Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rosemarine. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Rosemarine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
The very first instrument I learned to play was the brass flute. I was seven years old and attended Horace Mann School (K-8) in North Bergen, New Jersey. It was my first year attending Horace Mann so I was looking to develop an interest in something that would ground my efforts to fit in. Furthermore, our school’s band was taught by jazz musicians. I learned flute for a few years and developed my own daily practice in my bedroom and started taking the advice of my music teacher to learn a similar instrument because of my hands. In this case, I attended weekly keyboard lessons for over a year before ultimately deciding to switch to a string instrument — Spanish guitar! In my imagination I always wanted to play guitar and the moment I attended a performance at a local school and saw a girl play acoustic guitar — that very moment I knew I wanted to learn how to do what she was doing. There was always a disconnect with me seeing people play guitars on TV and magazines, something about it was always unreal and didn’t seem like it was happening, I’m not sure why but that was my processing… I would start attending classical guitar lessons just up the street from where I lived and it would be the start of my great adventure. I remember sitting in my room with my guitar attempting to play along bands like Evanescence and Taking Back Sunday, It was a very great time for me to learn about current rock since it was the early 2000s. I met my favorite music teacher at age 12 and he motivated me to compose my first song in guitar with my own lyrics. His name is Nick Morrison and you can find him online if you’d like to learn from him. Ironically he is also a Jazz musician but he rocked out hard during our rehearsals and would inspire us to be the best musicians we can be! If it wasn’t for Morrison, I would have never been a songwriter. The assembly of a band and the order of music-making is what he inspired me to learn! I would spend years developing my writing skills by attending advanced literature classes and was a part of poetry clubs, literary magazines, and newspapers.
Rosemarine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a musician and singer-songwriter originally from NJ/NYC with Boriken (known as Puerto Rico) roots. I’ve been residing in Los Angeles for over 5 years and have been featured in multiple bars, venues, and DIY shows. I am primarily a solo artist and in recent years have collaborated with other artists for live performances and music recordings. The overall style of my work consist of many inspirations that come from different eras and cultural references. When I speak to music promoters and business owners about considering me for a lineup what draws their interests is my originality and overall passion for the work that I do. One of the things I’m most proud of would be the communities that I’ve had the opportunity to share my art with! For example, a few years ago I attended my very first Areito, which is a ceremonial gathering in my culture where people gather in songs, dances, poetry, music all while honoring and acknowledging the ancestors. I’m so fortunate and thankful to have had the pleasure to share my work with the people who have attended the Areitos because the space that is held is so supportive and loving!
Rosemarine in the end of the day is really just one artist and what I’ve found is the more exposure I decide to take-on the better the work has evolved overtime. For many years I considered myself a recording artist and in recent years I’ve converted the Rosemarine project into albums and also a live performer. Releasing demos and singles over the years did serve me well and it’s still my favorite way to express myself. I am looking forward to having a tour in the near future to promote my latest album release, so if you’re looking to book an alternative-folk singer-songwriter I AM RIGHT HERE!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
The main topic that comes up with getting non-creatives to understand the overall struggle with being an active artist is it’s not about the money. Showcasing and sharing work is about building a community base that may eventually donate/pay you to keep creating but it’s never about the money in the first place because we do not need money to create. Creativity comes from our backbone and if we’re open enough we can read some books or see a film that further shapes these dynamics. It gives us a reason to smile, love, go on in life. I would even say that the first decade of any creator who has an original body of work, it’s nearly never about the money. The joy of releasing your very own work is the reward itself. I’ve had people message me on multiple platforms and even after I perform my sets come up to say to me how I made them feel and how glad they were to hear my music – this is what I create for, other then for myself. These occurrences are my overall motivation to continue doing great work and perform live. Yes, over the years I have met artists that are out of touch and who will only perform if someone pays them, but that all goes to show that it’s also important to know your worth because that “Bitch pay me” era comes from a real place and should be acknowledged. As an Afro-indigenous woman, who creates, I am totally for getting all the exposure because people in my background have been under represented and/or unfairly treated by different types of creative industries. So when I’m saying it’s not about the money, it really is bigger than that! Any industry will throw money at you and will not sign you on to be You, which is the difference between creatives and industry people. Now as far as star-crossing from completely independent to the industry, that process is based on luck.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Out here in Los Angles and also coming from a major city myself I have always received my inspirations from each block that I’ve walked. It’s kind of sad to know because there’s just so much out there that locals have laid out for us to gravitate to as inspiration, I wish I knew these people, I wish I knew their stories and what brought them to bring it to that particular block… The reality is though, a lot of us will never know these people and they most likely will not receive recognition for their work. Not to say that people want recognition, because that is another topic in itself, but I have found my story to come from a privileged place because I did have a music teacher, I had a parent who was able to afford to buy me instruments … that in itself is a miracle in the art world and at such a young at too! I consider myself very lucky to have learned and been taught because that is something a lot of people in general do not get to experience! These days you definitely do not need to go to music school or need any professional experience to learn how to compose a song, the internet is readily available for all creatives to go wild and just go for it. I do wish however, people in general were more supportive of writers during their writer’s block, singers during their vocal cord rests, musicians during their experimental phases — I just wish people were more compassionate and patient about things they just don’t know about. And with that being said, the mental health crisis within the music world is very real and that’s specifically why most musicians cannot mentally or physically afford to just make it a full-time thing. The mental health risks and lack of community support does not enable people to move forward with their life’s work. Speaking of support, something I notice amongst a lot of creatives is their lack of asking for help within their own communities. My question is, how do we expect to thrive in a creative ecosystem if we’re not pointing out what needs to be worked on? The mental health issue is just scratching the surface. Society needs to see artists as themselves, artists shape and influence the dynamics of each society, and since we do it’s best that we are valued more and seen as an asset to every community to thrive in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/rosemarine
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosemarinemusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/deliriousROSiE/featured