Blake Rose is on his way to becoming one of the biggest names in music. Road trip playlists has been on hand to see Rose perform a handful of times now. Each performance has been dynamic. With his voice and songwriting, his stardom is only going to climb. On Friday, Rose released his latest in a string of successful singles ‘In Your Arms.’
“’In Your Arms’ is about a girl I really liked, but every time we were in the same city there was a different reason why we couldn’t see each other. I wrote it after realizing it was probably never going to work out. This song is about wanting to pour all your love into someone but not being able to because the timing is never right.”
‘In Your Arms‘ is one of the tracks on Blake Rose’s forthcoming EP ‘You’ll Get It When You’re Older,’ which is slated for a February 24 release date. You can pre-save the EP here.
We had the chance to talk with Blake about his latest single and the soon-to-be-released EP in an interview following his show in Brooklyn, New York. Listen to it on the Road Trip Playlists Podcast or read the transcript below.
Interview with Blake Rose
Blake, I just saw you perform in Brooklyn at Baby’s All Right. It was an incredible show. I’m glad to be talking to you. This is the Road Trip Playlists Podcast, and I like to start out by asking what is on your Road Trip Playlist?
Blake Rose: Oh, man, that’s a good question. Um, I do love like Australian indie rock music, like, first thing that always gets added to roadtrip playlists for me is like, Spacey Jane, Gang of Youths, Hockey Dad, like all those kinds of bands. And then I also just like really love the I love old classics. Like ‘life is a highway,’ shit like that. But also, also like, sort of, they’re not that old, but still kind of classic staple tunes with like the 1975 like chocolate goes all around that era love those types of songs.
Absolutely. I love so many of those Australian bands. I made a playlist of all Australian bands one time because there is so much good music from there. You used to busk on the streets of Australia, where you’re from. What is it like to be playing some of the iconic Australian venues on your upcoming tour supporting Dean Lewis?
BR: It feels actually pretty crazy. And you know, I’ve never really thought about it like that until this moment. It’s a Yeah, I think I often forget to sort of look back at where I’ve come from, because I’ve got like such big visions and like, aspirations that I sort of forget that have actually come a long way already. But yeah, it’s like a crazy feeling. And I really can’t wait to play some of the venues in Perth like one of the venues we’re playing in Perth, Metropolis Fremantle was a venue that I used to like, go out and party with my friends while we were growing up. Like when we first saw turned 18. And that’s so it’s like, it’s gonna be pretty funny playing the actual show there. But yeah, and there’s just some amazing venues on that list like forum. Oh, man, it’s gonna be crazy.
That’s amazing. I have seen you live a couple of times now. Your most recent show in Brooklyn, and also last year when you opened for Noah Kahan and each time you have been electric. I remember writing that you owned the room. I wondered how much busking and playing to strangers helped you have the stage presence you do?
BR: Yeah, I definitely I definitely think it’s played a massive part in it. It definitely desensitized me to like criticism or people not liking the music or anything like that. So I kind of just get on stage and and give it everything every night because I know that people I just don’t really get a feel by people not liking it, so it doesn’t really, it doesn’t really get too much in my head anymore. I think that’s definitely the biggest the biggest part of it. But also just like, in general Yeah, sort of reading people’s faces when I’m playing to them and seeing like, what they’re vibing with and maybe like, how I can give them a little bit more energy. If I locked eyes with someone and they’re a little bit like, deadpan, like not really vibing with it, I’ll look at them for a little while, until they like start smiling. And there’s just little moments I got a great and I think I learned that type of stuff from busking.
Have you ever met someone that has been following your career since they saw you busking in the street?
BR: Yeah, definitely. I actually got sent a photo the other day. Of these two girls that I took a photo with when I was busking in Perth. They just can’t they just kind of sent me a photo. And we’re like, wow, throwback, and I was like, Holy shit, because this was like five years ago. And they were still following me. Like, it was a name that I recognized, as always showed up in my comments and stuff like that. But I never clocked that that was the same person that took the photo with all those years back. So it is it is crazy to see people like that who stuck along for the ride for that long.
Correct me if I’m wrong, busking was how you helped facilitate the trips to California. Is that when you were recording and getting ready to kind of launch your career and take it to another level?
BR: Oh, yeah, for sure. Like it was busking was solely the reason that I was able to come out to LA at all, just because like I would come back to Perth and busk just to make money to go back to LA kind of thing. So it was definitely it was definitely the origin of all of that. And whenever I was like, back in Perth, I was kind of making music that whole time. So that whole process of me coming back to Perth and busking and then going to LA, making connections, all of that. I was I was making music that whole time. So I guess really, throughout that whole period, I was gearing up to release. But I was always waiting until I met the right people to help me do that. Because I didn’t know it was just kind of an intuitive thing, I guess as well as partly conscious. But I just knew that I wanted the right team behind me. Before I started putting my music out into the world properly. I just wanted to kind of like come out with a bang as best as I could. So I wanted to I wanted to wait to get my team right before I did that.
You talked about how you’re always looking forward, but I wondered if you always knew you wanted to pursue music and when was the moment when you started to realize okay, like some of these dreams and big aspirations that you mentioned they’re now possible?
BR: Yeah, um, I’ve definitely always, I guess subconsciously wanted to do music, but it wasn’t till I was like 1314 that I realized I wanted to do it but back when I was younger, I was like, I played the didgeridoo a little bit when I was like eight years old. It was kind of it was technically the first instrument I guess overplayed and that was purely just out of like excitement. for learning an instrument and same thing with learning the cello in primary school, I was never like, I want to be a musician. So I’m going to do this, to take a step towards achieving that. It was just, I liked doing it and had a lot of fun with it. But yeah, when I was like 13/14, that’s when I sort of discovered the guitar. And I started sort of experimenting with writing and stuff. And I went on like a road trip with my family for three months around Australia. And it was sort of on that road trip, where everything kind of fell into place. And I really realized that I wanted to do this, because like, I bought a guitar with me, and my laptop with GarageBand and started experimenting with music production and just writing songs in the back of the car. I started busking on that trip as well, when I was in Cannes, so everything kind of like originated from that trip, which is crazy. And then of late, like, actually there is there is there is one specific moment back from the busking days where I kind of realized that I have a bit of a shot, which was there was this there was this lady, she was like an Aboriginal elder. Her name was Daphne. And she used to just sort of roam up and down the streets in Murray Street where I used to busk and she was kind of the mother, the mother figure of all the buskers. And she would always like, come around and dance to music and like give us $5 and stuff like that. And she was like a peacekeeper. Like, if there was ever any weird stuff going down or beef going on, she would be the one to clear it up straight away. And I remember her coming up to me once after I’d finished singing. And she was like, you have such a unique voice. And just that one, like, just hearing a unique voice, for some reason, really, like hit me different. And it was it gave me so much encouragement. Because I think at the time, I just thought I had like a normal ass voice. And I was just like, really bland. And I was super just like in my head about all of that. But her saying that really gave me that like encouragement, I guess to keep going and really keep trying.
You talked about when you knew you wanted to pursue music, but you’re an incredible songwriter. I’m a big fan of the lyrics of your songs. When did you start to know that you were a good songwriter?
BR: Yeah, man, thank you, I appreciate that a lot. I don’t think there was ever a moment in particular apart from just like the steady kind of snowballing of people hitting me up saying that they really enjoy my music kind of thing. And I’ve definitely received a bunch of messages now that are like, along the vein of your music saves me or, or has really gotten through me, sorry, has really gotten me through certain situations, and stuff like that, which kind of took me aback a bit, because I was like, I guess, I guess I didn’t realize how much of an impact my music could have on people. And even if it affects like one person in such a positive way, like, I feel incredible. It just feels like I’ve I’ve done what I’m supposed to do, I guess. So that’s that’s, it’s always amazing hearing those comments come back to me, but I never, I guess had a specific moment, where I was like, oh, yeah, this is I’m really, really good at this. This just kind of been a steady build.
You have a new song ‘In Your Arms’ coming out on November 18, what can listeners expect to hear when it’s out?
BR: Yeah, so this is um, it’s probably one of my favorites on the record. On the EP. It’s, it’s the ballad it’s the slowest song and it’s a it’s, it’s about like it’s about kind of a situation I got myself into where I went back to Australia during the pandemic and I started I started kind of talking to this girl and realized that she had a boyfriend pretty quickly. So that kind of got stopped in its tracks. But then a little bit down the line. She kind of messaged me back and was like, Oh, he’s been cheating on me. And then this whole thing started happening where like, I was trying to, I was trying to like, get it into her head that she deserved so much better than the situation. And at the same time, I was sort of falling for this girl, and trying to kind of win her over. And I guess just like, this situation went on for so long, where it was like, Oh, I’m gonna leave them now for you and all this and then it never happened. And then they kept going and months and months, months. And it just never happened. And then eventually, like, it got to around Christmas time. And you’ll hear in the song, but it was it was Christmas time where I kind of ended up pulling the plug. I sort of, I guess had a realization that it was never going to happen the way that I hoped it would. So I pulled the plug and got this song.
It’s a great song. You played it at the Baby’s All Right Show I was at. I also wanted to ask about the two rules you give at all of your live shows. 1. If you see someone dancing to dance with them. and 2. If you see someone you think is cute to ask for their number. I wanted to see if you’ve heard of any Blake Rose marriages yet?
BR: I’ve not heard of any relationships that have come from it yet. No one’s hit me up. But I do remember people hitting me up after the show a few times being like, Oh, I got this girl’s number, I got this guy’s number because of you. So that’s pretty cool. And I’m hoping that those, I guess encounters end up being relationships and hopefully end up being some marriages. We’ll see. I’m just literally trying to manifest some proposals that my shows in like a couple of years time. So we’ll see.
I always say the hallmark of a good show is that you feel like you can be friends with anyone in attendance because of the night that you shared. And that’s something that has happened at each of your live shows that I’ve been to. Is there anything else that you would want to mention before we close?
BR: Yeah, I mean, I love I love that you said that. That’s exactly what I want my shows to feel like as well. And I think I think so far, it’s been a pretty good track record of that every every show feels like you come out of it with a bunch of new friends. So yeah, if you see if you see me coming to town, please come through. It’s a lot of fun. Like, everyone loves each other in those in those in those rooms in it ends up being a really fucking great not so we’d love to come and play for you wherever you are. And hopefully I’ll see you soon.
And I couldn’t recommend it more. Blake, I appreciate your time. I’m looking forward to your EP that’s coming out next winter.
BR: Yeah, awesome. Thanks so much, Tom.
