Bella Rosa– a singer/ songwriter artist from London, ON – Canada. Music has always been my passion. Coming from a musical family, being an artist is in my blood
Interview conducted on Aug. 13, 2020
by Dan Locke
Band Members
Bella Rosa- Vocal
Andy Gomez- Drums
Santiago Izaciga- Guitar
David Goodman- Bass
Happy birthday. How was it to have a birthday this year?
It was a weird experience because last year I had a huge celebration at home with all my friends. My dad and my birthday are only 4 days apart so we always have a huge celebration together. This year was nothing like that! But I guess we are living through a unique time in history so I will always remember that I celebrated a birthday through a pandemic.
What is your upbringing?
My background is Latin American. Both my parents are immigrants from Colombia, so growing up, it was a very Latino upbringing. My parents got divorced when I was 2 years old so I don’t remember life as a family that much, but what was consistent at both houses was the Spanish language and the Colombian way. My dad is a musician so music has always been around in my life. I remember going to band practices and some shows from a very early age and at his place, there has always been musical instruments everywhere!
Who was Grace VanderWaal and how did she help you discover music?
She was the first musician I admired. She won AGT at only age 14 and she became my inspiration. I was about 11 or 12 years old when I discovered her and I thought to myself that she was only 3-4 years older than me and this is where my music life truly began. What I loved the most about her is that she wrote her own songs and that’s when I started writing mine. I went to see her in Toronto opening for Imagine Dragons, but I was there only for her, she did great, I cried for like 10 minutes when she came on stage. It is a beautiful memory. I bought a t-shirt that day and still have it today
How did you start to write music?
After discovering Grace, my dad got me my first ukulele and I took some lessons and I became obsessed with that instrument. So, once I got decent at it, I started piecing some songs together. I was very good with putting my feelings on paper and at the beginning, my dad helped me a bit figuring out chords and melodies, but very quickly I started discovering my own writing abilities.
Who is Michelle Treacy?
Michelle is a Canadian singer who was featured on a show called “The Launch”. I watched every episode and just loved her voice, style, and down to earth personality. So, I decided to follow her on social media and write to her and to my surprise, she wrote back! I was just starting to sing and she was so amazing and supportive. She even started following my Instagram account and I didn’t want to be one of those annoying fans that wrote every day, but I wrote every time I had a question about music or wanted to show her my latest song I was working on, and again, to my surprise, she was always there. I got to meet her one day that my dad and I went to Toronto and we found out that she was there for that day, so we wrote to her and she agreed to meet me! It was a quick hello at Eaton Centre downtown Toronto, but it meant so much to me. I later met her again at another event in Ottawa where I performed and that day something amazing happened, she brought me a Michelle Treacy t-shirt as a present and I had also brought one for her, so we traded shirts! It was so cool to be doing that with somebody I look up to and who has been my inspiration. She is great and we still keep in touch. My career has taken me to a completely different music style than when I started, so I don’t think we are going to be sharing a stage one day, but I am a fan and love to know that she is also following and supporting my career.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
I got my first guitar at age 6, it was a Daisy Rock pink glittery star shaped guitar and I love it. I still have it today in my bedroom.
What was your first performance at like?
My very first performance was in March of 2019 at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, ON. I actually got to open a show for my dad, and it was an amazing experience. I was super nervous and my dad’s crowd is an older crowd so I wasn’t sure if they were going to like the music, but the support was 2000%. Later I got to come down and close my dad’s show in a duet, singing in Spanish (my dad is a Spanish performer)! It was terrifying but also super fun!
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Yes, but you are never going to hear it! LOL
My first song ever was called “Song to my best friend”. Yes, I did record it and it made it to Spotify and Apple Music, but we took it down after I went from pop to rock. I started as a pop artist but after performing this music for about a year, I realize I didn’t enjoy it and I was really loving discovering rock bands and that’s when I decided to transition to rock. Song to my best friend was a song I wrote to… guess who? My best friend in school! It was a sappy, lovey song… I have a love and hate relationship with that song because I love that it was my first song, but compared to what I am producing today, it was so bad! I cringe every time I hear it and my band and my manager are the worst because every time we are together in a road trip or just hanging out, they all plot to play the song out of the blue, full blast, and I have to beat them all up and stop the song…. But I secretly love it. Lol
Tell me about your Out of Breath?
Out of breath was born in March of 2019 when I went on a scuba diving trip with my dad to Colombia. I am now an advanced scuba diver but that trip was my second diving trip and I was doing my first certification, but I was so scared! So, there was this diving exercise I had to do where I had to take the regulator (the thing you breathe through) out of my mouth while underwater and I was so scared because I didn’t want to drown. When I came back to the surface, my dad was on the boat and I told him, from the water: “Dad, my next song will be called Out of Breath”.
What is your favorite track on the album?
I haven’t produced an album yet. We are following a single strategy because even producing one song requires lots of work and it can get very expensive, so at the moment we are releasing one single at a time, and Out of Breath was my first single, so I can say that it was my favourite! Lol
Our next single “Rollercoaster” is almost ready to be released ad it is absolutely amazing!
How do you stay healthy while performing?
I work on my vocals daily, but I have to be honest. I don’t exercise or eat healthy that much. I am a teenager and I love sushi and junk food. But I try my best. I am recently starting to train boxing with Santiago who is our guitarist and producer so that is going well, but I need to get healthier!
Since you are from London ON, do you take time to check out live music in Buffalo, NY or Toronto ON?
Yes, I go to shows in Toronto all the time but I’ve never been to Buffalo or New York. I know that my dad is always considering these cities in case we can’t get tickets for a Toronto show, but we are always lucky and get tickets.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
Well, this is all I know right? I was born in 2006 so I was not around when CD’s were a thing. I’ve never bought music at a music store! I read comments about how streaming companies are taking all the profits and artist are not getting what they deserve, so that makes me sad, but I don’t really have an idea or a solution for it. I think that a song is like your kid, your baby, and it is not right that other people get to benefit from it more than you. I understand that everyone in the process needs to make money, but the artist should always be the one getting the most benefits from their creative work.
Digital vs. vinyl?
What is a vinyl? Lol – KIDDING. I know what it is but I don’t think I have every listened to a vinyl. At home we don’t even own a CD player, everything is digital.
Do you think that the Me-Too movement has helped female performers?
I think so, but I don’t think that Me too is about helping female performers, but about raising awareness against female violence and sexual harassment. I think that there are a lot of amazingly successful women performers are there and they are not struggling to sell records or arenas. This makes me happy because I love to see that other women have been able to make it in this industry and this gives me all the motivation, I need to work hard to accomplish my goals.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going on in the United States?
I think it is very unfortunate and I pray that our neighbors to the south are going to find stability soon. I don’t like to get political, but it seems that the USA has never been at such a low point, and I just think that it is a result of bad leadership and messages of hate coming from the highest possible levels.
What does the statement “Where’s life taking us” mean to you?
That post happened at the very beginning of lockdowns and it was at a moment where we didn’t know what was going to happen and everything was so uncertain. This pandemic has been really bad for a lot of people and I feel bad for that because it is no one’s fault, it is something that we are all experiencing in the planet, but it has affected different people in different ways and there is nothing we can do about it. It has been months and we still don’t know when this is going to end, so, therefore, my question stands: “where is life taking us?”
I think we need to be better with the planet, consume less and produce less waste. People are overworked and underpaid and it is creating a society of unhappy people and I don’t think life is about working endlessly until you die. We need to slow down as a society, share more, love more.
What is the mental health situation of the Canada? How can public help the doctors and nurses on the front line?
Honestly, the situation here is not bad. Cases seem to be under control and people are following the rules about social distancing and wearing masks in public… following the rules is so Canadian! Lol, But seriously, following the rules is what is helping our doctors, nurses, and front-line workers. We have been able to carefully open up our economy again and it has been over a month and cases are still under control. It is a group effort and I am proud of all Canadians because we are all working together for the common good.
You are still going to school Are you going to be in class this year?
So far yes. I am starting high school this year (grade 9) and I am excited to go back to school, but at the same time anxious because we still don’t know what the new normal is going to look like. There is always lots of talks about a second wave hitting in the fall and we can easily be looking at a second lockdown as soon as schools open up. We will see.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Right now, My Immortal from Evanescence. It is a very inspirational song that means my transition from POP to rock because Amy Lee was the first artist I discovered when I started making rock music and I look up to her so much. I still use her songs today to train my vocals on a daily basis.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I don’t know. It is all so unclear right now. In Canada, we are going back to small live shows at smaller venues, but I think we are far away from large concerts and festivals. I don’t think the new streaming concert era is going to flourish because people want social interaction and live music is not the same being experienced from a screen. You need to feel that bass line pumping your heartbeat, the drumbeat, the sweat, the action. Nothing will ever replace live music.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have been stuck at home since March!!! We have been very strict at home and have only gathered with people in our social bubble which include my band members and a few family members. We are rocking it though because we have been able to be responsible socially but at the same time continue to have some level of normal in our life.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I have been learning drums with our drummer Andy and like I said before, Santiago is teaching me how to box!
95% of people said that they have changed the way they watch television. Which is your favorite streaming channel?
Disney+ hands down!
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. I see you were doing Zoom to write music with your band?
We did from March to May and then we were able to start meeting, rehearsing and playing together. We have a rehearsal studio where we practice, but we also meet at my house often. We do practice sessions at the studio, but we also do write session at my place where we have a very comfortable space in my basement where we can hang out and be creative.
Tell me about Forest City Fight Back.
I was invited to be featured on this video by the producers and I was very thankful and honored. The people included in the video are true local stars and I was super proud to be in this elite team of Londoners. This video totally rocked it!
Live Nations just started Live Nation from Home. Which are concerts from artist homes. An all-new virtual music hub keeping fans connected to their favorite artists featuring daily live streams, performances, new music and more. Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
Honestly, I don’t think so. This is not the first pandemic in history and it may take time, but I believe concerts will go back to normal even if it takes us 5 years to get there.
For smaller bands who do not play large crowds, this is not really an issue. How do you see bands going back to smaller venues and doing things like play for the door, with no guarantees?
It Is going to be hard at the beginning but I think it will slowly get better. We are already seeing bars in London that are opening their doors to live music. People will slowly start getting comfortable with the idea and people will get back out, I think. Hopefully wearing a mask is going to keep everyone safe in public gatherings. I also think that venue owners need to support the artists a bit more because playing for the door takes the risk away for the venue but puts a lot of pressure on the artist, which is not fair. I think for a show to be successful, the venue and the artist both need to be committed, and if they both share the risk, they are going to work harder to promote the event, which will translate into more people attending the show. If the venue expect the artist to bring all the crowd, then they are doing something wrong because if you are a bar and can’t get people inside your door and expect that a band is going to do that for you, then it means your business is not that successful anyways. Bands should be paid a fee on top of the door. Do you know how much money bars make, at least in Canada, just with alcohol sales alone? Owners need to share the risk a little, which supports the artists, and in turn we get better music.
How was your first show after the pandemic at the Budwise Garden?
It was such an amazing show! It was weird not playing with a crowd but we had tons of feedback and people really enjoyed our music. It was really cool of Budweiser Gardens to open up their channels to support local artists. We also had an amazing group of people, who all volunteered to produce the show for us. Our food friends from LAV Solutions and their owners Nate Brounstein and Vince Kemp offered to do the production, lighting, and live streaming with their professional equipment and the results were amazing. This was a group of entertainment industry people coming together to support us and to get out of being stuck at home for months. Everyone had an amazing time and we couldn’t be more grateful for their support.
In addition, at the present time for a band to go on tour from one state to another they may need to self-quarantine for 14 days. How is that going to work?
It is not going to work. We are not there yet, especially in the US.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it maybe the end of music fest for the next couple of years?
I don’t know. I hope things go back to normal soon, I am not an expert, but I think that there are ways of minimizing risk, like for example wearing a mask, so maybe that can be a way to bring back festivals if we all agree to help out by wearing a mask.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Wow, what is that? Is that even a thing? I am going to look into it!
Are you ready for a Grammy?
No, we are not there yet. As much as we are super proud of the work, we have done with Bella Rosa so far, we are only at the beginning of our career as a band. But the good thing is that we are in no rush! We are absolutely enjoying every step of the journey and the best part is that we have an amazing team working tirelessly to grow the band and we are doing it independently, with no labels. Obviously, we want to one day be signed to one of the big labels, but until then we are not going to settle for anything less than what we want. We are doing a great job promoting ourselves, recording our music and reaching more fans every day. We approach the band as a business, as a company, we have a manager that is taking care of all the business activities of the band, we have social media coordinators, we have our makeup artist, we have everything we need!
A Grammy is something we want to win one day, but when the time comes, we will be ready for it.
You only started your music career in 2019. How has your view of music changed over the last year?
It feels like we came to a screeching halt vs. all the plans that we had for 2020, but like I said before, we are in no rush. Since we can’t go out and play shows, we have focused on writing music and building our band, our image and also get to know each other inside the band because we are going to be spending lots of time together and building a strong relationship together is very important at this point.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Thank you so much for your time today! We are a young band starting to develop and we really appreciate your time and your support in helping us get our name out there. Hope we can one day come and do an interview with you in person and we want to send lots of love to the supporters of Unrated Magazine and a big shout out to all the Veterans out there!
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