Ori Rose
ARTIST Q&A
By Ken Tse
Photo Credit: Ori Rose
Ori Rose may just be the future face of indie-pop. After years of putting out music, the artist began a new chapter with the release of “A.S.A.G.”— The track became a staple for Spotify’s playlisters and earned him nearly 450k streams and counting. His latest track, “Casey,” delivers another moment of pure pop bliss. Inspired by a moving company’s hold music, an infectious guitar loop pairs incredibly well with Ori’s vocals. We spoke to the artist about everything “Casey,” his songwriting process, and more! Scroll through to read our full conversation!
Ori Rose! Thanks for speaking with us – First, we have to say that “Casey” is absolutely fantastic. How are we feeling now that it’s out?
Thank you! It feels amazing, I’ve had the song ready for a good 6 months and went through periods of hating it and being sick of it before learning to love it again. Definitely was a good sign to me that I was able to get past the phase of overthinking it and nitpicking every detail.
There seems to be such a personal nature to the song. Can you walk us through the inspiration for the track?
Funny enough, it was actually some really awesome hold music that ended up being the catalyst for the track. I was in the car with my mom and she was on speaker with a moving company and they had this cool guitar loop as their hold music so I basically voice memo’d it and used part of it as the chord progression for “Casey.”
The lyricism of the song is what stood out to us most here. Is there a bar that holds any special significance to you? How so?
The whole concept of the song was actually not derived from personal experience. I kind of observed a friend of my brothers’ relationship from a distance and noticed there were some really compelling elements for a song concept in everything I saw and heard about it. It was a very abusive relationship and one that was clearly a detriment to his life and friendships at the time.
My favorite lyric in the song would have to be the opening line of the second verse, “She took away all of my youth now, I’m 20 going on 42 now.” I thought it was an interesting idea to touch on how certain relationships can wear you out mentally and physically, and age you very quickly.
Was there anything different about the songwriting process this time around? To follow that up, how does the typical Ori Rose song come together?
I think it’s safe to say I’ve never started writing a song because of hold music before but other than that, it was fairly in line with my usual process. Every song is different, but normally I come up with a song concept, then attack melodies, and then piece together lyrics that make sense. I usually don’t focus too heavily on production until I know I have a great song to produce around.
You only made your debut last year, but with that said, you’ve put out some stellar music. Were you nervous at all before releasing your first song? Has that changed since?
I was definitely nervous before putting out my “first” song. I’ve actually been releasing music for 4 or 5 years (don’t worry you can’t find any of it) but last year I decided to really take things seriously and think about who I am as an artist holistically. I definitely didn’t know how it would go but it seems as though people reacted in a way I hadn’t experienced before which was really cool.
Has there been a moment on this journey that still feels surreal at all?
I think signing a publishing deal last year was the most surreal moment of my career. It was such a sigh of relief to know that I can just work on music full time and support myself!
If you could open a show for any artist, who would it be and why?
I think opening for Jon Bellion would be pretty rad. He’s kind of one of the main artists who inspired me to start making music so it would be a really cool full-circle moment.
Your cover of “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 with Verona was fantastic! Would you ever consider releasing a full cover of the song? And if so, which would it be and why?
I don’t see myself releasing a cover anytime soon, but I’m open to the idea in the future if a song really speaks to me and I can find a way to reinvent it! i.e. Ritt Momney’s cover of “Put Your Records On”
What are some things you enjoy doing outside of the studio?
I’m a huge cooking nerd and religious NFL and NBA fan!
What is the best piece of advice that you’ve been given?
Trust your instincts and don’t overthink creative decisions if they feel good!
Lastly, what can fans expect from you for the rest of 2021?
A bunch of new music, acoustic sessions, music videos, and maybe even a few live shows!