Roz Yuen Interview - Intimate Electro

Meet Roz Yuen, an Aussie expat and muso who's now making a name for herself in Europe. We had a sit down with Roz Yuen to talk about the transition to another country, her new single 'Confession', plus more. 

Futuremag Music: What's your relationship with music been like over the years? How'd you move into the music scene?

Roz Yuen: I find myself getting increasingly passionate and ambitious with my music. Despite all the ups and downs of the music business and even the frustrations of the creative process, I can‘t say my enthusiasm for it has dampened. I started writing jazz blues pop songs on the piano and did some small live shows in Melbourne. I then met drummer, producer and dear friend Ian Kitney, which led to a release of an EP - Garden and then and album, Tiny Goddess, influenced by French 60s Yè-Yè influences pop; under the name 'Rosaline Yuen’. I had my own indie label Thirtysixbird that was distributed through GREEN/MGM, was doing gigs with my band, and had a few of my songs feature on tv shows like Underbelly: The Golden Mile; Offspring and Crownies. 

Photo By Colette Pomerleau

Futuremag Music: Since moving to the UK and Germany from Melbourne how has your writing process developed?

Roz Yuen: I don’t have a set work flow. When I first started out I was writing my songs on piano, guitar or uke. I relied on producers to help flesh it out. Then I moved to London and got into electronic music. I started doing my own music production. Now inspiration might strike from a particular sound. I‘ll open up Ableton and start messing with a sound, which will ignite the writing process. Since moving to Berlin I‘ve thought a lot about how my music might interact with visuals and experiment more with field recordings. 

Futuremag Music: Can you talk us through the production and writing process of your new single 'Confession'?

Roz Yuen: I felt emotionally raw at the time. I had just arrived back home to Melbourne after being away in London for two years. I had written down a long stream of consciousness on the 26 hour plane journey back and was desperate to put it to music. It started off with a lush textual element to create an atmospheric and contemplative background. I then went back to the words I had written and started editing them into lyrics. Production wise I was listening to a lot of stripped back downtempo electronic pop FKA Twigs, James Blake ... minimal percussion and some multilayered vocal processing.

Futuremag Music: What messages do you want fans to take away from your music?

Roz Yuen: I hope listeners connect emotionally with the intimacy of my lyrics and atmosphere of music. I want audiences to feel empowered to engage or experience it however they wish to... to think for themselves. 

Futuremag Music: If 'Roz Yuen' was a cocktail what would be in it to best describe yourself and your music?

Roz Yuen: I would be a classic Gin and tonic. Ice, Hendricks or Tanqueray, a wedge of cucumber or lime, and of course, tonic.