Roxanne Emery Interview

A voice as sweet as sugar, a superstar DJ brother and flitting her time between London and LA, Roxanne Emery is a darling of the music industry. Taking on a full set on a live stage for the very first time, she is the cherry on top of an incredible line-up for the Atlantis tour in Australia this June. To find out more about her, we sat down for a chat to talk all things music, holidays and her favourite spots in London and LA.

Hi Roxanne, how are you?
I’m very well, thank you.

Am I right in saying that you’re playing your first ever live vocal shows in Sydney and Melbourne this June for the Atlantis tour?
Basically, I have performed one song before a couple of times with my brother when I’ve been on the road with him. But this is the first time I’m doing a full set – 30 minutes – and it’s filled with pretty much every song I’ve released, so it is the world premiere of that.

So why did you choose Australia for such a milestone?
It’s quite a funny story… I do get quite a lot of offers to sing live but it’s not something that I say yes to because I find it really nerve-wracking. I absolutely love writing, but performing is something that I’ve shied away from. The last few months, the reception online has been amazing and the singles have done better than I ever could have imagined, and the promoter contacted me about the shows, I did originally say no, but they explained the project and showed me the stage, and it was mind blowing, and I decided I couldn’t miss the opportunity. But it’s the furthest I could possibly go!

You have a real country sound on your album, but you collaborate with many electronic dance acts. What will your set involve?
It is going to be mainly the collaborations that I’ve done with dance acts, mainly because of the line-up and that music’s so big in Australia. There will be something in there more acoustic, and there’s actually an acoustic version of one of the dance songs called ‘On Fire’ on the album, so I’m probably going to do a couple of minutes acoustic just to show that side, but it is going to be a big set in terms of production.

How do you think you’ll prepare for it?
At the moment, it feels so far away that I’m not that nervous now. My manager did send me a breakdown of where I would be playing, and when I saw how big they were, my stomach did turn over a bit! As an acoustic artist, I have done a lot of shows, and a drink before stage does go a long way to help, so as long as I’ve got a nice drink in hand I’m sure I’ll be ok!

Have you been to Australia before?
Never. This will be my first time. I’m actually there for a week so hopefully I’ll have some time to look around. It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go but it’s a day on plane so I absolutely can’t wait to get out and do some sightseeing, go out for some nice dinners and meet people.

Do you have your heart set on singing in any particular venues or festivals in the world?
I have actually just booked a couple of shows with Aly & Fila which will be amazing because I’ve done a couple of tracks with them. In terms of places I’d love to perform, it’s not something I’ve thought about, but I’m definitely a lot more open to taking on gigs and touring with people. One thing I do love doing, which I’ve been able to do a couple of times with my brother, is perform acoustically and it’s an amazing experience. We did it recently at a sold out show at the Palladium in LA and it was amazing, suddenly all the lights went down, he walked over to the piano and I came on. There’s something very special about that.

As your older brother, has Gareth given you any advice or do you turn to him for it?
He has given me SO much advice over the years. He would always be my first port of call. I’m actually on his management team and I do the A&R for his vocals, so whenever he’s working with an artist, I’ve gone out and found those songs. It’s amazing to be able to work with him and find the same passion in other people. He’ll give me advice on who to work with and how to promote my album. It’s really amazing to have him there and to work with him.

You’ve been to many of his shows, has it prepared you for the Atlantis tour?
Whenever I’ve performed with Gaz, I’ve only ever performed one acoustic song, and when it’s his show, my friends and family will be there, we go out for dinner the night before, there’ll be a few glasses of red wine – it is very relaxing! But I still manage to be a bag of nerves before I go on! Atlantis is going to be very different and more nerve-wracking, so I know it’s going to look amazing, it’s just a case of remembering the words! I’m definitely going to be practising the next couple of weeks.

I understand you flit between LA and London, so do you have any favourite spots for a night out or music events?
That is a hard question! So, in LA, it would have to be classic places like The Roxy and The House Of Blues for acoustic nights. For dance events, it would have to be The Palladium, Avalon and Exchange. Back in London, I don’t tend to go to many acoustic shows, I’m much more likely to go to an open mic night, which was actually how I met Christina Novelli. I go to The Spice Of Life in Soho. For dance music, I love Ministry Of Sound, and recently I was lucky enough to go to Above & Beyond at Brixton Academy – I went on the first night and I loved it so much I went again on the second night!

Where was your last holiday?
It would have been January this year. For a Christmas present, I took three of my friends to Paris, and we did a few days sightseeing, but it ended up being a very moving experience because in the weeks we were due to leave, the attack on Charlie Hebdo happened. A lot of people were saying not to go, but we went, and we actually took part in the march. It was one of the most incredible experiences – hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of Paris, the sun was shining, and it erupted in applause – all four of us were crying because it was so moving. If you can go somewhere and be part of something, that’s how I prefer to travel.

Roxanne Emery will be part of the Atlantis tour alongside Paul van Dyk, MaRLo, Mark Sixma and Driftmoon.

Friday 5th June – Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Sunday 7th June – The Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

Tickets available to buy from www.ticketek.com.au

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03