Saw*Kick Media

Rossella’s quintet rock attack has taken Cleveland by storm. Its catchy and potent brand of rock has attracted attention from local heavy weights inside the industry. The bands 2006 debut album, Seasons, received considerable radio play on some of the areas better known rock and college stations. The steady air play allowed them opportunities to open up for such national acts like O.A.R., Black Light Burns, and Ghost Machine. We nabbed the gentleman to talk about their upcoming gig with Paramore, the progress of new material, and the bands production skills.

S*KM: You have a pretty active schedule booked throughout the rest of summer, but stated your show schedule was slowing down. How often do you play out when you are going full speed?

Rosella: Full speed for us is probably about 10-15 shows a month.

S*KM: How do you think live music in the area compares today as opposed to 5-10 years ago? Do you have a hard time drawing people away from their computers to experience music in the real world?

Rosella: Overall I’d say it is harder than it used to be, which I think is due to a lot of different things like: The shear abundance of music out there and the economy. But in our experience, it really depends on where you’re playing, every city is different.

S*KM: You are going to be opening up for Paramore at the Time Warner Amphitheatre on August 24. How did you get on that bill?

Rosella: Our friend Ray Leonardi at the Free Times hooked us up with that, he is a big supporter of us, and has thrown us quite a few quality opportunities. Plus, being voted “Free Times Best Rock band in Cleveland” helped a little too.

S*KM: How well do you feel your sound will go over for thousands of 15 year old girls in skinny jeans?

Rosella: Haha. Well, I guess we’ll find out. We’re not concerned though. We’re happy to have the exposure.

S*KM: It’s been about a year and a half since the release of your debut album Seasons, when can fans expect new Rosella material?

Rosella: We’re working on new stuff right now actually. But we aren’t putting any time constraints on ourselves at this point. When we feel we’ve got the best group of songs we can possibly put out recorded, that’ll be when we release another album.

S*KM: In your last blog post to the fans you said you were “honing your sound even more” what direction is that taking the music in this time around?

Rosella: Well as any band should, in my opinion, we’re trying to challenge ourselves to do things we haven’t personally done before and grow as musicians. One thing that is always important to us is dynamics. We want our heaviest song to be just as strong as our slowest. So we plan to explore the peaks and valleys of our writing skills a little more. Our potential has only begun to be realized.

S*KM: You recorded and produced Seasons at drummer Chris Urminski’s Subtracked Studios. What advice would you give to bands who are thinking about handling the recording process themselves?

Rosella: Don’t be afraid to screw up. Read everything. Be patient. It’s a lot of work but will be the most rewarding.

S*KM: Do you think some bands underestimate the importance of extensive recording knowledge?

Rosella: Either that or just lack the actual recording experience to understand that capturing sound is an art form all itself. An art form every musician should be constantly learning about.

S*KM: You won the Free Times “Rock Band of the Year” award back in March, who else were you up against and how did it feel to take home the gold?

Rosella: Lunavelis, The Jack Fords, Redwater Rojo and The Doctor Teeth. It’s a good feeling to know that people pay attention and appreciate what you’re doing. It was a great accomplishment for our band and we hope that it won’t be the last.

S*KM: Other then Myspace what do you think is an unsigned bands greatest aid in its quest for musical domination?

Rosella: Their own drive will do more for them than any website.

S*KM: Say you were playing a show on the Titanic as it went down (ignoring the discrepancy that electric instruments had not been invented) and you had time to play one song as people plummeted to their death, what would it be?

Rosella: We’ve got a new song we’ve been playing live and, are working on recording, that I think I’d like to hear as my ears fill with freezing water. It was inspired by someone I love very much and I think, under the circumstances, that it would be a very comforting song to die to. It’s called Sweet.

S*KM: What else is in store for Rosella in the coming months?

Rosella: We’re going to be playing a couple great festivals throughout Ohio like: Clay’s Park Rock N Resort Festival in North Lawrence, VEX FEST 5 in Youngstown and the Mid Point Music Festival in Cincinnati as well as some sweet club dates. In-between all that we’re going to continue writing and recording new material for our next release. We’ll eventually start focusing a little more on recording as winter approaches.

You can sample Rosella for yourself at www.myspace.com/rosellaband and catch them live next on Friday, August 8 at Royal Oaks Bar and Grill in Youngstown, Ohio.

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