Q&A: It’s Not Just A Small Thing That Happened To Sydney Rose
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
I KNOW WHAT I WANT—is Nashville-based Sydney Rose’s songwriting at its best. She describes the EP, released on April 4, as “the most me and the most truthful I’ve ever been.”
Themes of growing up, empathy, fears around love, nature, friendship, and more make up the six-track EP alongside lulling acoustic guitar and Rose’s gentle, whisper-like vocals.
The bridge of Rose’s song “We Hug Now” has gone viral over social media: “I have a feeling you got everything you wanted / And you’re not wasting time stuck here like me / You’re just thinkin’ it’s a small thing that happened / The world ended when it happened to me.”
“I’m just so happy that people can relate to it,” Rose shares with me on a Zoom call. “It’s been really cool seeing all the people get attached to it.”
Rose will embark on her first ever headline tour on June 9th in Los Angeles, continuing until July 3rd in London. On July 4th, Rose will play the BST Hyde Park concert series in London with headliner Noah Kahan and special guest Gracie Abrams with performances from Finneas, Gigi Perez, Paris Paloma, Hazlett, Jo Hill, Sebastian Schub, Kevin Atwater, and Lily Fitts.
Read my full conversation with Rose below.
LUNA: You’ve said that I Know What I Want feels like your best writing. What about it feels that way?
ROSE: I feel like every single line that I write is the most me and the most truthful I’ve ever been. I started writing music when I was 16, and now I’m 21. I feel like it has been such a journey. I feel like I’m finally making music for myself, for other people to hopefully really relate to it. The more music that I write, it just becomes more and more of my favorite stuff that I write.
LUNA: You recorded these songs in the Catskills. What effect does environment have on your creativity?
ROSE: Being in Catskills was the most relaxed I had ever been making music. Prior to this EP, I made all my music in sessions in Nashville or in New York. I really wanted to try something different. It was so nice. I would wake up, have breakfast with Sam [Evian, producer] and his partner, and we would take walks. There was no one around. We would record the music. I didn’t feel any pressure from anyone to sound a certain way. All the songs are one-takes. I’ve never done that in my life. It was so calm.
LUNA: In “5 More Minutes,” I love the lyric about your stuffed lamb: “My first love was my stuffed lamb / I’m twenty-one with her still in my hands.” It made me think about how music is another memento that allows us to connect back to who we were when we were younger. Is there any music that comes to mind as having been by your side while growing up?
ROSE: It’s crazy that you said this because two nights ago, I laid in my bed and I listened to the soundtrack of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Treasure Planet and The Prince of Egypt. I just felt so nostalgic for when I was a kid and the way that music moves me and has moved me my entire life. Phoebe Bridgers has been one of my biggest inspirations. In the beginning of high school, I listened to Stranger in the Alps and that has changed me as a person and influenced a lot of my music. Music is very inspiring, and it’s so nostalgic.
LUNA: The video for “We Hug Now” recently came out. How was filming that?
ROSE: It was so fun working with David O’Donohue and that whole crew. I sat in bed with my friend and we came up with this whole concept of how the song felt to me. It all came to life on the set of the music video. As a kid, I used to look out the window and pretend like I was in a music video (laughs). We actually did that! It was really, really fun. I felt like the whole video encapsulated exactly how I felt writing the song. I’m really happy with how it all happened and the people I worked with doing it. And I think it confirmed that the song was about friendship—I think people really loved that.
LUNA: You’ll be touring in June. What are you most looking forward to?
ROSE: Doing shows is my favorite thing ever. I’m so excited to do an entire set and see people hopefully singing my songs back. Going to shows growing up and going to shows of artists that I love has always been my favorite thing ever. It’s such a community thing. I’m just so excited to see all their faces and sing all my silly songs.
