There was a DJ in the bathroom. That’s the first thing to know. The second is that the bath itself had been filled with disco balls, and the third is that this was Richard Branson’s suite, handed over for the night to Wonderskin and Virgin and dressed in so many lip stains, in particular their new colour Headliner, it was hard to put a glass down. It’s hard to think of anyone more at home here than Rose Gray, a singer who started out crooning jazz in Woodford, spent her late teens on the door at Fabric and over the last year turning the whole messy, glittering arc of a night out into some of the best dance pop in Britain.
Before she went on for her set at Hidden Grooves, I grabbed her for a quick chat about finding out she’d soundtracked a supermodel runway from her spinny chair, the jazz past she’s happily closed the door on, and the 5am kitchen moments behind ‘Blink Twice’.
The Cold Magazine (CM): Your music was part of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the weekend. Did you know it was coming?
Rose Gray: I literally woke up yesterday morning and had no idea. They did ask my team, but it wasn’t 100 per cent they were going to use it. I was in my bedroom, on my little spinny chair. I woke up to loads of messages from friends saying, ‘Oh my God, have you seen the VS show?’ I didn’t even know which song it was, but as soon as I went on Twitter and Instagram it was the first thing that came up. It was Bella and Anok, when they had all the wings. I do think the song was made for that catwalk, actually.
CM: You came up through the clubs and worked the door at Fabric. How much of that is still in your music now?
RG: A lot. I had a few jobs, but my main one from 19 was in clubs, and a lot of my friends still work in that world, whether they’re DJs, dancers or promoters. It was a big part of my coming of age, and it’s the music I love to listen to. I still really enjoy going out, I just haven’t been able to as much recently. Even after All Points East I couldn’t go out, because I had a 5am flight to a festival the next day. I did three shows that weekend.
CM: In a way you’re still in that environment though, just from the other side.
RG: I still feel very much part of it, and I try to be as much as I can. I like to get in the crowd and bring people up. When I play clubs especially, I can get in there. You can’t really do that at the big events.
CM: ‘Club to Your Arms’ came out this summer. It feels like a love song for people who are out every weekend. Is that who you were writing for?
RG: I was writing, maybe selfishly, for myself and my friends. Going out is a big part of what we do. But I feel like the record, especially Louder, Please, also captures the other moments of the night. Coming home, making your way, the sun coming up. Maybe you’re not even in a club. Maybe you’re going to work the next morning listening to ‘Tectonic’.
CM: You started out as a jazz singer, and that richness is still there in your voice. Is that where the big vocal on ‘Club to Your Arms’ comes from?
RG: I think about it a lot. I was classically trained quite young and did my grades, then went to the BRIT School and left early to become a singer. Looking back, that was ten years ago, and it took me a lot longer than I thought it would to get anywhere. I always loved jazz, so I started singing in jazz clubs in Essex to earn money. I had a weekly slot in Woodford and then started getting booked elsewhere, so that just became what I sang. But when I started writing my own music, it didn’t feel aligned with who I was. I’d found the night. So I started making music in keeping with what I actually enjoy.
CM: Would you ever bring the two worlds together?
RG: No, I think that door has been closed. Someone who does it really well is Raye, because she sings about very modern things. On her first record especially, she talks a lot about being out and getting caught up in it, but tells it like a story. Big band and strings, though? I don’t really see that in my future.
CM: ‘Blink Twice’ has been described as chaos, love and emotion. What was going on when you wrote it?
RG: Who knows? I had a very chaotic year last year. It was amazing, everything was happening for the first time, playing shows, touring the world. But I also had this fear that I’d worked ten years to get there and it could all go. I even have it when I’m out. I don’t want the night to end. It’s blink and you’ll miss it, and before you know it you’re in someone’s kitchen and the sun’s coming up. There are kitchen references in there too, like I’m scared of becoming a housewife. I really enjoy where my life is right now with my friends, and everything still feels so exciting. I want it to stay like that.
CM: That fear of the next thing arriving too soon is so relatable. It’s still a joyful song though.
RG: Definitely. Over the last year, people haven’t always known where I am, even my family. They’re like, ‘What are you doing? You’re in Rio right now?’ I became the person I wanted to be last year. I always wanted to travel the world and play shows everywhere, and I think ‘Blink Twice’ captures that.
CM: You moved from PIAS to Polydor between albums. Does a bigger label change much for you?
RG: I think it definitely does for artists, but I went into the change with a record already out, and I know who I am and the music I want to make. I’ve been in the industry long enough now to navigate it. There are a lot more meetings and a lot more people, but it’s still the same core group I make music and videos with. It definitely helps with touring, though. Touring is very expensive.
CM: Last one. What’s the last song that made you lose it on a dancefloor?
RG: There’s this remix of ‘Show Me Love’ with Radiohead in it. One of my friends mixed it the other night and it’s crazy. It’s not ‘Creep’. You would never put the two together, but it’s mad.
