Introducing Blake Rose: The Perth singer, songwriter & producer making music industry waves

Hollywood is a funny place, a labyrinth frequented by the talented (and untalented) in search of everlasting fame and fortune.

Starry-eyed hopefuls are almost always met by shrewd gatekeepers, dealt broken promises, and more often than not, end up right back where they began: empty-handed and heartbroken.

But 21-year-old Blake Rose hasn’t had to endure the many thorns that come with navigating the ‘City of Angels’. A place where he says “everyone is free to express themselves, in whatever way”.

With the right amount of hustle and humbleness, Rose has made his way from Perth to Los Angeles, finding an impressive network of music industry power players who have invested in his future.

Enduring only a few “broken promises” from those Hollywood-types, Rose defied the odds when he signed a publishing deal with Kobalt Music Group after meeting LA-based creative VP Amanda Samii in 2017.

“She’s someone that I trust a lot in the industry and she’s got my best interests at heart,” Rose tells TMN of the relationship with Samii.

Impressed by his backstory – (his first instrument was a didgeridoo), and his undeniable musicality (his songwriting carries a depth beyond his years, akin to Shawn Mendes) – the Kobalt executive initiated a meeting that would change everything.

Samii introduced Rose to Brandon Goodman, who alongside his business partner Danny Rukasin, are the artist management brain trust behind chart-topper Billie Eilish.

“I knew that when she introduced me to Brandon it was something that I really needed to explore,” recalls Rose.

They hit it off almost instantly, according to Rose, formalising a partnership in early 2018.

“I was intrigued by the depth of the songwriting, his voice, and then learning that Blake was producing all of the music himself,” Goodman tells TMN via email after Eilish’s Coachella set.

Rose released ‘Hotel Room’ in November last year. A song he co-wrote with collaborator, roommate and fellow Aussie artist Joel Adams in their LA pad.

“When we met, that was basically when everything clicked, because we just have this chemistry that’s almost like it’s brought the best out of both of us working with each other,” explains Rose.

“We sort of figured out exactly the direction that we want to head.”

And that artistic direction Rose speaks about is one he describes as “a melange of Coldplay, The 1975, Ed Sheeran and Vance Joy.”

Unlike most aspiring pop stars, you get the feeling Rose isn’t trying to rush the creative process. He’s focussed on building his career one song at a time while mastering his craft in the studio.

“I’m kind of sitting between this alternative pop realm where I’ve got these really catchy melodies that can hook you in, but then the lyrics are really deep and you can really connect to them if you let yourself.”

“It’s taken me a long time, as it does for any producer, to get to a point where you can really produce a song, and to a point where you can put it out and people can listen to it and be like, ‘Wow, that’s a really well-produced song’.”

In February, Rose released his second single ‘Lost’, a bonafide digital hit with over three million streams on Spotify. And with the help of Goodman, he caught the attention of playlist gatekeepers and influencers like Zane Lowe.

“Apple, Spotify, and YouTube have been supportive of Blake,” says Goodman. “Especially when we released ‘Lost’.

“Zane Lowe was willing to make the song a #WorldFirst on his Beats 1 show and Spotify added the song to a ton of playlists out the gate, including a handful of New Music Friday playlists.”

With plans to begin touring later in the year, Goodman confirms that Rose has now signed with a couple of the music industry’s top agents.

The team behind Mendes, Halsey and LAUV at Paradigm (Matt Galle, Zac Bluestone) will represent Rose in North America and rest of word, while Mike Malak at CODA (Jess Glynne, Billie Eilish) will handle the UK and Europe.

“We are continuing to build a great team around Blake,” says Goodman.

“Right now, we are focusing on the music first to create the demand for touring while also allowing new fans that might discover him by seeing him live to have music to check out after the show.”

Meantime, the slow and steady ascent of Blake Rose requires a swift and steady stream of new music to build demand on the touring circuit.

The next self-produced and released work for Rose, his third single under Goodman’s watch, is an emotionally charged song about addiction that he insists is the “most personal” in his catalogue.

“It’s about someone pretty close to me that has struggled with addiction for a while, drug addiction.

“I knew that I wanted to write about it for ages, but I just didn’t know what angle I wanted to come at it from, because I didn’t want the song to feel like an attack on that person.”

The end result is ‘Best of Me’, which is already on track to hit 300,000 Spotify streams since its release one week ago. But, again, Rose and Goodman aren’t in a hurry.

“I want to be careful about having expectations this early on for how the music is going to perform,” says Goodman. “Instead, we are just focusing on putting out great songs with great production, further showcasing Blake as the talented artist and songwriter that I know he is.