Rose Ringed has been rising up the ranks in recent months with his unique blend of synthpop, dance, techno, house.. our interest was well and truly piqued when we caught his ‘in the studio’ Reels, where his energy is infectious and his synths are a-plenty! (You can see what we mean here.. https://www.instagram.com/roseringed/reels/ ) . We caught up with this charismatic talent around the release of his ‘Quintessence’ EP, out now on his own Closed Eyes Recordings…
Rose Ringed, welcome to DMC World! Where are you in the world right now?
Hey there, I’m at my home in Amsterdam drinking a flat white while writing this.
You’ve just released a new EP on your own imprint Closed Eyes Recordings. There’s such a mix of genres on this one, can you tell us a bit about it?
So in a broader spectrum I’m making electronic music, but within that I’m going from Techno, to House to Ambient to Electropop and so on. When starting a new track I never try to rationalize in which direction it should go, I always follow my ‘musical’ instincts and this leads to tracks crossing different subgenres. The common denominator though is high energy, uplifting and euphoric.
The new EP starts with a synthpop track which reminded some of my friends of the Pet Shop Boys, it has a high energy vocal and baseline, big synth work and a 80’s like tone. The second track is more of a classic deep house track of which a DJ friend told me it reminded him of early Chez Damier tracks. The last track has a strong techno vibe but some house chords and groove so it’s hard to pinpoint with that one, probably left field then haha.
You often like to play around with genres across your music. Where does that inspiration come from?
So somehow inspiration for me isn’t hard to find. I get it from all aspects of life, whether it’s music, film or some documentary. I used to get lots of inspiration from festivals/club evenings too which I obviously have to miss now. What’s most important for me to get inspiration is creating this strict habit of keeping my mind fresh. So I wake up everyday, do a meditation, take a cold shower, have a coffee and play piano for 30 minutes, I do this literally every day 7 days a week (yes that’s hard on the hungover days) and it has been paying off since I never had any lack of energy or ideas for my music.
It’s been a strange time for us all right now – what are the positives to come out of lockdown for you?
The positive thing is that I LOVE being in the studio, so there aren’t many distractions like parties nowadays which makes it easier to stick to a schedule. Another beautiful thing I learned in these times is that it is so important for people to be together. A pub or a party is not just some place to get wasted, it’s a safe place in which people feel secure and connected too. I think we all became so much more aware of how important our social lives are and I feel the parties that will happen after covid will have such an amazing energy. The test event in Liverpool showed this already, it gave me such chills, so I’m beyond excited for what’s to come!
Have you found it easier this year to write music, or have you found it hard to stay focused with so much going on and so much uncertainty?
For me it wasn’t hard to stay focused, I like to establish good habits and those were easier to make and hold on to. The hard thing is that I have so much music to play and test which I haven’t been able to, I can’t wait to DJ again because I have so much new stuff to test out and I’d love to see people reacting in real life.
What’s coming up?
Lots of new music this year and also I’m working on my album a lot which I’m planning to release 14th of July in 2022. And what’s also exciting is that covid rates are rapidly dropping in the Netherlands right now and we will probably have festivals this summer. I will be playing at the Zon Festival on 1st August, can’t wait for that one!
Rose Ringed ‘Quintessence’ is Out Now on Closed Eyes Recordings. Get it here: https://lnk.to/rr-IL
