We were lucky to catch up with Rose Starring recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rose, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

It’s always easy to regret wasted or misused time, but I like to believe that the best time to start something is the present! I used to spend a lot of time thinking that I was already getting a late start in my music career, but I don’t think such a thing truly exists in the music industry, especially today. I think that the perfect time is whenever you are ready – I wouldn’t be the artist that I am today without the time I’ve spent simply living life and becoming the person that I am now.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Ashley Johnson, otherwise known by my stage name Rose Starring. I’m an independent pop artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember and playing piano since I was 10, but everything really started to make sense when I started songwriting in high school. It often started as poetry that soon blossomed into an accompanying melody, and after my few first songs were written, I realized it was something that I had a passion for. I began to self-produce my first couple of tracks and upload them to SoundCloud, where I started to explore my identity as an artist. I used to sit in my classes and daydream about stage names and creating a persona with more glamour and star power than plain Ashley Johnson, and when I finally settled on one in 2018, Rose Starring was born!

I think what sets me apart from others is my willingness to be vulnerable. Songwriting has always felt a lot like putting a melody to my diary entries, but I think one of the most important aspects of artistry is to be vulnerable and unafraid of the darker parts of the self. I enjoy making cinematic music that really encompasses the feeling of the subject matter at hand because that’s the type of music that would allow me to escape from myself and my problems in my youth.

I’m most proud of my dedication to releasing music and my refusal to ever give up on myself or my art. I want everyone who listens to my music to feel seen and heard, and to know that they aren’t alone in their feelings that sometimes may overpower all logic with their intensity. Slipping into a persona where I’m allowed to be dramatic and fully express my inner thoughts, as crazy as they may sometimes seem, has been incredibly healing to me. I hope that it can help heal others, as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing how my music touches the lives of others. As someone who has always found an escape by listening to my favorite music and continues to do so today, it’s incredible to see others do the same with my music. I love hearing how my songs have voiced feelings others have resonated with, and love seeing how connected we all are through our emotions and humanity. I often would feel very isolated and like I was “crazy” for having strong emotions and feelings, but seeing my most dramatic musings be accepted and even loved by others has been incredibly healing and validating. I don’t think any of us are as different or “crazy” as we might think. I think we should allow ourselves to feel fully more often and to express that in healthy ways like art more often, as well.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Honestly, creating the music video for my new song “Too Smart” took a lot of mental and physical resilience! A lot of people don’t know that I suffer from chronic pain and fatigue from scoliosis, so it was quite a taxing event to both prepare for this music video and film two separate days. I learned how to ride a horse for this video, which was a very rewarding and incredible experience that I will treasure forever, but it was a bit hard on my body as it adjusted to this new intensity of physical activity.

In addition to my struggle with chronic pain, the music video shoot itself did not go very smoothly. The production company that I worked with had to reschedule my original shoot date multiple times, which kept me in a state of perpetual anxiety for much longer than I had anticipated. We also weren’t able to shoot the entire video in one day as planned, and it took a month until we could wrap it up with a second shoot date, so I was in a state of elevated anxiety for far longer than I had planned or wanted. For anyone who suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, I’m sure you can imagine the mental torture of being in limbo on your most important project and having no control over it!

On top of all this, I financed this music video shoot with my own money that I have saved for years, so I feel this really shows both my dedication to my artistic career and the sacrifices I’ve been willing to make for it. I would rather forgo fancy dinners and clothes in order to use that money towards my music instead. It’s a willing sacrifice that I make in order to create the art that I’ve always dreamed of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rosestarring.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rose.starring
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosestarringmusic
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/rosestarring
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzFl7EYrEOcp1W5oLFLCFNg
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rosestarring

Image Credits
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