"I'm still a Philly girl," Rozes told me with a laugh. The popular EDM vocal queen was about as cool as they come. Dressed like a true rockstar, Rozes showed up ready to make a loud and powerful statement. Her star is on the rise and nothing stands in her way from reaching the top of the mountain. There are people in this life who just exude a portrait of great things still yet to come. Rozes happens to be one of those people.
In an exclusive interview with the Huffington Post, the singer told me how her musical journey began. Rozes said, "I grew up in a musical family. I was always surrounded by music. We were happy to play music. We were sad to play music. We celebrated dance to music--that kind of thing. I was very heavily influenced in the jazz world. My family is a big jazz family. I grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald and more modernly Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse. I just decided I wanted to write. After discovering Adele, I went, 'I think I want to do that too.' It's been my thing from that point on." The singer then elaborated on when she started to take writing music seriously. "It picked up in high school. I started writing my own songs and I performed at open mics and all the different talent shows," she told me. Rozes' hard work quickly paid off as she got signed to one of the biggest publishing companies in the game today.
"I got signed to Warner/Chappell Music who have been working their asses off with me," Rozes said with a wide smile. She continued, "They have been putting me in rooms with producers that I love like Nolan Lambroza who has produced for Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas. I have been able to work with all these people who are very accomplished. Nick Monson--who did the whole Britney Spears record. It's been really awesome to get in with them and go, 'Who are we feeling like today?' You get to pick through their emotions and set aside your brain for a day and become somebody else. It's really cool." Rozes' natural ability to capture an artist's true spirit caught the attention of the top act in the music industry.
Rozes went into great detail about how her collaboration with The Chainsmokers helped solidify herself as one of the top dogs on the electric dance music scene. Rozes said, "I wrote a song for somebody over in Australia that ended up doing really well. I think that's how The Chainsmokers met me. That's when I realized that people were acknowledging the fact that I am a writer and I had vocals to back it up. It kind of became something that I wanted to strive harder for and work harder in. I always had this fear of the music industry that it wasn't this nice world. I've had nothing but support and love from it." One of the most loving moments Rozes experienced was when The Chainsmokers personally reached out to her. "It still feels surreal. They followed me via Twitter very randomly. I was in my college grocery store with my friend and I was like, 'Wait. The Chainsmokers just followed me.' So I followed them back and they messaged me," Rozes said. She continued, "They said they would love to work on something with me. They loved what I did with 'Limelight'--the song that I did over in Australia. I was like, 'Yeah, I would love to.' They sent me some tracks. I always push to be in the studio to be with the people that I work with. So we ended up in the studio and they were like my older brothers from day one. We vibed on Chinese food and wrote 'Roses.'" The infectious song has been playing all over the radio with no signs of slowing down. Even Rozes seemed surprised by how quickly her career has been skyrocketing.
"This was not the path that I thought I was going to go with," Rozes told me. The vocal powerhouse continued, "I thought I was going to try the alternative to pop route which a lot of people do like Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine. Or Tove Lo. The EDM scene kind of just fell into my lap and became my pathway. It's a great community. Everyone is loving and so nice. It's not where I want to say my music genre is but it's a beautiful lane to be in." Rozes is on the fast lane with full speed ahead. With EDM fans standing in her corner, Rozes is focused on putting out new music that the entire world can enjoy. That's where her new hit "Under the Grave" comes into play.
I asked the singer how the song became a reality for her. Rozes passionately told me, "What happened was that I was out in LA. My life has been so busy. I haven't been near my phone much. My friends back home needed me and I wasn't there for them. I don't want to say I was too busy because that's not who I am. I was in another land. I really was in lala land. I wanted to write an open apology to them and really throw myself under the bus with the song and say 'I'm sorry. When did I start feeling numb? Because you don't deserve that. I hope you don't forget about me when I need you.' I went to the session with this guy, Chris Braide, who does some Sia stuff. We sat at the piano and I just had it. It kind of just came out." After putting the song out there for music fans to eat up, the music video quickly followed. When asked about what it was like to work on the video, Rozes said, "It came out on Marie Claire. It's really awesome to be able to match my face to the name and voice. A lot of people hear my voice on the song 'Roses' but they haven't seen my face much. It's been amazing to have people finally realize who Rozes is." People have also been realizing that she wears an incredible rose crown.
Music fans have been calling the singer 'the flower crown goddess.' When asked how the flower crown became her thing, Rozes laughed, "I had my first photoshoot as Rozes about two years ago. I was stumbling through a mall and I saw a rose crown. I was like, 'This would be really awesome in gold.' So I went to the craft store and I crafted a crown and spray painted it metallic gold. From that point on it's been one of my trademarks." The look suits Rozes perfectly. Every person in royalty needs a statement maker. Another bold statement from Rozes came in the form of an EP called Burn Wild. When describing the creative process behind the EP, Rozes told me "For me, Burn Wild is basically chapters in a book. Each song was a specific point in my life where I was going through something. Whether it was dating someone and it not working out. I meet somebody and it does work out. It was my journey through love and loss. I wanted to put it together and wrap it up in a bow in an EP because that's me like an author who puts out a book." Another storybook moment came true for Rozes when she worked with Big Gigantic and Logic on the song "All Of Me."
I asked Rozes how "All Of Me" came together. She nodded her head and said, "I think our management is friends with them. They went, "Hey, I've got Big Gigantic and it would be awesome to collaborate with Rozes." I was like, 'I'm down.' We met in New York and just had a few ideas. We put them together and came up with that. They sent me the demo which was awesome. And then they were like, 'Do you mind if we add Logic?' I was like, 'No. That would be amazing.' Why would I mind? It just kind of happened." Rozes has been having hit after hit. Somehow, she still finds time to make surprise appearances with The Chainsmokers. Rozes laughed, "I went to Coachella with them and some of their shows I will come out randomly. Scheduling, timing. It's the 'if we are in the same place at the same time' kind of deal." She always gets a great deal of joy when appearing with The Chainsmokers. Rozes explained, "It's also nice because I became part of the EDM scene when it was just really starting to blow up. I was part of a cool movement that The Chainsmokers started." Rozes is now excited to welcome more people into her groovy universe.
When asked what some of her goals are in the music industry, Rozes told me, "I would like to gain more fans that can connect with me on a personal level with my music and can relate it back to their own lives. Use it as their own escape as a way to reach out to other people or to themselves. It would be awesome to stand in Madison Square Garden and have that personal moment with them even though there's so many of us. To have all of us here because we are emotionally connected to this one thing." Before headlining MSG, the singer and songwriter is currently taking the show on the road. "I'm doing some tour dates with Gryffin. I'm doing the New York, Boston and Colorado shows. That will be fun. I'm hoping to release a few more singles, have 'Under the Grave' on the radio and keep going forward," Rozes said.
Before letting Rozes go, I asked her who she would love to work with. The songwriter looked me in the eyes and said, "I would definitely love to write for Miley Cyrus. I understand her life I think. I seem to connect with her on that level. It would be awesome."