Rose Cora perry
&The Truth Untold
As a fellow Londoner what would you say is your favourite spot to just sit and think about life?
Ooh good question. During the summer, I find it quite peaceful walking down Princess Ave to Victoria Park – just taking in the beauty of the old Victorian homes, gardens and trees.
During the winter, driving out on Richmond St to Arva or Stratford is a nice relaxing trip (so long as the weather is cooperating of course!).
I guess you could say I just like taking in the beauty of the little things that are around us every day that we all too often take for granted.
You do a lot of non-for-profit events and organizations in London and area, can you emphasize on that?
I’m a very community-oriented person. I’m a born and raised Londoner and I’m truly grateful for the support that my hometown has bestowed upon me. Donating my time as an Artist and Emcee is my way of giving back.
http://www.facebook.com/rosecoraperryofficial.
I try to lend my talents to a variety of causes that are important to me personally such as: London’s Walk & Talk for Mental Health, Defeat Depression, as well as VegFest London.
I’ve also been involved with the London Run for Ovarian Cancer for three years now and I’m excited to be participating as an Emcee in two new events this year: London’s Steampunk Gala and Meow-w-za, which is a fundraiser for Animal Outreach.
You found your talent when you were young!! What would you say to a young aspiring singer or actress just starting?
Three simple words: Follow your dreams.
I think one of the greatest joys in life is trying new things and taking on new challenges. No, it may not always work out but if you don’t try you’ll never know. I am passionate about ongoing personal growth and discovery and I guess I’d just like to be able to look back upon my life and say, “hey I did some pretty darn cool things.”
In other words, do what makes you happy not just what’s expected of you. There’s nothing worse than simply “existing”. Live your life!
What has been the hardest hurdle in your life that you overcame?
Oooh another great question and a tough one to answer. I’ve had some pretty tumultuous life-altering experiences, BUT I always remind myself that I “survived” them rather than allowed them to “victimized” me.
The breakups of both of my bands were dramatic and unfortunate to say the least. Not only did I lose my musical partnerships, I also lost my best friend in my first band and my romantic partner of almost a decade in my second band. Talk about double whammies. That was HARD.
Highschool was a very challenging time for me as well. I was SERIOUSLY bullied and it affected me deeply on a psychological level for years. Truly, when I say that music “saved” my life, I do mean it because it allowed me to deal with a lot of pent up anger, animosity, sadness and general feelings of being overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Like most, I also experienced family drama growing up, as the product of a “broken” home.
But again, as painful as all of those things were, I try to look at them in terms of the lessons I gained and ultimately how they helped me become who I am today.
I think it’s very easy to allow oneself to tailspin into negative thinking, believing that the world has done you wrong. But ultimately, we ALL have our own burdens to bear and battle wounds that, in my humble opinion, we should wear with pride. Again, when reflecting on not-so-nice moments, I think we ought to try and shift our focus on what we “gained” rather than what we “lost”.
http://www.twitter.com/rosecoraperry.
What was the best part of the Grammys when you went there?
Well, I’m pretty darn honoured to have been invited to go in the first place so there’s obviously that! LA is a very vibrant city and the whole trip was all around exciting.
Performance-wise, by far, in my view Barbra Streisand stole the show. She was on point with everything. She is one hell of a singer and one hell of an entertainer.
From a production standpoint, it was interesting to see the changeovers that take place when the cameras are off during commercial breaks…as well as the dialogue that occurs.
I may or may not have witnessed firsthand a marital squabble between J Lo and Marc Anthony, though of course, when the cameras were on, no one would have been the wiser ;)
What would you call your style or genre in the entertainment world?
I’m someone who likes to toy with genre conventions and push the boundaries a bit. I have a great deal of influences that come from diverse places because of my varied musical backgrounds (ie: my classical training coupled with my rock’n’roll experiences not to mention my love of jazz standards and my obsession with 90s grunge!). Consequently, all these influences have moments in which they each respectively shine through in my compositions.
With that said, I kinda invented a genre description for myself that I felt was an accurate representation of my music: I call it “acoustic alternative”. Acoustic because my tunes are, at their bones, driven by simple and dynamic melodies. Alternative because unlike most musicians who write acoustic/folk-driven tunes, my music still very much incorporates a rock sensibility. I play guitar aggressively with palm muting, chugging and random breakdowns, while keeping the singing sweet.
With all that said however, an artist can think/label their music one way while listeners hear something completely different. ACDC is a prime example of that. They classify themselves as a blues band whereas the general public has labelled them a hard rock group.
So, I welcome people to listen to my stuff and come up with their own interpretation(s) of what I’m doing. I’m always up for a good debate J Just don’t call me country!
What has been your fondest moment that hit you in the heart that you have had happen in your life or career?
In 2010, when I released my debut solo album, “Off Of the Pages”, I played this incredible festival in Pittsburgh called “The Three Rivers Regatta”.
Following my performance, I spotted this lady running across the field to the stage. At the time, I assumed she was trying to catch up with someone she knew. BUT in fact, she was coming to see me.
With tears in her eyes, she gave me a huge hug and told me I sang “my little heart out” and she HAD to have a copy of my cd.
It was a beautiful moment – to have touched someone in such a powerful way with my music and my words. It’s moments like that that make all the bs of the industry worth tolerating.
What was the funniest moment whether being on the road or in a studio or doing a show that is always in your head?
Oh there have been many! One that comes to mind from the Anti-Hero days was when we were rocking out (and perhaps getting a bit riotous) at a bar, we inadvertently started a giant mosh pit and one dude decided to go for a stage dive. The problem was that NO ONE caught him!
As I was focused on playing guitar and singing at the time, I didn’t quite “catch” (pardon the pun) what had happened in terms of why the crowd dispersed. Luckily, said dude was okay but it was admittedly a tad funny.
Note to self: be sure you know someone in the crowd that will break your fall before embarking on an epic dive.
What are your feelings on the artists getting exposure in Canada. Do you think there is enough support here?
Yes and no. I personally have had much better success touring in the US market but I think that’s due primarily to the fact that there are simply MORE venues/festivals to play in the US and that I don’t write easy-to-classify music.
In other words, Canadians are a wee bit conservative (hate to say it) in their musical tastes and they’re not quite sure what to do with me, whereas when I play a city like NYC (where experimental genres are warmly welcomed), they just “get” it and think it’s cool without question.
With that said, I have had some AMAZING support here in Canada too. I was lucky enough to play CMW twice as well as NXNE with my past band Anti-Hero – both of which are huge deals in the industry. I was also featured in a three month exposé for Canadian Musician magazine in which my opinions were elected to represent the “voice of independent musicians”; a pretty huge honour. So again, I don’t take any of that for granted.
I think right now the industry is in a major state of flux and because of the internet playing such a vital role in the success of bands anymore, one’s country of origin isn’t as big of a factor as it used to be. A band from Japan could have a video go viral just the same as a band from Norway or Canada etc. How this all plays out remains to be seen.
One thing about London is we have style here. I enjoy our malls Masonville and White Oaks and Galleria. Do you have a favourite brand of clothing?
I’m actually all about vintage and second hand shops. 90% of my wardrobe comes from places like Value Village. I love the concept of “upcycling” and giving new life to “pre-loved” items. I’ve donated a lot of my old clothes that I don’t have use for anymore too so someone out there is likely wearing stuff I once wore on stage ;)
What about a restaurant. Do you have a favourite restaurant here in London?
As a vegan, there are fairly limited options for me to dine out at but I’m super excited that VegOut will be taking on new life as the newly branded “GlassRoots” this Spring. I CAN’T wait to try it! Equally, “Plant Matter Kitchen” will be opening soon in Wortley Village and I’m super stoked about that.
I’m also a huge Zen Gardens fan and I’ve converted some of my meat-eater friends on their fantastic substitute “chicken” teriyaki.
I love cooking myself too and as an Italian gal, I know my way around the kitchen.
