Rosie Tee is a Birmingham based composer/performer who forges an innovative, atmospheric blend of electronica, psych and avant-pop amongst the industrial backdrop of the UK’s second city.

Through an explorative approach to songwriting Rosie emits joy for the experimental. Her crystalline vocals meander between dark, forceful beats and fragile melodic contours. The sporadic movements of her synth-heavy sound are anchored only by the use of striking, minimal structures. Rosie collaborates closely with her quartet, touring across the UK with a line-up of vocals & glockenspiel, off-kilter synths (Piera Onacko), swarming bass (Dan Cippico) and textural drums (Kai Chareunsy). Together, they ebb and flow between digital and analogue worlds, most at home on the stage of their intoxicating live performances.

Off of her upcoming EP, Earth, Embrace Me In, her new track “Anchors” is a whirlwind of avant-pop with a flush of psychedelic electronica, resulting in a grounding yet galactic trip through the songwriter’s creativity and artistic ability. The dark, lumbering track carries a heavy weight to it musically, where a forbidding and cyclical synth motif under-currents floating vocals with minimal, yet fierce, drums. 

Rosie confides, “Anchors conjures up the sensation of an identity crisis. I wrote it at a time when I was away from home for an extended period. I had an unexpected realisation that when you take away your friends, family, partner, city and all the immediate things that make up who you are – what’s left? Alone, who are you without those integral components that contribute to your sense of belonging and identity? This moment taught me how to appreciate what I’d left behind, whilst also being a golden opportunity to get to know myself away from that safety net. The lyrics sum up how badly I wanted to hold onto these comforting notions of ‘self’, to tie an anchor and not drift away.”

Tell us about the story of your act

For a long time, I wrote songs just me and my piano. I’d listen to the music I was making and often ask myself – “would I choose to listen to this?!” and usually the answer was always “no!”. So summer 2018 was the catalyst moment to grow ‘Rosie Tee’ into a band – for it to be bigger than myself.

I came away from the security blanket of sitting behind the piano and developed a set-up with vocals and live effects pedals (to be in control of my own reverbs and delays) alongside my glockenspiel. You should see the state of my glock the way it’s been bashed over the years!

With a taste for Jazz and Electronic music it made sense to get a band together that shared in that. So I asked my partner Dan Cippico, a bassist & producer, to perform with me alongside pianist Tom Harris and drummer Kai Chareunsy (both from Jazz-trained backgrounds). This informed the sound massively for the first year of us gigging together. 

Due to moving to a new city, Tom ended his time with the band in 2019. Piera Onacko, a Birmingham based synth-player and pianist, took over the reigns – a match made in musical heaven! It was the introduction of her extensive synth & pedal set-up that has now set the band on it’s more psychedelic, heavier trajectory. We’re both obsessed with Strymon pedals, so informally call ourselves “the Strymon sisters”!

What is the message behind your art? 

n/a

What are some sources of inspiration for your lyrics and storytelling?

When writing the lyrics for a track, I form an image in my mind and use the words to depict these imagined scenes and scenarios. So I’m not telling a story with these songs as such, just painting a picture. That’s why the lyrics can often feel like ‘nonsense’.

Who is an artist that you look up to more than others today?

The main link between most my musical influences is that they exist between genres and also disciplines. I’ve never been one to sit in a box with my own music making and that is reflected in the music I listen to and inspired by.

Anna Meredith for example, started as a more conventional composer for orchestras & ensembles but is now gigging worldwide with her band of wonky synths, tuba and cello. Her music is loud, synth-heavy and unapologetic – it’s been used in loads of film & TV and she’s recently been commissioned by Somerset House to create music for Bumper Cars! It’s this flexibility of how and where her music can exist that inspires me most.

Gazelle Twin is another artist that crosses disciplines so successfully. She often performs in a menacing jester-like costume to obscure her identity and creates dark industrial music, but in reality she’s a mother and all-round lovely person. I think this idea of being able to separate yourself that much from your musical identity is so commendable. She’s recently released an album with an all-female choir and it’s so powerful to listen to – pure female force.

Mica Levi is another composer, now more well known for their soundtracks to film’s like ‘Jackie’ and ‘Under the Skin’ but also known as Micachu (from the art-pop band Micachu & the Shapes). They totally smash up the divisions between musical genres, from three-note punk to the finest classical score. 

What was the record or artist that changed your life?

There’s the 2009 Dirty Projectors album ‘Bitte Orca’. I think that was my first introduction into weird music. I have such an innate love for that album – I know it inside out. The vocal writing is pure gold.

Tell us about your latest release and how it came about

The material for ‘Earth, Embrace Me In’ had been culminating over a number of years, of which some songs were written in Rotterdam during my short-stint of living in the Netherlands. The bleakness of the weather in that city meant I spent a lot of time indoors writing. I was able to draw many parallels between Rotterdam and my hometown of Birmingham with it’s post-industrial landscape, patchwork architecture and multi-cultural communities. There was somehow this medley of feeling at home and homesick at the same time, and this tension certainly set the undertone of the songwriting process.

You seem to be fusing several musical genres. What inspires your sound?

I definitely have a relaxed approach to genre. I’ve started calling it ‘Electronic Avant-pop’ but I’m still not sure. From one track to another, my music can span electronica, jazz, avant-pop, alternative, experimental and psychedelic. 

There’s so many inspirational artists out there (almost always women!) that make me realize that there is no right or wrong way to approach making music. Each find their own methods of pulling in a myriad of genres and components to make a greater whole. 

Because of that, I don’t fear the idea of ‘weird’ anymore. ‘Weird’ is something to be proud of. It means you can write a song with no chorus, mess around with technology without understanding the nuts & bolts and learn as you go along. I’m really content with the experimental approach I take to music making and that wouldn’t have been possible without hearing these amazing composers do it first.

How would you want people to feel while listening to your music?

I don’t like to insist or prescribe that people should feel a certain way when listening to my music. If it evokes any gut reaction or any feeling at all, I’m happy! It’s always so interesting for me to hear how people interpret it. 

What are some things you really want to accomplish as an artist?

Wouldn’t mind a Mercury Prize one day. A girls gotta dream…

Was there ever a moment when you felt like giving up?

A moment? It’s a regular occurrence! It’s almost always social media related though, so I just remind myself that the band will be gigging again soon and that’s what I’m in it for.

When you’re a DIY artist, it’s very easy to get wrapped up with all the admin & behind the scenes work for a release and forget to enjoy your favourite bits; like writing new music and being on stage, meeting new people at shows etc…

What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

I can’t remember who said this to me, or whether I’ve made it up, but the idea that “nobody is waiting for your music” is an incredibly freeing notion. 

I think it’s so easy to think you’re not relevant if you’re not active or visible all the time as an artist, but as soon as you realise everyone’s doing their own thing and not focused on yours, it takes away that constant pressure. People will appreciate your work when it’s there.

Where do you think the next game changer will be in the music industry and entertainment scene?

Streaming platforms finally paying fair revenues! I know the government is pushing for it at the moment, so we can only hope. Fingers and toes crossed folks.