Photo: Taylor Mansmann
After delighting us with a flurry of fresh and emotive gems these last few years, LA-based artist Ross Alan has now returned to deliver their wonderfully warm new single 'Homesick'.
Lifted from their newly unveiled EP 'Revelation', which is available to stream now, 'Homesick' makes for an incredibly rich and immersive listen. With their shimmering voice layered across a humbled production from start to finish, they are certainly looking to turn some heads with this one.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and influences over the years.
What was the first band or artist you fell in love with?
I was brought up in a media centered household. So we listened to everything! But truthfully as a 90’s baby, I think the first time I heard ‘Baby, One More Time’ by Britney Spears was eye opening for me. I was 7 or 8. Her delivery, the clothes, the choreo. I felt seen by someone who I (at the time) had literally nothing in common with. It was enough for me to take a step back and go ‘I wanna do what she does. I wanna make people feel the way she’s making me feel about myself.’
Did you ever form a band when you were younger and if so, what did they sound like?
No! And it’s a tragedy honestly. I wanted to. I always joked with friends about starting a group like N’Sync or the Spice Girls hoping secretly that someone would take me seriously. But I was an alien flying solo. It was 2000 in Ohio, no one in hundreds of miles of my small town wanted to make pop music. So it stayed a bedroom dream until I was in college.
What has been your primary inspiration in writing music?
Self acceptance and understanding. I’ve always said that one of my only goals for music was to write and release things that make people feel less alone. To display truth and vulnerability. So that in the same way music saved me as a teenager so many times, I could try to do that for someone else. If I can make one person feel seen and validated or understood, I’ll consider myself very lucky.
What is a song you wish you had written yourself?
A rough question! My god. There are so many. I’d probably say either “Get Free” by Lana Del Rey or “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato. Some of the best written pop songs of all time. Both have lyrics that I die over and melodies that really provoke deep-seated emotions in me and hit me where it counts.
If there was any moment in your career you could relive, what would it be?
Hands down reliving my sold out show at the Whisky A-Go-Go in Hollywood last June. It was my 31st birthday. It was my first time playing with a backing band. It was the first time I was asked for an encore. The entire audience sang happy birthday to me. It was the first time I performed my newest single ‘Homesick’ live. It felt very surreal and like a big step forward in my career. It was that moment I felt like I was where I was supposed to be.
Which artist would you most love to share a stage with?
That is a long long list. But I think probably my top, stereotypically, is Taylor Swift. That girl can put on a damn show and I’m undoubtedly a Swiftie.
And is there an artist you would love to collaborate with as well?
As a non-binary queer artist, it’s easy for me to lean into other queer artists I admire like Jake Wesley Rogers, Lil Nas X, Elton John, Hayley Kiyoko or Jordy. But I don’t want to put myself in a box. So some bigger names: Halsey for sure, Miley Cyrus, Ariana, Gaga. I love my pop divas.
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
Undoubtedly doing music full time. Would love to be touring and collaborating with other artists. I see the growth I’ve made in just the last two or three years and I’m prepared to continue running up that hill towards whatever is next.
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Ross Alan's new single 'Homesick' is available to stream now. Listen to it below.
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