Behind The Decks With Rossy

18 Mar Behind The Decks With Rossy

Posted at 16:49h in Interviews by Sam Wolloch

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Just imagine – it’s the night of your first big show. After a few years of mastering the DJ controller and refining your production skills, the time to shine has arrived. You’ve secured an opening act in your hometown for the iconic singing sisters of EDM, on Krewella’s New World Tour. A crowd of nearly 100 friends, fans, and your Dutch Bros. Coffee co-workers pile in at doors to support your opening set. This is just one of many memorable moments that have shaped the early career of EDM artist Rossy, one of Nightenjin’s Artists to Watch in 2021.

Music played a big part in Rossy’s upbringing, evidenced by the sentimental stories about her mom taking her to see live music shows from a very young age. By the end of elementary school, Rossy was faced with a dilemma: she wanted to learn to play the guitar and the drums, but mom would only let her pick one.

Inspired by the grunge sound of Nirvana, and their late frontman Kurt Cobain, Rossy chose the guitar. Although her passion for music grew, by the time she finished high school Rossy felt like there wasn’t a place for her in the rock band world. Instead, she went to college to use her creative genius working for a music label.

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But all that would change when Rossy arrived at San Luis Obispo and heard students blasting dance music from their dorm rooms. With echoes of Skrillex’s Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites ringing in her head, Rossy decided to put down the guitar and pick up a new skill. By age 20, she learned how to use a DJ controller and two years later she began producing on Ableton. Rossy was well on her way to solidifying her career in EDM after a few successful shows opening for Krewella, Audien, and Gareth Emery in Chico, California in the Fall of 2017.

Fast forward to today and witness Rossy branching out into new areas of sound design. Affectionately nicknamed the Queen of Arps, she originally focused on creating melodic, theatrical trap music. But like so many of us, the pandemic put an end to her day job, forcing Rossy to stay home. With the extra time on her hands, she got hard to work developing more innovative and forward-thinking music.

In fact, the extra time allowed Rossy to create new tunes, including her most recent song “See Through,” a collaborative effort with We Rose that released on March 17. Remarkably, this song began a year prior, around the same time as the pandemic lockdown. We Rose took notice of Rossy when she played their remix of the Alison Wonderland and Quix collab “Time” in some of her sets. We Rose sent over the original track and Rossy added her vocals, producing their seductive new single.

Rossy hasn’t always featured her vocals, but now they are a staple of her sound. She worked with singer-songwriter Pauline Herr on the song “Always,” and Rossy credits Herr for the inspiration to be more confident using her own voice in her songs. Another big influence on Rossy’s career has been the ascent of Alison Wonderland – the representation of a woman on the main stage of a festival like Coachella was a powerful motivating experience.

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So just as experienced artists have helped her on her journey, Rossy is ready and willing to share her support, stressing the music scene isn’t a competition, but rather a community. And in the end, whether she’s playing for a handful of her coffee-making co-workers or packed festival fields, it is about the connection shared through music, a connection nurtured from an early age by a mother and daughter enjoying live music together.