Rockstars turned pop stars Emarosa, have consistently been putting out good music. The band has been working with a new sound for the past few years that will be their direction moving forward. BareBones Ent got the chance to sit down with Bradley Scott of the band and chat all things Emarosa. Take a seat and check out what all we had to talk about.
BBE: What is it that is special about Emarosa?
BS: That’s a great question, I’d like to think it’s changed over the years much like the band. Depending on who you ask, it’s the live show, the genre fluidity, or maybe it’s the growth or perseverance. Then again maybe it’s nothing, maybe it’s not special. It’s all up to the listener to decide what’s special isn’t it? Your favorite band that means everything to you might be a band someone else couldn’t care less about. It’s all about perspective. For me, it’s a special place to feel like I matter. To let myself be human, to error, to grow, to create. Sometimes it’s a prison, sometimes it’s a cloud. That’s why it’s special to me.
BBE: You have fluidly been able to work in and out of various genres. What do you attribute that ability to?
BS: I think that speaks to the versatility of players, engineers, producers, and evolution of taste in music. I joined this band a decade ago, there are novelty acts I still love from 10 years ago but my music taste has changed, it’s evolved. The same goes for all artists but I think it’s easy to get comfortable playing to your audience. From a business standpoint, it makes sense. I don’t want to feel like we keep making the same record over and over, though.
BBE: Do you run with any of your ideas or do you worry at all about how fans will respond?
BS: I wish I were better at not worrying about fan response, especially in this day in age. I think during the creative process, recording, writing etc. I’m able to block them out and create for myself. Once it’s put into the world, I used to obsess. Now I don’t even handle that side of things. I’m grateful for our fans and those are the people we give our attention to. Rick Rubin has great insight on artists ignoring their fan base to ensure their creative process isn’t skewed.
BBE: You are currently playing an alternative/alt-pop style of music. What made you want to make this transition?
BS: We made that transition in 2019. We got the same response of a lot of love and a lot of backlash. You take the good with the bad. I think it was an easy transition. We wanted to do something different, we wanted to continue what (to us) was a very clear evolution of the band happening. Fans hear the 10-15 songs that get released and in between that they don’t hear the process of writing, growing, and changing. It’s been the same moving forward, during the pandemic there was a lot of change and growth. I don’t think this was a transition that we wanted to make rather than the one that was just naturally happening and we didn’t fight it.
BBE: How have fans responded to your recent music?
BS: The vibe has been great, our fans have really shown out. The feedback has been very excited for new music, they want more. So do I, wish we could put it all out there today.
BBE: Your latest song “Preach” seems to have an awesome 80’s vibe to it. How did that come together? Not just the song though. The video feels so 80’s too. Are there any musicians or videos from that time period that inspired you?
BS: The funny thing about “Preach”, is that it was on the chopping block for a while. I had to re-work that chorus three times before it ended up making the record. We had this great new jack swing vibe, minimal instrumentals to tell the story and let the song breathe. I have a lot to say coming up and this felt like the best place to start. We chipped away at this song in the studio for a few weeks, after it was done we went back in a week later and brought in a small choir for the chorus. I watch the videos from making that and still get goosebumps. It was very 80s early 90s pop inspired. The video really captured that old Paula Abdul, George Michael feel. There’s a lot of very clear influences in “Preach” that I think leak through.
BBE: Is this the style that your next releases are in also, or is each one done in a different style?
BS: “Preach” is the opening track to the new record, I think it sets the perfect tone for what the next releases are about. It’s laced with 80’s early 90’s pop influence. It’s much more mature than our last album and hopefully, the next releases reflect that.
BBE: What is next for you?
BS: We’re working on getting the record put together, there are more singles in the next few months. Lots of moving pieces but there’s much more to come.
BBE: Anything else you would like to add?
BS: Stream “Preach”, get on the bandwagon. We’ll see you soon.
