Join us as we get to know Poppy Rose, a fresh artist out of Melbourne who’s just dropped her new single ‘Lost’.
She burst onto the scene last year via her Triple J Unearthed favourite ‘Ocean’, but is back with a tasty second helping.
We sent her our list of pressing questions and she delivered some wonderfully detailed answers.
So without further ado, get to know Ms Poppy Rose.
01. Name : Poppy Rose.
02. Where are you based? Most liveable city, Melbourne!
03. How did you get your start in music? My family isn’t very musically inclined, but listening to music was always my escape in times of hardship. I used to sneak in to my brother’s room every night once he had fallen asleep and I would steal his iPod and listen to it as I fell asleep and dreamt of the days I would be making my own music and sharing it with the world!
From this, I started writing poems to express my feelings which soon turned into song writing and me singing/rapping.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. It’s so hard thinking of ways to describe yourself! I’m so used to describing other people and situations, but these would sum me up pretty well : Passionate, emotional, boundless, realistic, and of course, fun!
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. Again, my brother and the music he listened to was a huge influence on mine. It ranged from rap to hard-core, indie, folk, ambient instrumentals, old school hip hop, punk, so many different genres! All of the music I had listened to and studied for so long eventually helped me to form my sound. I sit somewhere between melodic singing and rap.
06. What’s your earliest musical memory? Wow. This is a great question! There are so many I can think of but one of my earliest and best/funniest memories would have been the first time I got up on stage. I was in year two and it was the school talent quest and I had dreamed of playing in front of a big crowd but didn’t really know how to sing… so I taught myself how to dance and for two weeks I flat out practiced my corny dance moves to Junkie XL & Elvis Presley ‘A Little Less Conversation’.
The music video to the song had heaps of different people dancing throughout it, so I learnt some moves off them and incorporated my own which included the moon walk (I had no idea how to actually moon walk). Anyway, I remember performing and everyone cheering but I ended up crying, I was so nervous! I still get those nerves before jumping on stage.
07. Who have been your musical influences? I would have to say my older brother and the music he listened to. I mean, without him I wouldn’t have ever listened to the music I did and learnt about different flows and sounds. Also my relationships and down times in life.
Letting go of the times I was hurting by writing lyrics has been my saviour. Also writing about the love and happy times I’ve had has always been great for me to reflect on and remember! Maybe life has just had the biggest influence on my music.
08. What are your favourite songs of all time? I stumble at this question! No songs have really stuck with me as my favourite throughout my whole life as my taste is constantly changing. One of my jams is ‘P.I.M.P’ by 50 Cent though. I love that song, gets me ready for whatever I have to face in my day! 50 Cent’s album ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ is one of my favourites. I love 50!
09. Where’s your favourite place to listen to music? My bedroom. I have my own little set up and I love coming home to my little cave and creating/listening to as much music as possible and immersing myself in my little musical world. It’s the best time for me to be on my own and really work on myself as an artist.
10. Who are your go-to artists when you’re feeling :
Happy? 50 Cent, of course.
Sad? Billie Eilish for my sad songs, she delivers them beautifully and it always hits the spot, but also Billie for my happy songs!
Introspective? Exhausted? When I’m feeling introspective or exhausted, I usually listen to ambient instrumentals or calming/inspiring instrumentals that help me think and usually create.
11. What was the first album you ever bought? I don’t know about albums, I just remember having the hottest collection of all the ‘So Fresh’ CDs. Although I remember bumping Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne a lot as a young girl!
12. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. I have been waiting for this question forever. I’m so happy my time has come! I’ve hardly shared this with anyone either. I was kind of shy about it but I have learnt to share it because people seem to think it’s really cool!
But I can speak words backwards pretty fluently. I can’t do it whilst writing obviously but throw me any word when you meet me and tell me to try and say it backwards and you will see what I mean. I can even do sentences. I constantly think of words every day and for years I have said them backwards in my head (not sure why) but I think it’s a calming technique when I’m nervous or bored.
13. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? I really don’t see myself doing anything other than music, but If it wasn’t an option at all I would find a job that would be carefree that allowed me to travel the world and experience as much as possible and learn as much as I could in this short life.
I would fill my life with many different situations, places, people and lessons. But right now music has my heart and I feel so called to continue this journey! (Plus, I might even travel the world doing my music one day!)
14. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? Just stay true to yourself. A lot of people might say this but until you understand what it REALLY means, you will always be chasing something you don’t want.
It’s hard, because I’m still learning who I am and what works for me but as long as I remind myself in each moment to do whatever feels true and good for me at that time, I can’t really go wrong. My girlfriend has been the best person in reminding me to always stay true to myself.
15. If you could trade places with any artist in the world right now, who would it be? Right now? Cardi B. I want to know what she is going through being pregnant AND performing huge shows, becoming one of the biggest superstars in a short amount of time and what it feels like to be a female in a male dominated industry but to be absolutely killing it and not caring what anyone else thinks.
I want to know what she is really going through behind the scenes and if it’s hard or if she is getting by and enjoying it.
16. Tell us about your latest release. I wrote ‘Lost’ in my darkest moments and it honestly saved me and gave me a new perspective on myself. I learnt that speaking out is the most important thing to do when you feel like no one or nothing can help you. ‘Lost’ is about me realising my demons and learning to conquer my fears by speaking out and finding a way out.
17. What do your future plans involve? They involve learning as much as possible about music, writing as much as possible and sharing as much music as possible. You’ll be seeing more music from me this year and plenty of live shows!
18. Where can our audience catch you live? Catch me in Sydney this Friday for a show at Empire – Slide Venue on Oxford Street. And I have a pop up set on May 18 with BeyondBlue at the Railway Hotel in Yarraville. See you there fam!!
FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/poppyroseofficial/
INSTAGRAM : http://www.instagram.com/popshep
TWITTER : http://www.twitter.com/popshep
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/poppyroseofficial
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