We recently connected with Megan Rose and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my band, afters’, debut album, “EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL”. It came into existence after a period of time when I had lost my passion for writing, and worried that I would never create anything again. After scrapping an entire album’s worth of music because I no longer felt connected to it, my bandmates and I sat down and wrote the song “PAINKILLERS”, a track about escapism. It felt like something was released in me, and the songs we went on to write are my favorites I’ve ever created. The album as a whole deals with themes of isolation in a postmodern landscape, the loss of youth and innocence, and finding peace within the chaos of the world. Writing these songs helped me heal parts of myself I hadn’t known were so broken. I hope that they can help other people too.

Megan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Megan Rose, I’m the singer and songwriter of the Minneapolis based indie band, afters. I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, and started playing music in the Twin Cities when I was eighteen. afters is a culmination of years of dedicated work from myself and my bandmates, and I’m honored to share a stage and studio with such incredible musicians. Our sound is a mosaic of atmospheric, confessional indie pop and lyrics that are whimsical and raw. I aim to make music that makes people feel less alone in the world. Our debut album, “EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL”, is set to release on January 23rd, 2025, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it! In the months leading up to this release, I’ve learned what it truly means to be an indie, DIY artist. In the span of a couple hours I’ll be designing CD booklets or posters on photoshop/ illustrator, calculating profit margins for merch orders, running multiple social media pages, creating websites, organizing shows, budgeting, cold calling radio stations, etc, etc. Most of these skill I’ve taught myself within the past year, and it’s not something I ever thought possible, but I have so much love for this project that I was willing to face my fears of failure and just go for it!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There’s so much people can do on every level to support artists! Small things like commenting on social media posts, recommending our music to your friends, pre- saving a song on Spotify (or even purchasing a song on Bandcamp) go such a long way! In my opinion, the best thing you can do is go to shows. We make fractions of cents off of streaming, but the majority of our ticket sales go directly to us. Buying merch is the best way to directly support musicians, especially since it costs us a ton of money upfront to get it at all. I’m always happy to just make back what I spent on merch if it means I get to see people wear my brand. There’s so many awesome venues in the Twin Cities, I challenge people to go to shows even if you don’t know who’s performing– you might find your new favorite band!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is getting to express myself in a genuine way and connecting with people over it. I write a lot of music about struggling with depression, and writing the music helps me navigate through it. Having other people tell me that my music has helped them deal with mental illness as well makes me feel that I’m having the impact on the world that I’ve always dreamt of, even if it’s on a local scale. I feel that we often lack connection in our society, and if my songs help even one person feel less alone, then I have succeeded.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aftersmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afters.mpls/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560790047246
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd1E0pUsDyv7MIXPYPZ4tWg
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/afters-651153603

Image Credits

Izzy Leto
Brock Wegner
Chelsea Oxborough