened to Sony Music.
TOM Magazine: So the program is how you were discovered by Sony?
Chris Rose: Well, a guy named Alan Jones, you’ve probably heard of him, from 2GB, he’s actually the Chairman of the talent program. He heard one of my original songs ‘Nowhere Land’ and was absolutely blown away and he took me in to Sony for a showcase. I just went down to the studio, performed three of my own songs and I got the development deal from there. I guess I just got that opportunity and smashed it for the next four years. I got the deal when I was 19 and now I’m 23.
TOM Magazine: Sounds like they’re being very careful in nurturing you a bit?
Chris Rose: Well, they’ve seen something in me at a young age and really gave me an opportunity to show what I’ve got and to see if I can work hard and see if I’ve got what it takes. I gave it everything I could give it. There’s nothing else I could see myself doing.
TOM Magazine: Your first Single ‘We Are’ has a very upbeat, positive attitude to it, what were you inspirations behind the song? Anything you were trying to achieve when making it?
Chris Rose: I’ve always had a vision that the song was like an ‘anthem’ for anyone who’s had a dream. I guess it’s about my journey, coming from Port Macquarie and coming down to Sydney. It’s about sharing it with someone special, sharing your dreams with that person and not being afraid to be exactly who you are. I just want it to be a big anthem, it sort of encapsulates my whole journey and my life so far, so I thought it was the perfect song to come out with. We really worked on it; it took 3 months to perfect. The production just ended up coming so far from where it started. I’m so proud of the finished product.
TOM Magazine: You also have a nice little music video to go along with it on your Vevo channel, what was the experience like making that?
Chris Rose: We filmed it at Wattamolla Beach, south from Sydney and in a National Park area. It’s a really nice place. We spent the whole day down there filming it, my part only took about 4 hours. We filmed about five different scenes in different locations, re-recorded it a bunch of times and we just had a big Boom-Box and I was playing along to it. The editing process was a big one, we really wanted to get it right and that was difficult but I really had a lot of input and I’m grateful for that.
TOM Magazine: Any other video clips in the works at the moment?
Chris Rose: No other official video clips in the works at the moment, but I have so many songs and so many ideas for new clips, I’d love to do more.
TOM Magazine: Sounds like you’ve got quite a few original songs already, is there an album on the way perhaps?
Chris Rose: I’ve got enough songs for an album, since I’ve been working in Sydney I’ve written about 100 songs and we’ve got about 50 of them recorded. So, yeah, I’ve definitely got some new singles that I want to get out there but I guess we’ve got to see how it all goes, do some planning and get this one out there first.
TOM Magazine: On your Youtube channel you have a beautiful cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ up, is there any particular reason you chose to cover that song? Do you plan on covering any other songs in the future?
Chris Rose: I do cover a lot of songs, I’ve been covering songs since I first started. It’s really helped teach me how to perform and how to engage people. People love hearing something they know. The reason I covered that song, I’ve been playing that song as long as I can remember and I absolutely love it. It’s a great song and there’s something about my voice that really suits it. I just really like it, it goes from the low angle, up the octave and then shows off the end with a falsetto; it just gives me a chance to show what I can do.
TOM Magazine: I’ve heard that you love to collaborate, who would you say is at the top of your wishlist that you’d love to collaborate with?
Chris Rose: The top of my wishlist would definitely have to be Ryan Tedder from One Republic and this guy called Dan Wilson. He co-wrote the Adele song ‘Someone Like You’ and he’s also written a bunch of great songs by the Dixie Chicks and heaps of other people. He’d have to be one of my favourites. I also reckon Sia is a really great artist, I love her music. If I was going to do a duet with someone she would probably be the one. She’s also a great song-writer; I’m really into people who write their own music and write great songs.
TOM Magazine: You’re basically achieving what a lot of young people aspire to, you’re a working musician and you’ve got a single dropping at the moment. Do you have any advice for anyone just starting out in the music business?
Chris Rose: You just gotta take any opportunity whatsoever; grab your dream with both hands. I never had a back-up plan, so many people have told me that you need one, “…if it falls through what will you do?” to which I’m like, “Well, there’s nothing else I can do.” Just go for it as hard as you possibly can. Do whatever you can possibly do, play gigs, get out there, open mic nights, anything. I just took any opportunity I could possibly take. That’s really the only advice I could give.
TOM Magazine: Do you think not having that safety net is part of the reason you’ve gotten this far?
Chris Rose: I think so, yeah. I mean, I’ve still got a long way to go but I’ve come quite far since I first started. Yeah, it kind of gives it a bit of a risk factor. It’s also good for my story, everyone’s like “You had a dream and you just went for it!” It’s pretty cool, but yeah, I think it’s definitely a factor.
TOM Magazine: What’s coming up next for Chris Rose?
Chris Rose: Well, I’m really in the works at the moment. Heaps more writing, heaps more recording, making as many songs as I can. Just promoting this song as best I can and playing as many gigs as I can possibly play. That’s all I can really say, I just want to plays as many shows and meet as many people as I can.
TOM Magazine: Thank you so much for talking to me today Chris. I just like to end my interviews on one question because I’m a bit of a film buff; What’s your favourite film?
Chris Rose: Favourite film? This may sound a little cheesey but growing up I was absolutely obsessed with Titanic. It’s pretty random, but that was probably my favourite film growing up. I’ve probably watched it over a hundred times.
TOM Magazine: A bit of a romantic, then?
Chris Rose: I’m a bit of a romantic, yeah. Comes out in my music. Also, Gladiator is a good one as well. Russell Crowe, he’s a legend. Just a big, epic film.
TOM Magazine: They both are. Kind of mimicked with your single ‘We Are’, you came out of the gate with a big, epic song.
Chris Rose: Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m all about!
TOM Magazine: Thanks so much for talking to me today, Chris.
Chris Rose: Thank you very much, really appreciate it.
