Editor’s Note: This article has been edited for clarity and length. Enjoy!
With already over 18 million streams on her music and 1.4 million monthly Spotify listeners, indie & folk singer-songwriter Rosie Carney has an upcoming debut album, Bare, coming out on January 25th (which you can pre-order here) and is only going to win more hearts. Born in Hampshire, England before moving to Donegal in Ireland, Rosie began writing music after she’d began feeling inspired by the sceneries of her new home. With her refreshing and soothing voice, Carney’s new songs are inspired by personal struggles she faced during her quick rise in the music industry at a young age. Meet Rosie:
What would be the biggest compliment someone could give you on your music?
[Laughs] What a hard question! I don’t know if this counts as a compliment, but I guess when somebody tells me my song has impacted them in some way, I always feel honoured to hear that.
Are all of your songs drawn from real-life events?
Yes, they are. I try to be as honest as possible through my music, it’s my only outcome to myself. They’re all very honest songs.
What is the meaning behind the name “Bare” of your new album?
I guess with each song, again back to the honesty, I’m baring myself through my music. It’s really about expressing myself and the feelings, everything… It’s really about showing everybody a part of me through my music.
What do you hope for those who listen to your new album to take away from it?
I hope for them to gain courage, that the fact that I’m baring myself inspires them to be honest with themselves, to be who they are throughout their lives. Whatever they take from my music, whether it be a sad feeling or a happy feeling, as long as they leave feeling something — I guess I’ve done my job.
Photo Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris
When you were coping with juggling both mental disorders and asserting yourself creatively in and out of the label system, what was your biggest motivation to keep pushing?
The biggest motivation that kept me pushing was not letting those things define my life and having faith that things were going to get better, just doing things for myself. I guess the love for the art is what kept me motivated — something that I’m so lucky to be able to do. Gradually believing in myself, trusting the journey that I’m on and where I’m headed to and not letting dark days define my entire life.
What are the bigger lessons you learned from that experience?
Just to go with my intuition, to trust my gut, and to keep faith with the fact that things will get good again. You do need to experience the dark days to appreciate the goods ones — it’s just character-building. I guess I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger than I thought and that I’m capable of just… surviving, really.
Well, I’m really glad that things turned out the way they did!
Thank you! I mean I still have my moments but that’s amazing, I feel very blessed.
Which song did you have the most trouble writing?
I didn’t think I had much trouble writing any of them: they all flowed very naturally to me. They were all songs I wrote within, like, twenty to forty minutes. I guess they were songs I really needed to get out of my system, you know? But a song that had such an emotional impact with me was “Your Love Is Holy.” It’s not released yet (I think it’s going to be my next single), but something really just clicked with me when I recorded that. It was such a special moment to me, just emotionally… A moment of clarity.
Photo via Sacks & Co.
So, does it ever feel draining to have to put your feelings into words since your songs are all drawn from real-life events?
Definitely! It is, without a shadow of a doubt draining. I have to constantly expose myself… It’s such an emotionally-driven job that I’ve chosen, it’s really demanding — even with tours. I’m very honest in my music and my songs are about things that are very real to me… For example, when I sing a song like “Awake Me,” I feel like another part of me is released in the performance; it also comes with the feelings that I may have felt when going through the experience that led me to write this song. So yes, it can be quite difficult.
I noticed an element that distinguishes your songs from a lot of mainstream music nowadays is of their acoustical quality — as in you don’t use a lot of apparent, manipulated sounds that more electronic music today would have for instance. Is it important for you to keep the acoustic nature of your songs?
I always want to have an acoustic element. I’m very open to experimenting with my sound — and I don’t want to go full-pop, but I always want to stay true to my roots. I always want to have some kind of acoustic element in there, whether it be piano, or even like a single acoustic guitar line, I always want to make sure there is something real in there. But again, I am open to experimenting with my sound, especially with my voice!
Do you have any advice for female artists trying to make it in the industry?
Always go with your intuition. Always be intuitive, it’s so important to listen to your gut feeling. Stick to what you believe in, don’t let anybody try to tell you what or who you should be, or manipulate your story. There are too many people who are ready to do that, but it’s so important to believe in yourself and be strong.
Listen to Rosie’s most recent song below:
Photo via Sacks & Co.
