...By Any Other Name

Talented electronic pop newcomer Elizabeth Rose turned many a head last year with the release of her debut track, Never Fear. She was named a Next Crop Artist by triple j and was invited to perform at Parklife, Harvest, Field Day and on support tours for Chairlift and Snakadaktal. This month sees the release of her follow-up track, Ready – merely a taste of what is to come from a soon-to-be-released EP – and Rose heading out on her first national tour. Given that forward motion seems to be the thing here, Rose indicates that everything seems to have been happening very quickly for her lately.

“With the single, I guess I did want to get it out there quickly because there was a momentum building with my music as I was playing at bigger festivals and supporting high profile acts even before I'd officially released anything,” she tells. ”I wrote Ready last year just after Parklife and was negotiating a few record deals to release it through a major, but time was against me. In the end I had to get the track out there independently through Inertia where I had final say over the release date. I'm lucky that I work well under pressure.”

Given all this, excitement levels for the tour must be reasonably sky-level. Rose doesn't disagree, and says she was lucky for the opportunity to build a bit of a fanbase.

“I've never done a headline tour of my own before, so I'm very excited to say the least. Touring with Snakadaktal really helped me prepare for my tour; it also gave me lots of new fans as I played to a full house at every gig. The fact that people are asking me on Facebook to come back and play in their city is very reassuring. It's a big relief to know that there will be people at my shows outside of my hometown Sydney.”

When it comes to whether or not Ready is representative of what we'll hear on the rest of the EP, Rose indicates that it is, but things aren't all that simple.

“Production-wise – yes, the tracks all seem to have a dark side to them but with an element of pop still. I do get a bit experimental in them too, which is what I love about having the freedom to express yourself entirely through the sounds you choose to combine when producing a track. One of the tracks on the EP is one I worked on with UK producer Sinden. I got the chance to work with him late last year and we instantly clicked in the studio! I'm very excited to put this EP out. It's been a long time coming.”

For those who have heard Rose's recorded work but never seen her live, she says that the main difference between the two experiences is that punters will witness someone keeping themselves sane on stage.

“I play solo onstage where I have my laptop, keyboard and sampler set up – all the songs are adapted in some form or another for my live setting. I like to improvise through singing, samples and synth parts. Also I write new extended edits of my tracks for the live shows so they're different from the recordings. I play the tracks so many times that it gets to the point where I need to change it up for my own sanity.”