Blake Rose, an Australian songwriter and producer who mixes together different genres to create his own pop sound has been up to a lot this past year. From busking on the streets of Perth to having over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, his following is only growing. Starting on GarageBand like so many songwriters have before, he completely writes and produces his music, and has been honing in on this craft since his early teen years. Now, at just 21, he already has an impressive set of accomplishments such as a premiere on Zane Lowe’s Beats1 show and over 6 million Spotify streams on his single, “Lost”. His music features his smooth vocals with honest lyrics and vibrant elements of indie-rock, soul, and alt-pop. Blake recently answered some questions for Cliché about his songwriting, his inspiration, and being stuck in Australia.
Watch the music video for “Lost” here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxrpj95HaU
Cliché: It was only about a year ago that you were busking on the streets of Perth to fund making your music. Can you tell me about the past year and how much has been changing for you? Are there any challenges you’ve had to face?
Blake Rose: The last year has been really cool. A lot has happened but at the same time it’s still sort of chill. In saying that though, at the moment I’m feeling a massive disconnect from my team who are in America as I’ve been stuck in Australia for the past 5 months due to some visa issues so it’s hard to grasp what’s happening over there but I know things are moving pretty fast. The main thing that this past year has entailed was really locking down management, publishing etc. and then getting the first releases ready to go and putting them out. Since “Hotel Room” I’ve been blown away by the support we’ve had from Spotify, Apple Music and Youtube so early on and I never expected to have this type of response off the gate. Everything is definitely starting to fall into place and I’m pretty damn pumped to get back to America and hit the ground running.
I’ve read that you really started creating music on a 3-month long camping trip with your family. Can you talk about how that all started? What was it on that trip that made you want to start songwriting?
I didn’t start songwriting on this road trip but it was definitely when I began to hone in on the craft and really explore and develop my skills as a songwriter. I brought a guitar with me on the trip as there was A LOT of driving and not much to do so I started filling the time by practicing guitar, writing, and eventually experimenting with music production. I started on GarageBand and made a lot of horrible songs, one was like 8 minutes long so you should definitely feel sorry for my parents who had to listen to it all over again every time I changed a lyric. After a while I very organically and intuitively realized that music is something I want to do full time and began planning how I would approach everything, starting with setting up a home studio, which I did once we arrived back in Perth.
You write and produce all of your own music. What does that process look like for you?
Generally the writing and production process for me is pretty blended. I’ll either start with a production idea or a melodic/lyrical idea and after a bit of time working on whichever of those I’ll switch to the other, simultaneously developing both sides of the song. Sometimes though, I will write a full song then produce it later.
Who are your own musical influences? Any one in particular you are listening to currently?
The 1975 is a big one, I listen to their music ALL the time. Ed Sheeran was probably my main musical influence when I was starting out. His Multiply show in Perth, Australia was one of the first shows I ever went to and gave me a lot of inspiration. Other types of people I listen to are ColdPlay, Jack Garratt, Kevin Garrett, John Mayer, Between Friends, Matt Corby.
Your single “Lost” has over 6 million streams on Spotify. What has the success of that song so far meant for you?
It means a hell of a lot. I put so much work into that song so to see it doing so well is really encouraging. I’m just glad people like as much as I do!
What can listeners expect from you in the near future?
Some upbeat acoustic vibes coming your way in the near future but as a whole I will be exploring some interesting vibes and lyrical themes so expect the unexpected I guess!
Read more Music Interviews at ClicheMag.com
Australian Songwriter and Producer Blake Rose Discusses New Music and His Growing Success: Featured Image Credit: Cameron Postforoosh
