Rosie and the Goldbug : Interview

The term ‘rock’n’roll is a horrible cliché and one 4or The Record is terrified of. It’s got to be one of the least desirable things to be known for, as the testimonies of those characters whose legacy is described as rock’n’roll have proven it usually results in…well…death.

As much as 4or The Record loves putting things inside of itself and poking at the door of debauchery with fluorescent things on Fridays, the day it was described as a “rock and roll kind of person” would be a dark one. I’m pretty sure the next 10-years would be spent eating organic food and learning the oboe in Suffolk.

Rock’n’roll works for some, but I think the general facets of this way of life include alienating your friends, lots of sick, probably mental problems verging on disability and if you make it past 60, frantically using your limited brain power to try and retain some kind of credibility in your old age.

If the last two exceptionally colourful and genre busting years in music have taught us anything, it’s: most bands don’t need this kind of behavioural psychosis to retain an audience and if they do, the best ones hide it brilliantly or find their own take on the rock’n’roll formula. Luckily for one band, they have a front woman capable of doing this on her own.

Meet Rosie and the Goldbug. Enamouring three-piece picture perfect pop-tarts from Cornwall.

4or The Record has ventured south tonight after catching them earlier this year at The Lanes in Bristol. They are on home turf at the beautiful Eden Project in St Austell and 4TR feels like it’s stepped into another world even before it decides to explore the artificial eco-systems that make up this special place. The interview setting is the kid’s room of the Eden complex and there is way to much soft stuff in here to not think of bedding down after the three hour drive. Bringing a cheeky JD in there almost feels a bit wrong, but any inhibitions are soon forgotten.

“We’ve got an obsessive fan in London, whose identity I can’t reveal, so I’ll call him Malcolm. He comes to every gig and he’s lovely, but the only bad thing about him is his breath smells. So when you talk to him and he’s right in your face it’s difficult. We still really want to talk to him because we appreciate the fact he comes to our gigs, so I usually run off and let Pixie talk to him.

“You know in Labyrinth there’s the little worm that’s like: “don’t go that way“. He sounds exactly like that.

“I always love eccentric people, they are my favourite. There are so many people who are afraid these days and who are scared about doing anything, so I just love people who are a bit out of the ordinary.”

Rosie Venier is out of the blocks quickly and 4TR is wide awake again. Beautiful and attention grabbing, this is the kind of front woman most girls get nowhere near being without getting hurt. Thick skinned, opinionated, ballsy and etched with a deeply seductive personality that has our entourage visibly entranced, this is Rosie’s court. The men in the room wouldn’t have it any other way.

Rosie’s vitriol is made all the sweeter by the fact she shares the band space with two people are happy to let her be. This band is called Rosie and the Goldbug after all. Yet you can’t help feeling it would be a waste of such a magnetic personality if she wasn’t allowed to have a degree of control over proceedings.

Therein lays the brilliance of this band. Their infectious, perfectly fronted wonky-pop belies a rock’n’roll attitude that is only permeated through Rosie, her opinions and her deeply engaging performance. You would be a fool not to describe her as rock’n’roll but with a giant twist of sensibility that grounds her and those around her.

The other two band members complete the picture. Sweetly named guitarist Pixie and drummer Plums are perfect antidotes to Rosie’s onslaughts. Cool, calm and undeniably Cornish, with a theatrical style that’s glam and cheeky, they are both great company.  Onstage, like any good theatre actors they get into character brilliantly. Plums’ soft nature gives way to a master class in energetic drumming and Pixie’s smooth guitar playing is a great visual antidote to Rosie’s attention grabbing moves.

So it’s with a bit of joy that 4or The Record spends a delightful hour shooting the breeze with these popsters.  But in reality mainly Rosie.
   
4TR: So where are you based?
Rosie: We live in Cornwall but we travel up to London a lot. We’re there all the time. We were there this morning recording bonus tracks for the album. I love recording it’s my favourite bit because it spruces everything up a bit. When you are constantly gigging the same material it gets a quite hard just doing the same songs over and over again.

4TR: Are you happy with your new stuff?
Rosie: Yeah we are because I suppose it’s just constantly evolved. Obviously we are more excited by the new stuff. It’s like a new toy; it’s always going to be better than the old model.
Pixie: You’ve got a new toy haven’t you?
Rosie: (proceeds to show us and play miniature piano) I bought this from Mexico when I was over there and I didn’t take any instruments with me. I promised myself I wouldn’t do any music while I was out there and I would give myself a break and then by the second week I was like “I need to play something”! So I bought this. I find it really exciting and now it just sits in the van with us.

4TR: So what is your new stuff influenced by, or is there anything you always go back to?
Rosie: If I want a total fresh start I’ll go back to an old ESG song or something like that, or old Motown stuff. You go back to the old stuff and you realise that all these cunts are just ripping off them.  Picasso said don’t borrow it steal it. I think if you can be fucking blatant and it is obvious what it is you’re doing and it’s a hat tilt or homage to someone, then I think that’s great.

4TR: So is Rosie in charge of writing or do you write as a group effort?
Rosie: It’s always been me bossing everyone around. I’ve always got something in my head and I’ve got to find a way to get it out. But I’ve actually realised over the last 6 months we are on the same page and now I don’t tell anyone what to do anymore. I actually get told what to do, so the tables have turned a bit.

In writing the songs that I’ve shown Pixie and Plums, I felt it was like handing over a baby. Three brains are better than one brain and we feel more united as band because of it. I felt really precious before about it and now I feel like I can kind of share it.

4TR: Is there anyone you really have no time for at the moment?
Rosie: There is no one I hate at that the moment. I think I’m so in awe of bands who break through. Even if I don’t necessarily enjoy what they are doing, I really respect they have worked fucking hard to get where they are.

The year before we did festivals we were a completely unknown band and we are still getting our name around. Festivals were our firsts taste of what’s it’s like to be a proper band gigging. We were back stage with the Black Kids and we were chatting to British Sea Power and Franz Ferdinand and it was a complete culture shock for us because this was what we had been working towards and we’d got the first step of the ladder done. It’s cool watching them all hang out.

People think it’s all rock’n’roll backstage, but it’s not. People have to do their performance, so it’s more like everyone having a sit down meal. It’s much more civilised. I was expecting to go backstage and there to be coke everywhere and everyone running round naked, but the reality was quite serious. Everyone was getting ready for their performance. So was quite nice, because I’m not that hardcore with alcohol so it's good to see other artists, being serious about what they were doing.

4TR: But it must annoy you that there are loads of people out there with success who don’t fucking deserve it when you are working really hard?
Rosie: Hand on heart I can’t think of anyone of the top of my head. Years ago I would have gone Boyzone or Ronan Keating or someone like that. But the way the music scene is at the moment, I’ve realised it’s so hard for anyone to get anywhere because of things like X-Factor…Actually there you go - X-Factor.

X-Factor annoys me, that’s one thing I find difficult because it actually ends up dominating the entire music market and it’s not necessarily true talent that comes through.

4TR: So based on that who are you really into at the moment?
Art Brut was cool to tour with.
Ladyhawke
Friendly Fires.

Tonight their set is a great delve into what good wonky pop music should be. Electronic, catchy, hook laden and above all good fun. Everyone’s leaving here with a tune firmly lodged in their cranium.

Yet again it all comes back to Rosie. Flirting with the crowd in black and red there are passionate male eyes all over her and in all likelihood a few girlfriends trying to offer distractions the other way. Commanding the stage in predatory fashion, the sound of 'Heartbreak' (perhaps their best tune) is a great reminder of how the current retro-electro is perfectly suited to the female voice.

Heartbreak is probably quite fitting as you get the impression Rosie could be versed in squeezing a few male ventricles in her time. Getting the crowd involved with the anthemic 'Lover', Rosie is in full sexual pomp using the song’s bittersweet charm to full effect.

If 4or The Record sees anything as sweet or sexy as Rosie and the Goldbug this year it’s going to take it round the back of the bike shed, kiss it on the cheek, ask it on a date and then probably end up in rehab with heartbreak and sugar addiction.

Thomas Frost

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