ROSA

by Kaitlin Graveline

LA based indie/electro-pop group RÓSA is an up and coming musical phenomenon. Their story begins a year after Will Winters had stopped working on music, when he met Taylor Van Ginkel and Michael Matta in Southern California. A mutual vision was developed, and as they sat in what was once a quiet room, it quickly blossomed into something much louder, much larger. The room was filled with writing and ideas that would eventually become the band’s 2016 debut EP Gypsy Queen. The room was filled with what would now become known as RÓSA. 

    And now, this summer, their second EP Wasteful will give listeners a taste of the music that has seen shows in various venues around LA such as The Bootleg and School Night at Bardot in Hollywood. With this new account of sound from the band’s own hand, I prepared a few questions in which I had conjured up while listening to their single from the upcoming release titled “Without You”. Here’s what they had to say: 

In what way did you guys find yourselves in this position, with a previous release on your back and an anticipated EP ready to be released?

We haven't stopped writing since we started. We recorded Gypsy Queen with a friend in a small room with shitty equipment. Those were the first four songs we wrote together. After playing around Orange County and LA we started recording this EP in Santa Monica. We wanted to make something different than what we were used to, it was a fun experiment.

Where do your musical inspirations spring from, and how do you think you incorporate that into your own material today?

Our inspirations come from so many directions. We love all the 80s music everyone listens to. More and more we are interested in how we can incorporate other sounds into our own. We love bands like Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain. This next EP was influenced by a lot of the pop music that was coming out at the time, so our inspirations are all over the place.

Are there certain limitations to your creative drive that actively challenge you? If so, what are they and how do you overcome them?

Practically speaking we all work and go to school, so finding the time to write and rehearse can be a challenge sometimes. To overcome this we often meet later in the evening to work on shit and try to be disciplined about our time together. We also all write individually which helps our productivity. Another one is making music that both challenges us and is comfortable for us. It's easy to make stuff you are comfortable with and easy to make challenging music. But it is difficult to find that balance. I'm not sure we have overcome this yet so I can't speak to how.

What is your take on the more internet-based following of musical artists today? Do you believe this to be a positive attribute to the industry or a sort of hindrance?

That's a very tricky question. If it weren't for the internet many of us wouldn't get heard. There's a reach and immediacy to the internet that is an incredible blessing. But at the same time this has the potential of devaluing music. There is so much noise, so many bands doing the same thing. In the internet-band world you can have 10 million plays and have never played a show in front of real people. Or you can be a shit band with a handsome/beautiful singer and get big cuz teenagers fantasize about you. I'm not saying we transcend these categories yet, but you get it. The internet is hard. In many ways it's a whole different culture.

And finally, what type of message can emerging fans expect to hear from ROSA, and how can they keep up with their new favorite artist? 

I don't know about any specific message. We'll always make music from our experience and shared being. We want to bridge the gap between our outward self and our inner self, but I guess that's what everyone wants. You can follow our social media accounts to stay connected I guess.

 check out their new single

"without You"