In the buzzing musical metropolis of Sydney, a quiet 23-year-old producer by the name of Elizabeth Rose has just returned from rehearsal. Recently back from New York and preparing for a flight to Brisbane, she takes some time off to talk to SHAUN COWE ahead of her shows this Friday, November 15 at Mojos and Saturday, November 16, at Amplifier.
With the release of Ready last year, Elizabeth Rose was seized by triple j and catapulted to a national level.
Now, with the release of her new single, The Good Life, Rose has begun to look outside Australia. Recently travelling to New York as part of the CMJ Music Marathon, Rose says the trip was a great opportunity to sow the seeds of a US career.
“It was actually the first time leaving Australia, so it was a bit of a daunting trip for me but I loved it,” she admits. “Heaps of people that were there hadn’t really heard of my music before, so it was good to get my stuff out there. I brought some CDs that I gave away for free.”
First drawn to the world of electronic music by her older brother, house producer, Hook N Sling, Rose remembers being fascinated by watching him write music in his room. Following in his footsteps, she began to spend hours in her room experimenting with sounds.
A self-confessed nerd, Rose professes her attraction to the meticulous side of music production. “I like the technology side of it. I really like how you can create interesting new sounds on the computer and a sampler. There’s a lot of fine-tuning in it. I guess it’s more like sound design, in a way.”
Gigging straight out of high school, Rose didn’t begin her music career as an electronic act. “I was producing electronic music but I didn’t know how to translate it live. I didn’t have the proper setup for it, I couldn’t work it out,” she explains. “So that’s why I started with a drummer and a bass player and a guitarist and took a more acoustic approach to it… I kind of just got bored of it.”
Leaving the world of traditional band set-ups, Rose borrowed a copy of Ableton from her brother and began gigging as a DJ/producer. Getting airplay through Sydney’s FBI radio, she was inundated with gigs, and with the release of her debut single Ready, found herself on the Australian stage, playing at festivals such as Parklife and Peats Ridge.
When asked what the secret to her success was, she answers: “The main bit of advice is to not worry about what anyone says about the music or your situation. Just do it. Performance is probably the main thing these days because nobody really buys music anymore.”
Looking forward to next year, Rose says her main goals are to release an album and take her music to an international level. “You’ve got to do it, Australia is just so isolated from everything,” she explains. “There’s only so much you can do as an artist out here, I think.
“I don’t think I’m quite there yet though. I think I’m still growing.”
