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EXCLUSIVE: Rozei Interview

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Stage Right Secrets caught up with Rozei to chat about his latest single, 21st birthday, and new music on the way. Read our exclusive Q&A, below.

“Hollywood” is out now. Walk us through creating the track.

I had the idea for this record when I was out in Los Angeles for the first time. Before, I mainly stuck with the more emotional, hard hitting pop/rock/hip-hop kinda vibe. It has been fun and exciting to push myself creatively to make tracks like “Hollywood” & my previous single, “Ooo La La”. They both have a summer, upbeat, danceable style to them
that surprisingly enough, given my previous discography, comes fairly naturally to me.

Your previous visuals are eye-catching, are you working on a music video for the song? What would you like to see?

Thank you! We have a lyric video for the song in the works & we might be shooting a music video as well, nothing confirmed quite yet.

How did signing with Atlantic come about?

Signing with Atlantic is a dream come true. After the release of “Ooo La La”, it started gaining insane traction on YouTube. The gaming community was using it in their highlight videos & montages, it was posted on some of the biggest music pages on YouTube, and people were uploading 10 hour & lo-fi versions of it as well. This brought a lot of attention to my name and my Spotify, so labels started reaching out. Throughout all of January, my manager, Timothy Temper, and I were flying back and forth between NYC and LA taking meetings with major labels. However, something was different about Atlantic, we finished our meeting and I had a gut feeling that this is where I belonged. Atlantic is my home & family now.

You’re working on your debut EP, how far along into the process are you?

I am! We are still creating new records & ideas everyday, we have an idea of where we want to go with it. As far as a release date, nothing confirmed yet. I want to make sure everything is perfect & how my team and I envisioned it.

How will you go about choosing which songs will/won’t make the cut and the tracklisting order?

My main goal for this EP is to make music that I enjoy listening to & also, to be as true to myself as possible. No artist is perfect & music is subjective. When I’m jumping around in the studio, that’s when I know that it’s something special. For choosing tracklisting, my main goal is to ensure that every song flows well into the next, to make it an experience for the listener.

Growing up in Erie, what was the music scene like for you?

I was extremely quiet about making music in Erie. A lot of people from Erie are actually just now finding out about it. Erie is very rock band based & there are only 1 or 2 venues for live performances. However, I feel like growing up in Erie is one of the main reasons I am where I am today. I wanted my passion to overcome the odds.

What drew you to get into production and songwriting?

I’ve always loved music. It has always been a part of me. My grandmother sang in church, my uncles on both sides of my family were in bands, and my cousin was a producer. Growing up around all this music, it was in my blood. My father bought me my first MacBook & I was immediately drawn to “garageband”, the rest is history. It became an addiction & a passion.

You recently celebrated your 21st birthday, what did you do for the big day?

Oh man. We were quarantined and I turned 21 so, needless to say, I don’t remember much of my birthday haha.

Since most of the country is or was in quarantine, what did you do to pass the time? 

I’ve binged watched a lot of Netflix, worked on some new music, and I actually re-taught myself to play guitar. I used to play when I was younger so I figured quarantine was the perfect time to re-learn.

Did you find it easier or harder to be creative while at home?

Harder. Definitely Harder. I base a lot of my music and writing off of real experiences & situations so being derived from that was a challenge. On the bright side, it challenged me to strengthen my writing as well. Go outside the box a little bit.

What else do you have coming up this year?

I have a lot going on, but I can say that there will definitely be more music coming!

 

Jacklyn is the Editor In Chief of Stage Right Secrets. Jacklyn's photography and articles can also be found on The Recording Academy's GRAMMY.com GRAMMYPro, GRAMMYU, PopCrush, Taste of Country, among other outlets. Besides press Jacklyn is a "Jack of All Trades" working various jobs at local concerts and touring. JacklynKrol.com