Diandra Interviews Chey Rose: The Business of Music
Nowadays, being talented is not enough. The more you do for yourself, as an artist, is both a matter of keeping control and clout over your career. With so many independent artists breaking into the mainstream, music business feels vital in learning how to keeps your artistic gains. Enter Chey Rose; a dream pop queen with a sound too waved to be a simple synth. She is imaginative in how she builds a love song, of which, in our interview, she discusses how she defines young love and business.
Diandra: As someone studying music business, why do you think learning the industry is as vital as learning your craft, and how has what you learned already shown you results?
Chey Rose: Such a great question! For me, I always knew I wanted to learn about the music business side of things because my goal is to always be very hands on in my own career. I feel like a lot of artists focus 100% on their music and push the business decisions off on their management, but it’s so much more beneficial, for both parties, when the artist has the industry knowledge and lingo to be involved in decisions. I am also a very independent person, which motivates me to be able to handle certain things on my own without having to rely on a manager.
Chey Rose – Midnight Love (Official Music Video)
Diandra: Being a student and artist, all at once, how do you balance and bridge the two?
Chey Rose: It’s definitely a challenge. The struggle is real being caught between spending free time cowriting / playing out to advance my career, and working on homework to keep my As and my parents proud. It’s all about balance. This upcoming semester, I scheduled all my classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so Tuesdays and Thursdays I can spend all day on music. I feel like being a student and artist is difficult but has taught me time management and self discipline which is beneficial to me in the long run!
Diandra: V.C.R is all about falling for a new crush. Describe your first crush.
Chey Rose: Oh, gosh. I think my first real crush was in kindergarten on this boy in my class named Josh. I didn’t even like him that much at first, but all the other girls did, so eventually, I gave in and decided he was cute. One day I brought this new pink chapstick to school with me, so, while my teacher had ta ken the whole class to the restroom, I stayed behind in the classroom and made a lip imprint on Josh’s name tag on his desk & then put clear tape over it to make sure it wouldn’t smear – LOL! I swear I can still hear his little confused 6 year old voice exclaiming, “what is THIS???”V.C.R.
Diandra: Your lyrics are about making listeners feel what is indescribable through images like, velvet cosmic rush. What are certain images you would use to describe yourself as an artist and person?
Chey Rose: What a cool question! As a person I’m really nostalgic and deep, but, a lot of those emotions, I keep bottled up just because I’m so independent and not used to sharing how I feel. So, when I think of that in images, I feel like I’d be the crumpled up letter you hide on the top shelf of your closet over the years, or the faded polaroid that you kept just to hold onto a memory. But I’m also really hopeful and positive when it comes to the future – so maybe I’d also be the fresh first page of a brand new journal. A brown journal: lLeather bound and vintage looking, of course.
Diandra: Good Habit is sung to feeling addicted to a toxic relationship. How do you feel music has made you see your value as a person, especially for relationships?
Chey Rose: The thing that’s really special about creating music is that you get to reflect and process things that happen in your life differently. It’s an extra creative and emotional outlet that most people never experience. For Good Habit, some inspiration came from one relationship I’ve observed in my family, and after writing the song, I was like, I definitely don’t want that. This is unhealthy. I deserve better than to be in a toxic relationship like this person is. Songwriting allows me to process things that I have experienced or observed on a deeper level, so that I know how I feel, who I am, and what I want.
Diandra: Your music sings to young love. What does “young love” mean to you?
Chey Rose: I guess when I think about young love I think of my sixteen or seventeen year old self who plunged headfirst into every little spark of romance without thinking. It means having that pure, careless kind of infatuation where you risk everything. It means being untainted from the fear of falling and getting hurt. It means diving in heart wide open, reckless and full of hope; not worrying about the consequences. The theme of young love comes through in so much of my music because I love and miss that feeling. I’m doing my best to get it back, but it’s hard growing up.
Chey Rose – These Are the Nights (Official Music Video)
Diandra: You use personal experiences to inspire your songs. Describe an experience you felt was cleared, healed, and/ or embodied by one of your songs?
Chey Rose: I actually have quite a few of these because I like to write about stuff but I’m gonna talk about one that is unreleased if that’s okay. I wrote a really special song called Golden Days with my best friend and favorite cowriter Shir Czopp. It’s pretty telling from the title, but it’s basically about missing my younger days, longing for the memories, and trying to come to grips with the fact that life is different now (adulting is hard!). Writing this helped me so much – I was going through a hard time at college, stressing about life and just missing being a kid, when all I had to worry about was racing my brothers to shotgun. It was really therapeutic and special to write, and, every time I sing it, I feel so strong. Definitely my favorite of mine to date.
Diandra: You love to travel. What are a few places in the world you wish to visit and write a song to? Why?
Chey Rose: Ah! There’s so many. My dad is a pilot, so I have been fortunate enough to check some of my travel dreams off my bucket list: Spain, Germany, England. I actually started writing a song based on a guy I met on a German metro last year, so maybe I’ll finish that one soon. I have also always really wanted to go to Australia! My mom studied abroad there in college and I feel like it would be such a gorgeous, inspiring place to visit. The Aboriginal culture is so interesting to me.
Diandra: As a songwriter, you are very in tune with your feelings. What qualities about yourself, especially sentimental, do you feel your songs reveal?
Chey Rose: I like to joke and call my songs my children, but it’s really not too far fetched because it’s true that each one shows some quality of the writer! Once you write so many, though, each one is so diverse. Some songs show my shy, quiet side: the girl who overthinks, worries, and cries. Some of them show who I am when I’ve had a drink and am ready to party: bubbly, fun, flirty. My favorite songs I write, though, are the ones that give insight into who I am as a person on a deeper level: nostalgic, hard working, independent, imperfect, and genuine. Whether it’s melodically or lyrically, I think every writer has a certain mark they leave on every song they write.
Diandra: Being so vulnerable as a creative, how have you seen songwriting push you to grow as a person?
Chey Rose: SO MANY WAYS! Songwriting is such an intimate and creative process, and, as a writer, you have to constantly be changing and evolving to tell new and fresh stories that people relate to. Looking back on the past few years of beginning to write and release more seriously, I have truly grown so much in understanding, reasoning, compassion, empathy and more. I, definitely, feel like if I wasn’t pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, it would be much easier for me to ignore or judge certain issues, topics, and people that I don’t understand right away. But because my calling, as a songwriter, is to write songs all people connect with, I have developed a new ability to understand and empathize with all types of people from all different backgrounds. It’s a humbling job, but it’s also made me re-evaluate what I see as success in my career. Now, if my music touches just one heart, make one person feel less alone, less misunderstood, it makes it ALL worth it.
I love this interview. Chey Rose is such a bright woman, and her cool-headedness and intelligence is pushing her path forward. V.C.R could ,easily, be on pop radio and, hopefully soon, it is! For More Information On Chey Rose Click Here.
