About this Playlist
Ramrock Records continue to shine a light on the fantastic music scene of Edinburgh, it started with Joseph Malik’s ‘Take A Left’ EP in 2018, followed by LP’s ‘Diverse’ part 2 and 3, the latter was Craig Charles BBC 6 Music 2021 album of the year. In 2019 Malik produced ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’ the album from Edinburgh collective ‘Out of the Ordinary’ with Chris Greive and co-producers Saleem Andrew McGroarty (who also featured/produced on the Diverse LP’s) and David Donnelly and the talent of musicians and singers Steven Christie, Vic Galloway, Paulo ‘Brother’ Riddle, Davy Henderson and Rosanne Erskine.
Then came ‘Footsteps’ by ‘Digital Liquid’ a project by Daniel Walls, songwriter, producer and member of the Easter Road Northern Soul Band, Daniel also worked with Gavin Fort from ‘Movers International’ on a new EP ‘Uptown Bridges’ and on Steven Christie’s solo EP ‘Justify Me’ both records also featuring Joseph Malik on vocals and Steven playing on Malik’s album.
Much like my musical story of Ashley Beedle and Ramrock, friendships and musical connections result in the most wonderful collaborations, when most of the artists above brought the musical story full circle, when working with legends of the Scottish music scene Russell Burn (Fire Engines, WIN ) and Malcolm Ross (from 80’s bands Joseph K, Orange Juice and Aztec Camera) on Scottish Post Punk EP ‘The Bum-Clocks’ – Tree O’ Liberty
As with all things Ramrock, most of these releases have seen a North Street West remix from the label owner Jo, Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris, all of these can be heard on the playlist above and the latest is from one of the ‘Out of the Ordinary’ collective Rosanne Erskine and her solo release, the emotional ‘Fading Away’.
The Hoof caught up with Rosanne for a chat..
Tell us about yourself and how you got into music.
I joined my first band in the early ’80’s, a punk new wave band based in Edinburgh called the ‘Revillos’ and became a ‘Revette’. In 1995, I was the lead vocalist for the groundbreaking Trip Hop group, ‘Coco and the Bean’. You can hear me on their ‘Killing Time’ track which became NME’s ‘Single of the Week’ as well as featuring on Finitribe’s brilliant ‘Forevergreen‘. My vocals can also be heard on ‘Wasted’ on the East Coast Project compilation, ‘Melted’ on Blunted, and on ‘Witchman/John Roome’ from the ‘Stolen Voices’ EP. If you’ve ever watched ‘Nip, Tuck’, ‘Cold Case’ and ‘Pretty Little Liars’, you’ll have heard me on those TV series too. I continued to sing and write songs throughout the 80’s, ’90’s and early 2000’s in collaboration with other musicians until more recently when I tried my hand at creating some music myself. I am returning to singing and songwriting again after some years out of the loop whilst raising my family and thankfully there’s a lot more user-friendly software available nowadays to help me create my music.
So how have you kept busy during the last year or so, did the pandemic stifle your creativity or did the free time allow you to experiment more.
It was of course a shock when the pandemic arrived and in trying to stay positive, I focused on the future launch of my ‘Cold Sun’ LP and singles with Ramrock Red Records. I had just returned to playing live and releasing music again in 2019 with ‘Out Of The Ordinary’, a local collective of Edinburgh musicians including Malcolm Ross, Stevie Christie, Chris Greive and David Donnelly. I didn’t know when we would be able to return to playing live again, and with a debut solo project ahead of me, I began collaborations with some wonderful female film directors to brainstorm and create music videos for a couple of the songs from my forthcoming LP ‘Cold Sun’. I managed to get funding from Creative Scotland and the National Lottery Fund and I’ve just finished the videos for ‘Dead Wood’ and ‘Children of Nowhere’. It was an amazing experience working with these video directors and expect to see the results land in June.
What’s the inspiration behind ‘Fading Away’.
‘Fading Away’ is the first EP from my forthcoming and debut solo LP ‘Cold Sun’ produced by Saleem Andrew McGroarty. The EP contains the original LP version and the North Street West remixes by Ashley Beedle, Darren Morris and Jo Wallace were inspired by Frankie Knuckles remixes for Hercules + The Love Affair’s ‘Blind’. My music is inspired by my lived experience and observations of life, and it is both a therapeutic and a creative process for me. ‘Fading Away’ lyrically touches on themes around struggles with life’s challenges and how lonely and dark that can be at times, yet with the love and support of good friends and family it is possible to begin to find a light again and heal. The feedback from radio presenters around the world has been amazing – people have totally related to the lyrics.
Tell us about your writing and recording process, what instruments, hardware or software to you use.
I create sketches / song ideas in Garage Band using virtual instruments and loops with beats and bass lines triggered by a midi keyboard. I then record vocal ideas, melodies and words. These get pinged back and forth via the internet between myself and my producer on this LP, Saleem Andrew McGroarty. He also sends me musical ideas that he has which he thinks I’d like. We then develop and transform these sketches into fully formed and completed songs and recordings in our home studios and occasionally feature selected live musicians if we feel the song would benefit from that extra special touch.
What is your 2022 looking like, what are your hopes and dreams, do you have any exciting plans, new releases, tours or gigs.
I aim to continue on this journey of creativity and self discovery and to make more music to share. I have the ‘Children of Nowhere’ and ‘If Only’ EPs in the pipeline and the ‘Children of Nowhere’ and ‘Dead Wood’ music videos from my forthcoming ‘Cold Sun’ LP which is released on June 10th. These will be released over the coming months on Ramrock Red Records and I’ll also be working on developing a live show as soon as possible now that has become an option for us performers again.
Can you give us a classic track, something that has inspired you or simply one you love and never get sick of listening to.
It so depends on what kind of mood I’m in… I never tire of Harold Budd and Brian Eno – First Light, especially if Im feeling anxious as this is great music to de-stress to.
Can you recommend any new music, something that you’ve just discovered or are just really digging at the moment.
A band I would definitely recommend everyone to listen out for is ‘Medicine Cabinet’ a young up and coming Glasgow based band. They have just released their first single ‘The Signs‘. One of the guitarists in that band Joshua Çakir played guitar for me on a couple of tracks on my ‘Cold Sun’ LP. They are a very cool live band and I would really recommend you go look them up!
Do you think playlists are important, what types do you enjoy, in your opinion, what’s the future of the playlist.
I guess one good thing about them is that playlists give people an insight into the kind of music which might have inspired the artists they like to listen to. Here’s my Ramrock Selectah playlist with my personal selections:
How do you prefer your music to be heard, streams, downloads or physical product sold. Why?
Whilst of course I’d love to have had my music released on vinyl,as I’m old skool but it isn’t an option for me this time around due to all the problems surrounding pressing plants and vinyl pressing globally. I am simply happy for people to listen to my music in whatever way they choose to, however, I’d love them to buy it from Bandcamp if they like what they hear – ‘Fading Away’ is available now and ‘Cold Sun’ will be available soon.
How do you connect with your audience, email, social media, PR firms.
I am quite a shy person and I’d prefer not to have to do social media but as it seems there’s no escape LOL 😉 I’ve sort of got to grips with my Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter and people can come and follow me on those platforms
What’s the best way a fan could help you today if they had just ten minutes to spare.
Have a wee listen to my music and if they like it please buy it on Bandcamp and spread the word far and wide on their socials – please and thank you!! 😉
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your career in music.
I’d be lost without it….without music and creativity as a companion in life and without the people I meet by continuing to create, I’d be so much more lonely. Creating music brings self-expression, release and connection into my life, adding colour and texture. But I do have a very strong artistic side and got a degree in sculpture, and I also created the front cover of the ‘Cold Sun’ EP. I’d like to bring more of my art into my forthcoming live performances and I’ve really been able to add a lot of my ‘artistic’ personality into the two music videos I’ve just been in. Being part of them and sharing my concepts for the music with the video production teams was something I especially enjoyed.
