INTERVIEW: Rozzi talks new music, podcasting, feminism and the US election: "I hope people feel the weight of what it means to not be involved with their democracy."

Image: Oscar Ouk
San Francisco native singer-songwriter Rozzi (full name Rosalind Crane) staged her comeback to music in August with the new single ‘Best Friend Song’, her first new music in two years and first release with new record label S-Curve Records.

A graduate of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, Rozzi was discovered by Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine when she was 19 and was soon touring with them around the world, during which she duetted nightly with the band on ‘Moves Like Jagger’. After releasing a number of solo singles, she released her debut album Bad Together in 2018, a beautiful collection of R&B, blues and soul inflected tracks, presided over by Rozzi’s incredible voice which is one of those voices that take your breath away when you first hear it and can switch from a powerful growl to a gentle purr with a snap of the fingers.

Rozzi’s latest single ‘Best Friend Song’ is a tribute to her best friend Tatti. A quirky, swinging, R&B song relaying the close bond between the two - “I wanna go to a party and only talk to you…you were there when I cried over whats-his-name, again” - it was never destined to be released as a single. “I wanted to do something fun, and never for a moment imagined it would end up being released as my first single,” Rozzi says. “Every line is an inside joke. I didn’t think anyone else would hear it, which is when I often write my best songs. I sang it to embarrass her at a New York show. It’s probably the truest love song I’ve ever written. Tatti was like, ‘It’s gonna be your big hit, because I’m the only one you ever really loved!’ There might be some truth to the second part!”

We recently caught up with Rozzi to chat more about her music and her career.

Hey Rozzi! It is such a pleasure to be chatting to you. 2020 has been a bit of a trainwreck, how have you been coping over the last few months?
It’s been so hard. I don’t know anyone who’s not suffering in some way, even just emotionally - the world is so heavy right now. Part of the challenge is, we’ve all kind of adapted to this new life - we’ve gotten used to being afraid of strangers, to not being able to let off steam by going out to a crowded party, used to our PMS being borderline satanic! But getting used to it doesn’t make it any more normal or any less difficult. For me coping has been about finding silver linings because there are some. Like how much better at piano I was forced to get, so I could accompany myself and how empowered that makes me feel. Or how I feel closer to my family somehow even though we’re forced apart.

Last month you released your new single ‘Best Friend Song’, a tribute to your friendship with your BFF Tatti. Can you tell us a little bit more about how this song came about, and more importantly what does Tatti think about it?!
I think ‘Best Friend Song’ might be my most honest song ever - which is saying something since I put some crazy personal stuff in my songs. I wrote it thinking it would never come out, it was just for Tat because she was moving out of our apartment and we were sad about it. There’s something about writing a song when you think you’ll never share it, it’s liberating. I filled it with inside jokes just because I felt like it. Tatti was the first champion of the song - she told me she thought it was a hit back when I thought it was just for us.

The music video is brilliant, made up of videos of your fans with their best friends. What was the experience like pulling this together?
I love the fan video - I think it’s so cute! The video reminds me of what drew me to music in the first place - the feeling of connection. These people, most of whom I’ve never met, making my song their own is just the cosiest thing in the world to me. It’s like my story with Tatti is their story too - it makes me feel close to people during a year where I couldn’t feel more distant. That’s been a gift of the song for me, not just with the fan video, but with every Instagram or Tik Tok video I’ve seen.

‘Best Friend Song’ was your first release since your debut album Bad Together two years ago. What did you get up to during this period?
I did a lot of touring - I was on the road for most of 2019 - which was exhausting but now I’d give anything to go back out and sing for people! And I wrote my next album which I’m finishing now. Something about releasing Bad Together released something else in me, and I started making music in a much freer way. I found myself giving myself more credit for my abilities. I think I used to defer to other people more - to confirm something was “good” or not. But I started to listen to my gut in a deeper way and that led me to a producer named George Moore who I tracked down and followed to London to make most of the record with. I feel like I’ve finally found the sound I was always after.

Away from recording music, you also co-host your own podcast Ugh! You’re So Good! What is this experience like?
It’s ridiculously fun. Scott Hoying and I are old friends and, when we decided to make a podcast, we agreed to keep it very casual. I think that’s the magic of it - we’ll be interviewing someone incredibly intimidating like Michelle Kwan, Christina Perri, or Jonathan Van Ness but we’re drinking cocktails and gossiping at the same time. I think people can feel how real and intimate it actually is. But I’ve low-key learned so much from our guests about work ethic, ambition, and follow through. Every conversation has positively affected my life.

You have an incredible voice, when did you first realise you had a voice that was pretty special compared to I imagine most other people around you?
I thought I was good long before I was! I don’t know where it came from - but I had this wild confidence in my abilities without any proof. I was pretty disillusioned actually, but that is great sometimes - I think people need some delusions of grandeur in order to do anything that’s really hard. My parents were totally mystified though - no one in my family was a professional artist and they didn’t get why I was so sure I would be. I must have been 13 or 14 when other people started to agree with me that I could sing.

Who were the artists you looked up to and inspired you when you were growing up?
Jewel, Björk, Eva Cassidy, Fleetwood Mac, Diana Ross, The (Dixie) Chicks. When I got a little older it was Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, and Beyoncé.

It’s no secret that the music industry has not always been the most welcoming for women, partially because it has been run for so long by older, straight, white men. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
When I started my career, I worked with men almost exclusively. It was really hard to be a teenage girl working with all older, straight men. Even with the ones that seemed to want the best for me, there was a power dynamic that made it hard for me to control my own career, or my own creativity. I can’t tell you how many times I heard the phrase “just trust me” when an older man was trying to convince me to do something I said I didn’t want to do - like sing a song I didn’t write, or wear an outfit I didn’t like. It’s hard not to trust someone with much more experience than you, and sometimes you definitely should trust them. But I wish I had had more people encouraging me to find my voice and listen to my instincts, instead of encouraging me to “trust them”. Now I work with a label president who gives me more trust and credit than anyone I’ve ever met. I purposely work with a lot more women too - both in and out of the studio. Beyond the fact that I’m very interested in supporting other women, my art benefits from it as well. After all, I’m a woman writing from a woman’s perspective. It makes sense to have women around me.

If we can take one thing away from the disaster that 2020 has been, what do you think is the one positive amongst it all?
If Biden/Harris win, I think that will be the ultimate positive - and I think we’ll be able to thank the nightmare of this year for getting us there. I do think people are paying more attention to their government than ever before. We’re seeing how government can affect us in really extreme ways - not just in the absolute failure to respond to the virus by this administration, but also with the fires raging across my home state of California. I hope people feel the weight of what it means to not be involved with their democracy. Fingers crossed we change that in record breaking numbers this November!

What’s up next for Rozzi?
I have so much new music coming - one song specifically is coming very soon! It’s a song that is very timely and that I hope will raise some money in the aftermath of the West Coast fires. It’s called ‘Orange Skies’ and we’re working to get it out as quickly as possible as funds are badly needed right now. Season two of Ugh You’re So Good! is coming too and the guests are going to be insane. The focus for me is my album - I’ve never been so proud of something I’ve made!

‘Best Friend Song’ by Rozzi is out now, You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things Rozzi you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.