Baby Rose is The One To Watch

On the music she’s always dreamt of making.

V talked to rising music sensation Baby Rose about the March 2020 re-release of her album To Myself, how she’s dealing with isolation, and some advice we all need to hear.

V: How are you feeling and coping with social distancing right now? 

Baby Rose: I honestly have been like in this gray area. I’m kind of with everyone else and it’s just like, okay, we don’t know what’s really going on with the world. Everything is breaking news and my music and everything that I do is important, but it’s not crucial. I know that I’m an artist and just released an album, so it’s like, okay, life has to go in some way somehow. It’s just a weird time. 

V: What have you been doing during this time?

BR: Before the virus really hit and everything went into lockdown mode, I went and got some studio equipment from Guitar Center and put that in my room. I’ve been just learning new things about, creating music and learning bass, guitar, and really relearning piano. Just keeping myself busy and talking to my family on Facetime, making sure that they’re good. That helps keep me really balanced because I’m very close to my family and this distance is very difficult, but I think it’s just what we have to deal with right now. And Spring cleaning like a crazy person, getting rid of things and having this minimalist type energy. Having a clear space helps me meditate, so there are a variety of things I’ve been doing to cope. 

I’m taking an online course at Berkley, a writing course. It’s just cool to be able to expand upon my craft at this time and really center myself. It feels like I’m in this hyperbolic time chamber where I’m just able to grow and get cooler and get better. I know that a lot of creators are utilizing their time to be more just personal with their fans and things like that, which is cool for me. I’m trying to grow into that, but I can’t ignore how I’m feeling. I dealt with depression and anxiety so I’m trying to be gentle with myself and just kind of taking it day by day.

For me it’s kind of personal because my mom, when she had cancer, she was sitting in the hospital and ended up in the ICU, intubated on a breathing machine.I just remember breaking down crying because I’ve never seen her so helpless. She stayed in there for two weeks before she could breathe on her own. So when I hear reports about how there are not enough ventilators and there are people who need a machine to breathe, it’s just like, Oh my God, like it just hurts on a different level. I really want people to protect themselves. There’s nothing like not being able to breathe on your own and taking for granted that at this moment we’re healthy. It’s a blessing, you know? It was around the clock care from four different nurses and a ventilator machine. To imagine that staff is overwhelmed by people and they all need that level of care, the least we can do is just relax and just stay inside and build our immune system. I cannot wait for this to pass over because it hurts my soul to know that people are suffering like this. 

V: Can you tell us a bit about your new album and what inspired it? 

BR: To Myself was actually an album I released in August. But it’s being re-released in a partnership. The album was something that I created and with my closest friends and is music that I’ve always dreamed of making. It’s telling a really real story about what I went through last year when I went through a breakup. I’m really excited that To Myself is being released on a wider scale and that more people are turned on to it. A cherry on top of an amazing last year. 

V: Do you have any goals for 2020?

BR: I’m going to speak in the sense of positivity, because I see a lot of different countries around the world that are recovering. I think once after all of this rolls over, if things are back to normal and people are able to get back out there into the world, I am looking forward to performing again. Finishing the last two days of my tour, I have two more shows on the West coast that I’m excited about and I can’t wait to do some festivals. I won’t promise anything, but I am working on new music right now that speaks on what I’m going through right now. I think that there’s a lot to look forward to in the year. 2019 was a life-changing year for me: I did my first tour ever, and I released an album that led to a lot that I’ve never thought like NPR’s Tiny Desk. I think that I’m just following the path and I’m open to what’s next.

V: What thing in your life would you say makes your heartbeat the fastest? 

BR: I would say the moment before I go on stage, like the moment when I say my prayer and it’s just me. I just feel myself shaking, like having to breathe and it’s like, oh shit we’re here. One thing that’s never changed for me and I don’t think will ever change, is just those initial onset nerves. Everything could be going cool, everything is prepared, but no matter what before I step on stage, for five minutes before I go out, I’m alone and it’s just those moments before, my heart is just racing. 

Everything else for me is very calm and chill and easy going. But before I go on stage and when it’s just me and I have the mic in my hand, there isn’t anything else. There’s all of these people in this audience that are about to have their attention on me for at least the next 30 to 50 minutes. So it’s just like shit, oh my God, but here we go.

V: Do you have any pre-show rituals?

BR: We always pray before a show. I make a tea with ginger, garlic, and lemon, which changed my life. I’ll make that and just pray, do vocal warm-ups, which are key. I used to take a shot and sometimes I do when I’m really nervous. But I don’t usually do that anymore, now I just make the tea, take honey, you know, and then go out on stage and do my thing. I get a moment alone and then head out there and ‘what’s up everybody?’ Yeah, it’s a ritual. 

V: If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

BR: If my life had this song, it would be my song ‘Honestly’. I’m glad that I was able to put my sentiments into words, how I felt about growing older and getting wiser per se. The one thing that I’ve realized is that no matter what levels are reached or how far I go, there will always be times where I feel like, ‘Oh shit, this is the end. Like I’m about to lose everything.’ It’s happened at many different phases in my life, when I was 13, when I was 17, when I was 21, I’m 25 now. But there are always times in life where it feels like I’m super out of control of my life, I just feel kind of helpless, and there’s a reassurance in that. There is like this comfort in that because I think that’s just a part of this journey. There will always be things that are out of your control. This journey is not going to be this linear path upwards, where it just is getting better and better and better. In every failure there’s a lesson. More just being present and doing what I can, doing the best that I can with every moment that I have. 

V: What advice would you give to your younger self if you could talk to her now? 

BR: If I could talk to my younger self I would say, I’m so proud of you for just being this little being that you are like this little. Keep being you, because even though it feels like you’re not like the girls that you emulate or you think you should be, that you’re not pretty enough or you’re not whatever enough, you’re just right. Embrace all of the things that make you different, embrace all of your unique qualities, because when you get older you’ll understand it all makes sense. I would just tell my younger self, maybe five years old, you know, I love you. You’re amazing. You’re doing amazing sweetie. 

V: What is the one thing you want people to take away from this?

BR: It’s okay to just breathe. It’s okay to take your time. If you don’t know what it is that you need to do for you, learn it. Learn who you are, take this time for yourself, just do the best you can. Take it day by day. 

Discover More