ME: I saw you in concert once opening for SOAK, which was many years ago. How would you say you've grown since then?
ROZI PLAIN: I just looked up the dates and it looks like that was 2015 so i'm 8 years grown since then! My hair has grown about 1cm (my hair grows extremely slowly). All the cells in my body have replaced themselves! (is that a thing i think i read that - it takes 7 years for all the cells to replace themselves?). But hmm musically we've made two more albums. The band has become a more regular team. We've got a card reader at the merch stand!
M: Personally, I feel like your sound is very unique and arguably experimental. Would you agree? How would you describe it?
RP: I'm very happy with you saying experimental. It always feels like a struggle to satisfactorily describe music. Not that i think my music is undescribable I've just never enjoyed describing it and i suppose often descriptions feel unhelpful or misleading. I usually just end up listing the band members and instruments! But i like the word experimental cuz it feels like an expansive word rather than a reductive word - it eludes to possibility rather than narrowing it down and that feels much more comfortable to me.
M: There's almost a sense of spirituality that comes from some of your songs and music videos. Is that something you've purposely tried to get across?
RP: I don't think on purpose no - but i am interested in conveying things not through detailed description. i like trying to understand and be understood in ways without words.
I think with the videos I just want to create compelling images. i don't usually have a detailed plan of what i want to do but i find something that feels satisfying to look at
M: My favourite song of yours recently is Agreeing for Two - what is the inspiration behind that song?
RP: It was thinking about how easy it easy to make decisions on behalf of other people when you're telling yourself you're acting out of care or love - thinking you might know what's best for a situation where maybe you are thinking about whats easiest for you in a situation.
M: What would you say inspires most of your songs?
RP: I suppose wanting to capture intent and feeling is what inspires me. I want to be able to go into the bones of something and sometimes but not even talking about it very much. It's interesting to me to whittle things down to a few words. I want to make things that feel satisfying to keep playing - i think i am very drawn to repetition because of how much the same thing can change when you keep doing it.
M: Going into writing a song, do you create from experiences or come up with stories, etc?
RP: i definitely do create from experiences and eras but i know i don't always obviously document a specific experience. A friend said to me something about liking to put objects in their songs as a point to focus on. And although i don't think i really do this i think i do get drawn to maybe one or two words or a phrase that feel like they are the base of the song or sort of the music gets built around thinking about that one word or phrase.
M: Would you say that you're happy with everything you've created since becoming a musician?
RP: This is a great question. There are definitely a few experiences i wish i had dealt with differently but i definitely learnt a lot from them. There's also a few experiences i honestly don't know how i could have dealt with diferently but have still learnt a lot from. Time's when i was too vague, not clear enough about how i felt something was going and didn't take appropriate steps to get it more on track. Recording wise there's definitely some stuff i would do differently if i was to do it again now - cuz i guess tastes and preferences change. But i also really enjoy the fact that the recording isn't the definitive version - i like it when the songs change and evolve over time when we play them. Older songs can come back and feel like they take on a new meaning. Occasionally i listen to one of our older albums and i really enjoy the feeling of not being able to remember how i did something or the decisions we came to - its like i can experience myself having all this conviction! But i guess maybe thats often the case with looking back in general - because it happened and has been completed it sort of becomes this tidy fact that you can sort of feel like you completely decided to make happen.
M: What has been the hardest and easiest part of being a musician?
RP: Hmmm. It feels tricky talking about things being hard cuz really im very aware that i'm fortunate to live my life in a way that allows me to be a musician most of the time. I find the dips into doubt unhelpful and ugly sometimes although i do also accept thats part of it. But sometimes it feel gross and sort of dangerous to me to sometimes feel at the mercy of the feeling of wanting things to "go well". It feels extremely lucky that the nature of what we do lets us meet so many people and go to so many places. It feels very blessed to have so much variation like this and a sort of really comforting thought that different things and places are going to happen. Im really aware that my sense of especially UK geography is probably extremely better than it might have been had i not been on tour for years!
M: Would you say the pandemic took a toll on your music making?
RP: Well i guess we had a reasonably productive time and managed to record a new album in it. I think probably though there are a lot of deep tolls it took on people that aren't quite possible to even understand at the moment. I remember the spooky feeling of when things started to happen again, like the distanced shows. There were such sweet and enormous lengths gone to for people to have a nice time and experience live music. And although it really WAS nice - it definitely had this sort of ridiculous element to it. People really trying to feel nice and normal. One of the most exhausting things to me was everyone having to scrutenise and explain how they felt about everything all the time. Of course that was what we all needed to do - talk about what was happening but it also felt so much to think about all the time. And i really enjoyed the sort of more private feeling of experiencing the world again once things had relaxed.
M: Finally, I like to end on a more fun one haha - if your music was the soundtrack to a superhero film, what would the superhero be called?
RP: The superhero would be called "I will make sure the wire of your headphones never gets trapped under your knee and then yanks them roughly from your head when you stand up Woman!" . No one should ever have to experience this.
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