Perfect for these rainy autumn days, Rossa Murray & the blowin’ winds serenaded us this week with their tunes, and caught us up with all their new releases, upcoming gigs and everything else in-between.
Their live session was the perfect soundtrack to start this autumn, with Inside Job, Still and Amsterdam (an exclusive new song, might I add!). They started off with Inside Job, a gorgeously crafted song with magical guitar tones and authentic vocals throughout. It had a rawness to it, and sounded like a cup of coffee on a misty morning. Next came Still, with it’s delicate guitar opening, growing into a powerful tune with amazing arrangements and sounds. Finally came Amsterdam, their exclusive track for us (!!), which took you on a chill holiday away from all the stresses of life, probably the most chill, easy-listening song you’ll hear all week. Check it all out below, as well as our conversation:
It’s kind of changed over the few years, really. The new EP that we’ve put out, ‘Who Really Needs to Get Clean Pt. 1’ is kind of Alt-Folk/Folk-Rock, I guess. The next few tunes we’ve got coming have a bit more classics influence to them, getting a bit more weird with it I guess. We stemmed from folk originally, but going heavier as time goes on. Inspiration from Big Thief, Velvet Underground, Jamie T, Phoebe Bridgers, those sorts of artists. The goal is to just keep changing and keep evolving.
Rossa: So I was a solo artist originally, but then met our beloved drummer Patrick (who’s also in a band called Burial at Sea, with our guitarist Dara). We started with a slightly different line up, but had a shuffle around, and then Sam (our bassist) joined! We met Sam just having a jam, and then he quickly became a part of the band. This was all back in 2019, so we did a fair few shows in Liverpool, London and Belfast, recorded a few tunes, and then good-old COVID came along. But since then we’ve been quite busy recording the EP, doing a tour earlier this year, and a few other gigs as well.
Rossa: Personally, I love both parts. They generally come at different periods, so it’s nice to get introspective in the studio sorting the tunes out, and then go out and enjoy them on tour afterwards.
Dara: Yeah, I like both as well! Writing’s always fun because you can go out for a coffee and do it – it’s more about what goes on around the event than the event itself. Whether that’s grabbing a coffee after a writing session, or having the craic with everyone in the studio, and then exploring loads of different places whilst on tour.
Sam: They are both unique experiences, I guess. We go to a residential studios when we record, so you stay over for a few days, which is lovely. You hear all the classic stories of bands doing that, so I’m glad we get to do it too. Touring and playing live is wonderful as well, as we are a trio and work quite closely, we just have such a great time together.
I think we don’t take ourselves too seriously, which helps. We have a joke around, and if something goes do wrong, we just kind of have a laugh and take it in our stride. Nothing springs to mind of anything disastrous happening, there’s always a few small personal ones but we just try and keep everyone calm and chill. We did a gig in London a few weeks ago, and the whole way through the show I was just freaking out in my own head because nothing seemed to be going right with the sound, but it was grand in the end, just me having an internal freak out.
Sam: Usually Rossa will bring in an initial idea, and Dara and I will just expand on it, really. The song is usually finished acoustically with Rossa, but we will add arrangements to liven it and bring it to the vision that Rossa originally had. That process is always lovely, refining them to the point that when you finally put them out there, people are going to enjoy them.
Rossa: Yeah, because we all come from different backgrounds musically, we all have something to contribute. Dara’s more post-rock, Sam’s into funk and soul, and I’m alternate/folky. Bringing it all together is quite cool, if I wrote it on my own it wouldn’t sound the same.
So we’ve been working on the next EP, ‘Who Really Needs to Get Clean Pt. 2’, which is a lot more electric, a lot more upbeat, a spring/summer sort of vibe. It’s all stories that fit together thematically like the Part 1, but sonically different. Keep your eyes and ears ready for that!
You can find out more about Rossa Murray & the blowin’ winds on all socials, @rm_tbw – and keep an eye out for new tunes in the future!
