Rozy – Come As You Are

By starrymag | August 26, 2020

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

Zoe: I’d describe our sound as Alternative rock with pop influences.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

Zoe: Female powerhouses like Joan Jett and Lzzy Hale as well as bands ranging from Green Day, to Queen, Van Halen, Heart and Blink-182

Q) How did growing up in Houston impact you as artists?

Zoe: Honestly, Houston is definitely more of a rap and hip-hop based city. The fans and friends we’ve made in this industry in Houston over the past ten years have been insanely supportive and loving though, so in that sense it’s definitely impacted us in a positive way by having people from our home town have our backs. In that sense, they make us feel extremely welcome and truly at home especially at venues like Warehouse LIVE.

Q) What does being a part of Megaforce Records mean for the future of your music?

Zoe: Being part of a great label such as Megaforce Records means that you will definitely be seeing a lot more of us out and about in places other than Texas once things clear up, as well as hopefully putting out new material for listeners to hear a lot quicker than we would being independent artists.

Q) What made you decide to cover the iconic song “Come as You Are?”

Zoe: I wanted to choose “Come as You Are” because it was me paying an homage to a band that I looked up to growing up in this music scene.

Q) Why does this song hold a special place in your heart?

Zoe: As kids, we were heavily influenced by lots of 80’s rock bands because of our parents. As we got older, we began to dive more into new stuff we wanted to listen to. I had become very fascinated by Nirvana and the band’s music to where I bought a bunch of their merch, had their backpack for school and even woke up every morning to “Heart Shaped Box.” As time passed and we were working on making a record, our management wanted us to throw in a cover so we could attract more people to our music by re-creating something familiar to them. Thus, the re-creation of a song by a band I hold dear to my heart was done.

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

Zoe: In the music video, we wanted to pay homage to the band by initially smashing our equipment at the beginning of the video and then taping and putting it all back together before starting the song like Kurt [Cobain] and the band would do before some of their shows; but our management thought it was a little too on the nose, so we ended up taking it out.

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

Zoe: The songwriting process, honestly, varies from song to song. Some days I’ll be in my room watching TV or in the shower and an idea will come to my brain where I’ll either have to reach for my phone to write down the lyrics I’m thinking or open up my voice memos and start singing whatever melody comes to mind. Once I get a general idea and have the skeleton of the song done, I show it to the rest of the band and we go from there trying to figure out how to make it work.

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

Zoe: We like to have as much control over the music production as possible which is about 90%.

Q) Will there be a full album or EP coming in the near future?

Zoe: That is the plan! Try and be on the lookout by the Spring time if you need a ballpark answer.

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

Zoe: Some of our favorite venues to perform are at Warehouse LIVE here in Houston because we pretty much have a family there. All of the security guards and booking agents, and even the owner himself, love us and we love them just as much. We’ve gone to that venue playing and seeing shows since we were young and I’m sure you can ask them, but they’ve watched us grow up into young adults and we appreciate them letting play there more than they know. Another place would have to be the House of Blues in Houston as well. We used to play downstairs when it was called “The Crossroads Stage” since we were thirteen and fourteen years old. As we got older and began playing more places and opening up for more bigger acts, we got to move up in the venue, playing in the Bronze Peacock Room opening up for Dinosaur Pile-up last July to finally getting into the Music Hall literally months later to open up for ISSUES and Polyphia.

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

Zoe: Honestly, there’s so many people. If I had to choose, I’d say Joan Jett for sure, Lzzy Hale, Dave Grohl (honestly, I’d LOVE to know his thoughts on our cover of the song) and sooooooo many more!

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

Zoe: I’m currently digging bands and artists like Joyous Wolf, Starbenders, PVRIS and always love me some Waterparks. I list them all because they’re all under the rock genre and to me, the best thing you can do as a musician starting is to see who you like, dissect why you like them and their music and support what genre you’re a part of. Each of these bands is phenomenal in so many ways and if I like something; I tend to go all in.

Brandon: The Off the Wall album by Michael Jackson because it’s just so groovy and the way his instrumentation and vibes of the whole thing was really ahead of its time.

Molly: I listen to Ariana Grande and whatever is on TikTok because the songs on there are usually catchy and I love AG. I went to her concert back in 2019 and it was iconic.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

Zoe: It’s important to connect with fans especially with social media because with what’s going on now, there’s not many other outlets you can just chat with the people that like you. Social interaction is such a great thing because you get to learn about so many people and their lives and I feel like if you’re a band, people tend to put you on a pedestal and think you’re perfect when in reality we’re all just humans that just so happen to make music. And I feel that there’s no better way of showing your realness besides performing and meeting fans after the show than by posting a funny meme, videos of us all laughing and goofing off with each other on social media commenting and showing that we vibe just like the people that dig us.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

Zoe: Thank you from all of us to the bottom of our hearts. We’ve been at this for a while and the support and love everyone has shown us has been amazing and we look forward to showing you all what we’ve got in store real soon!