She sang three original songs: Don't Take the Girl; Cold, Cold Night; and Take a Look. After her mini-set, Lee-Ann (or just Rose if you know her well) met up with The Metro Gnome and we got to talking about her work.
Lee-Ann and her 2 girls, 11 and 12, live in Yass, NSW - a bit of a hike from everywhere actually - so I decided to start the interview by learning what took her there. Turns out, like almost everything else in her life, ther reason was music....
The Metro Gnome: Why do you live in Yass? Do you have family in Yass?
Lee-Ann Rose: No. Yass, really, if you look at the map, is perfect. You're 2+ hours from Sydney, 40 mins from Canberra, 3 1/2 - 4 hours from Melbourne, 14 or so from Adelaide, and 12 - 13 hours from Brisbane. It's like the perfect little spot for travelling. I bought a home there. It was cheap. It's in the country - on the Hume Highway. I bought it about 4 years ago. I was going to fix it all up. I wanted a studio - that was my dream. But the house had too much renovating. So I had to get out.
TMG: Can you write and record at your home now?
LR: Yes - I've got my own little studio at home. That's my passion. I do love performing, I do. But I do like to write. To have someone else playing my songs that's the goal. Writing and recording.
TMG: Why do you think that the writing inspires you more that performing?
LR: I don't know. It's more of an achievement. For me. It would be such an achievement to have other people singing one of your own songs. To have so many people around the world - or even the country - and I'm not even looking for the pat on the back. Just to have people walking down the street and singing my songs - that would be the ultimate.
TMG: A big compliment.
LR: Yeah - you can change the way that people think with a song - because music is so powerful. It brings out emotions in people. You can make people feel happy, make them feel sad. Cry. It's so powerful.
Getting out there!
TMG: Are you a professional muso? Is that all you do?
LR: Yeah, pretty much.
TMG: And you're able to make ends meet - that's great. How do you get your gigs? Do you have a manager?
LR: No, I do it all myself. I just get out there and get amongst it - I've never been out of work ever. In 15 years I've never been out of work.
TMG: How have you created that network?
LR: I don't know. You just meet someone and play with them and they say "Hey, come and play with me at this pub." And then you meet that manager and then that manager moves to a new pub. Then people just like your music, and they talk to you and invite you to play. That's all I've really done. I've never really gone down the managing path. A couple of times I looked at a few contracts. I've said no to all of 'em. I'd love to have a manager now to get some of the pressure off - especially now with the album. I'd probably like that. But, I'll see how the album goes first.
TMG: Do you do festivals?
LR: Yes
TMG: Do you like them?
LR: Yes, totally. It's great. You get to play for 40 minutes and then you get to watch everybody else
TMG: Do you get to see other people play often?
LR: No that's another thing that attracted me to nights like this is seeing other people play. And that's the good thing - seeing and playing with people like Dai (Pritchard). He's a rock God and I'm a country chick - he'll play a riff that kind of sparks something and it might not happen that week - but it finds it's way in - and it comes through my music. And that's what I like. I love being educated really. Musically.
Recording...
TMG: How do you get the money to invest in the album?
LR: That's the reason it has taken so long - because I haven't had money. That little cheap house that I bought.... I bought it at the right time and now the prices have gone up. I sold the house for way, way above what I bought it for....TMG: That'll help you to fund the musicians?
LR: Yeah... well, that has never been the problem. Getting the right musicians has never been the problem. Having the right producer - that's the biggie.
TMG: How did you pick a producer?
LR: Well, he's an old friend. I've known Bill (Chambers) for many, many years. And we've worked together many times. About 2 years ago, I'd had enough, I said, "I'm going to quit. I'm going to get a full time job. Blah, blah, blah." [Bill] rang me up out of the blue and wanted me to do some co-writing. I hadn't seen him for about 2 years. He said, "Don't you dare quit." And I said, "Nope, I've had enough." He said, "Don't quit, don't quit." He said, "You've got to do an album." And I said, "No, I'm too old." And he told me not to quit. He totally convinced me that I wasn't too old. He said that I'm into the good stuff now. And he said, "Come and do an album."
Age is always considered to be a factor for some people. Some people believe if they haven't made it in their 20s that they won't make it at all. At The Metro Gnome, we reject that conclusion. We believe that talented, driven people can make it at any age. Don't use age as an excuse not to move forward and pursue a dream. Continuously hone your skills and keep aspiring for what you want.
TMG: What steps are you taking for the recording?
LR: Basically I've brought about 25 songs. Bill and I are going to sit there and sift through them all. And I'm looking for his advice and direction on what makes the album. I like the songs and I've got a really good idea about production but what I don't know about what sits well in an album. He really knows that stuff and I don't. Song selection, what instruments to be used. Basically Bill saw all of my new material about 3 months ago. We haven't actually worked together for about 2 years, so he was dying to see the new stuff I was working on. I've been on a bit of a journey for the last few years. Moving from very soft stuff to working with people like Dai, in a band, for example - it was loud, it was rock. It was cool, but I've toned it down a bit. I've gone from that [soft] to that [rock] and now I want to go back a bit [somewhere in-between]. I've learned so much. It was great - the musicianship and their knowledge and being educated... just learning. I really feel like I'm at a level now where I know what I want with production.... So that's what we'll be working on for the next two days.
MG: I'm a bit embarrassed to ask this question. I feel like I might stick my foot directly into my mouth. But I have to ask.... Lee-Ann Rose is such a beautiful name, and yet the first person I think about when I hear it is Lee-Ann Rhymes - Is that because I'm from the US?
LR: No, I get that all the time. It's shocking. And I've been talking to friends about this. And my name is a problem. I really need for my name to be meaningful. [People say,] "Oh, Lee-Ann Rhymes," and I'm like "No." It's not a made up name - it's a real name. I'm actually thinking about dropping Lee-Ann and just going with Rose. That's my name.
TMG: Is that a compromise that you shouldn't have to do?
LR: I've thought about that, too. But, no. It's been something - since I was 4 years old, I've hated my name. I hated Lee-Ann. So to me, I'm happy to drop it. Just Rose. But my friends call me Rose all the time. "Hey Rose, get over here!" They call me Rose. They text me - Rose.
TMG: Is that your surname?
LR: No, it's my middle name. I'm glad that you mentioned that actually.
Songwriting....
TMG: OK, tell us about co-writing. How do you write with someone else? Maybe we should start with how you write?
LR: I don't know.... hmmmm..... It's really hard.
TMG: Say it's the morning and you walk into the studio with a cup of coffee, and - do you have a piano?
LR: Yeah, I only just got a piano after 14 years.
TMG: Ok - so you have a coffee, and a piano, and a guitar, and probably another guitar, and you sit down to write. What happens?
LR: Absolutely nothing. [She laughs - a big hearty laugh.]
TMG: Do you sit there and play chords and just finally play something.....
LR: If I'm on the guitar or something I'll get a groove happening. And I'll hear something really good. Then I get ahead of myself - thinking about all of the production and I haven't even written a word yet. I have to be careful about that and I get to the point that I'm so drained mentally of all this vision that I don't end up writing anything.
TMG: What about the song about Sydney - coming back from Sydney (Cold, Cold Night). Was an emotion driving the song versus chords and groove?
LR: [She paused to think about that one....] That was the first real song I've written like that in a long time. To be honest, I really let myself be exposed in that one. And that's a rare thing. I don't know - I was in a blue mood
TMG: Do you usually write songs about yourself or stories about other people.
LR: Other people always - whereas in that one... I really came out. I think every song has a bit of you in it - you look at yourself and you're using what you know so it is about you in a way. But when it touches other people....
TMG: OK, so... now, how do you approach writing with someone? When someone asks you to co-write with them - what are they asking you to do?
LR: It's almost like taking your clothes off. I really believe that. It's really embarrassing. Embarrassing. It was really funny because I co-wrote with this guy and he asked me, "What are you thinking about? What are you doing? Sing anything." And I wanted to sing all this stuff - I wanted to belt it out, but I said, "Oh, I've got some stuff.... Later." I've just gotta know the person more before I can let them see me.
TMG: So, you edit as you go?
LR: Yeah - I don't just let it out.
Advice for aspiring musicians....
TMG: If you were to give aspiring musicians advice - what would it be?
LR: Get over it. (She giggles.) No, I'd say go for it - I think it just happens anyway. I don't think it's about people saying that they want to do something. They just do it. Show that they're going to do it. With some kids... they're 16 years old and they're strumming a guitar. And some have got it and some... haven't. And you know that within 12 months time that most of them never touch that guitar again. There's just one out of 20, 30, 40 that just never gives up. And they're at it all the time. And they just keep playing and getting better.
A few final thoughts...
TMG: What do you think about the exposure your kids get to music - what they get through school?
LR: There should be more of it - lots more of it. My girls, well, obviously they're around it all the time. Because I've got my own studio, my oldest is like, "Mummy record me, please!" She's been singing on stage now - and she's got it going on. At the same time, I don't want her to do it because it's what I do. I want to make sure it's really her passion. And I think it is, but I don't want to get too excited about that yet....
TMG: Not to be a pageant mother?
LR: Exactly. I act a bit dumb towards it. In actual fact I'm probably non-supportive - I'm a bit cold towards it.
TMG: Make her drive it forward....
LR: Basically, yeah. She'll have to do the hard yakka. But at the same time, I tell did say to her, "If that's your dream, if that's your goal, darling - and if you still want to do it when you're 18.... You're not playing in pubs, kid." I'll help her any way I can. So she doesn't end up on a path - gig after gig after gig. I just don't want my daughter in that scene.
TMG: Knowing that The Metro Gnome is all about taking the next step, are there other messages that you'd offer to other musicians?
LR: Don't waste time. Don't do what I've done do. Advice? Get in there, boots and all, and shake the trees big time. Don't wait. I wish I'd done that 10 years ago.
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