It’s telling that this is Caroline Rose’s second appearance in the Signing Story section of this magazine. Back in April 2014, she had just signed with Little Hi!/Thirty Tigers, and was describing herself as a singer-songwriter.
“I think it’s the death of creativity when you don’t have final cut over your work,” she said at the time, a quote, which offered an almost-spooky glimpse into her future. Because fast-forward nearly four years, and she’s speaking in glowing terms about her new home, New West Records.
“They said I could have creative control over everything––the aesthetics––and I can basically go in any direction I want to,” Rose says.
Apparently, that ability, or power, to choose her own artistic destiny is vitally important to Rose, which might be why she now describes her sound as “schizodrift.”
“It really just sounds like Blondie drunk on Mai Tai’s,” Rose says. “That’s the best way to describe it. It’s like pop, surf, punk and electronic music, all thrown together in a blender.”
Rose has been playing instruments since school band, writing her own songs since the age of 13 and, when she reached 22, she knew that she wanted to make a career out of music. So she had already been plugging away for a while before that first deal. Her A&R at that first label was Kim Buie, and that remains the case with New West.
Rose says, “After [I Will Not Be Afraid] came out, Kim had switched labels and I was looking to go into more indie music. My music had really transformed a lot in the year after I had put out my last record. When the record was finished, I reconnected with Kim. I played her the music, and she basically just fell in love with it. I was a little bit hesitant to work with New West, given that a lot of their roster is in country and folk music, and my music really doesn’t sound like that. But their enthusiasm was really infectious, and what’s cool about that label is they’re rebranding––a lot of what they’re trying to do is more cutting-edge.”
Caroline Rose’s debut album for New West, Loner, was released on Feb. 23.
Date Signed: Sept. 19, 2017
Label: New West Records
Band Members: Caroline Rose, vocals, guitars, keys; Willoughby Morse, drums; Josh Speers bass; Abbie Morin, guitar, keys.
Type of Music: Schizodrift
Management: Edward O'Day & Brad Talley - Project Daybreak
Booking: Frank Riley & Al Marano - High Road Touring
Legal: Jeff Colvin - Marcus & Colvin, LLP
Publicity: Jessica Linker, [email protected]
Web: carolinerosemusic.com
A&R: Kim Buie
