Sunday, April 11, 2021

DJ Interviews: Rose Alaimo

 Hey there guys its DJ Dizzy & Here's my interview with singer Rose Alaimo, enjoy!


How'd you get started in music?
I was 13 and walking around the house saying "I'm bored," like so many teenagers do LOL when my dad suggested I learn bass. He used to play all the time. He showed me how to play "Honeybee" by Tom Petty, and I was hooked. I taught myself bass lines from bands like Rush, Led Zeppelin and old blues standards to Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Silverchair and U2. A year later I was in a band performing in local venues. I always had this persistent songwriting bug however- I remember writing songs on my family's old piano when I was five- and I couldn't WRITE with bass, so after much struggle I taught myself guitar at 16 and then moved onto singing, drums, and a bit of mandolin. Things kind of exploded from there. :)

Who are your inspirations or influences?
There are many. Musically, my big two are Daniel Johns of Silverchair and The Edge from U2. Johns is, I feel, the most underrated vocalist in the world today. His later work with Silverchair and other projects is frankly epic in both writing and style, and his voice and vocal harmonies are not only emotive but so intricate and accurate that I cannot believe a human could pull it off without auto-tune. Check out "Diorama" for example. The first song I ever learned to sing and play bass on simultaneously was their first hit, "Tomorrow," when I was 15. I'm totally inspired by his writing and his vocals, and his work reminds me that it is always so important to grow and change as a writer. The Edge was my first, like, big influence. I was just beginning to learn bass and ripping through all the CDs in the house LOL when I stumbled onto "Achtung Baby." The SOUNDS on this album totally drew me in and it quickly became my favorite album of all time (and still is!). The man is a sonic genius and I am so inspired not by what he plays so much as HOW he plays it. 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?
I'm no expert LOL but I think my biggest piece of advice is to find your own sound and perfect THAT, rather than spending all your time trying to mimic someone else's. It sounds simplistic, but it isn't. Someone has already done that other thing. But no one has done YOU yet. I spent my teenage years learning to sing by mimicking artists that I loved... which to some degree is probably normal and healthy. But I feel like my voice finally started to sound good when I stopped singing as other people and found my own sound and then worked on THAT. It was scary and hard playing in crowded clubs in my teens and 20s while trying to figure out who I should sound like, and it got much easier when I started sounding like ME.   

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?
One thing that I think sets me apart from some is that I do it all myself. I write my own music, play all the instruments, and record it in my house. My biggest struggle has always been production however LOL so I have been super lucky to have been working on recent projects with mentorship from this amazing producer named Jamie Hill (Tacoma, WA). Other than this, it's all me. I think another quirk of mine that's a bit odd nowadays is my attachment to the idea of an ALBUM. Singles are fine- but I love a collection of songs that fit together in style and even lyrically that can take you to another place for a while. It's also a more fun challenge for me as a writer to build something bigger of multiple pieces and I enjoy the process. A great song is a wonderful thing, but a great album is life-altering. 

Special thanks to her for doing this interview & I wish her luck in her music. So until then I'll catch on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!

Any new gigs or albums in the future?
Always! I've spent the pandemic working on my next solo album. It's called "Grow" and it's a huge rock album inspired by the process of mental, emotional and spiritual growth and some of the hurdles that we find along the way. It will be released this summer and I am super stoked about it. :) 

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