Into The World of Rohan and A Song called Fizzy

Into The World of Rohan and A Song called Fizzy

Rohan is an indie alternative artist based out of San Francisco via Australia who is beginning to make a name for himself all over the world.  His latest single Fizzy is super infectious, and the video is directed by Mark Kohr who is best known for his iconic work with Green Day.  Also featured performing drums on the song is none other than Thomas Pridgen from The Mars Volta!  A visit to Spotify finds a whole musical world of Rohan to enjoy, including recent releases such as I Wish I Could Tell You, Brittle Babe, and Bruises.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed Rohan to find out a whole lot more about this amazing artist on the rise…

Where are you based out of now, and what is your music scene like there? I think it’s San Francisco, actually.
I’m in SF. I definitely visit LA a lot, so I just tell people I’m in California. But yeah, my main base is in SF, and I’m from Australia, so I go back and forth between Australia and California, basically. Yeah, music scene-wise, I have a bunch of friends out here. I have a band out here who I play shows with, and I have a lot of collaborators here. I mean, drummers and session musicians, and my main mixing engineer is all based out of here. So yeah, I guess SF’s definitely where I’ve been making, I’d say, almost all of my music, since I started really making music.

I actually went to a club that you played at, Brick and Mortar, which was a really cool place. I went there like maybe a year and a half ago and saw a band called TX2, and that was a pretty cool club. What was the experience like playing that club for you?
I’ve actually played there a few times, but the last time I played at Brick and Mortar, it was like in March, and it was a sold-out show. It was opening for an artist called Devon Again. It was like an artist that I really like. That show was really fun. There was like another artist as well from SF who I found on TikTok, who I brought into the show. And I mean, it was sick. I just had all my friends there, and then we had a bunch of people who got to discover my music through that. It was probably my favorite show I’ve ever played, actually.

And who was the artist that you brought in? Let’s name check this person.
Her name was Julip.

And then you mentioned Devon Again. What was it like opening for Devon Again, and how did you wind up opening for Devin?
It was really fun. Devon’s really nice, and her fans, her crowd were really great to us. I got in touch with Devon’s manager online just by putting myself out there and everything. And I got on Devon’s manager’s radar. They wanted to do a show in SF, and I told them I’d help them make it happen. It was really fun. And I’m a huge fan of her music as well. I mean, I love that kind of like electronic pop punk vibe thing. I’ve had a lot of good memories listening to her music. So it was really cool to be on stage playing, opening for her.

Your latest song is called Fizzy. What was the inspiration behind that song?
Fizzy is about a relationship that keeps fizzling out. It’s about, I’d say, like a pretty toxic on and off dynamic for me with a girl that inspired that song. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, right? It’s like, we fight, I guess it’s all right. But it wraps it in that really upbeat, sarcastic, nonchalant vibe, because I think that was like the point of it – is it’s like way dysfunctional, but I’m kind of celebrating the dysfunction. And I’m enjoying it for right now in my life.

How did Thomas Pridgen from the Mars Volta wind up on Fizzy?
He’s actually close friends with Scott. Scott’s the guy who mixes all my music, and Scott is a partner at a studio in SF. And so I just met Thomas through Scott. I actually asked Thomas for a drum lesson. And then while he was teaching me drums, I was like, dude, you should just like drum my track. And he was like, yeah, I’m down. So yeah. That’s how it went.

The director of the video, Mark Kohr, I looked up his credits, and he’s done quite a few iconic Green Day videos. What was it like working with Mark? And how did you wind up working with him?
You know what? Green Day is my favorite band of all time. And I have an American Idiot tattoo. I’ve been to so many of their shows. And Green Day is how I got into music. And when I knew I wanted to start doing music videos, I just literally typed in Google, who made the When I Come Around video, because I really liked that one specifically. There’s just something about that nonchalant, Billie and Mike and Tré just walking around and looking all cool. But at the same time, it was the whole voyeurism angle was really interesting. I could tell whoever made it was really cooking.

So, I just typed in who made the When I Come Around video, and I saw Mark Kohr, and then I found his email, and I just emailed him. And I think like a month later, he replied. And he was like, I listened to music, and I really liked it. And Mark and I have just been friends ever since. He and I just have been working on videos, working on more videos. I’m going to his house this Friday to discuss some videos. And he’s a really nice guy. He’s a really awesome guy. And he’s been like a big supporter and a big fan of the music. And it’s been really fun working with him.

Let’s talk about a few of your other recent songs, and the inspiration behind them. I wish I Could Tell You is a recent release. Give me the inspiration behind that song.
That song is more of a breakup song. So I went through a breakup in October of last year, like a pretty volatile, pretty crazy breakup. And I wrote that song, I think within the first few days of me grieving that relationship. I really liked it. I thought it was going to be a folk song at the time. But I ended up going back to Australia for Christmas. I built out a little home studio.

And I didn’t want to do an angry song. None of the breakup songs that I’ve been doing are angry. It’s always like either graceful or longing or sarcastic. And I wanted to say, hey, what we had was real. I wanted to say that what we what had was real, and I respected it. I was back in Australia, so I was listening to a lot of Aussie bands like Skeggs and Hockey Dad. I didn’t plan it, but I was like, you know what, I really want to combine this hip hop beat, with sort of a 90s, kind of indie rock vibe that a lot of these like Aussie bands I listened to sit in. And that’s like the sonic, I’d say, inspiration behind the song.

Tell me about Brittle Babe and the inspiration behind that.
Brittle Babe is an interesting one. That’s a different vibe entirely, actually. That one’s funny. My sister came and visited me. My sister lives in Australia, and she came and visited me in SF. She was dating this guy who was like a producer in the city. He’s like a really, really deep hip-hop trap producer. And our vibes were way different. But I was always like, we’ve got to get in the studio sometime and just make something.

And so I brought a guitar over to his studio, and he just really wanted to work on a song that had a guitar in it. So I started laying down some, I’d say Steve Lacy chords, and he threw in these really sick synths and these really sick 808s. And we just riffed. But I wasn’t even in a breakup at that point. I was just pulling from different experiences that I had. But that whole thing was like, hey, I want to make a really hip-hop song. I want to add that to my catalog.

And then the last song I’m going to ask about is Bruises. Tell me a little about that one.
Yeah, that one was interesting. I feel like it’s a bit under looked in my catalog. That one, when I made it, I had done a lot of songs were very, very, I’d say layered, like grandiose songs. And lots of different sounds. And I was really going hard in the studio with production and learning new tricks. And I wanted to just strip it back down to me and my guitar. That was the point of that song to me was like, can I go back to basics a little and just reach into my songwriting and into my emotions. So that that song is about trying to be graceful to the other person in your relationship and trying to mend things when they’re broken. Really, it’s almost like an apology, in a sense, that song.

If you could open for any band or artists, either now, or from the past, who would it be and why?
Honestly, I think it’d be awesome to open for Dominic Fike. I love his music. And I think his fan base is really cool as well. So definitely, that’s high on the list.

I thought you were going to say Green Day.
I would, but the thing is that I love Green Day, but I feel like when it comes down to it, it’s a different vibe. There’s definitely a little bit of Green Day in my music. And there’s a lot of Green Day in my heart. But it’s like when it comes down to the music that I make, it’s not the same.

Have you ever played out here in the Los Angeles area? Or is that something you’d like to do?
I haven’t. I definitely want to. I’m planning more shows in the Bay. I think I definitely have to plan a show in LA. That’ll be a big next step for me, honestly.

And we’re not very far.
Yeah, just got to get my band in a bus and drive down for a weekend.

What’s up next for you after Fizzy comes out?
I have a song coming out at the end of this month. It’s about my dog.  I was like, I wanted to not write a song about a girl. But I wanted to write a love song. So I said, I’ll write a song about my dog.

And what is your dog’s name?
His name is Kosta. It’s a Greek name. Because he’s an Australian shepherd, and I’m Australian. And this is really random but Australia has the highest population of Greek people outside of Athens. So I was like, I want to give him a Greek name. But we have a music video with that as well with Mark. I took Kosta to the to take a really cool park in Berkeley. We got it all on tape. And yeah, we got many more songs coming after that. Throughout the rest of the year, and an EP as well, that I think I cannot really talk fully about yet. But basically, lots of music, lots of videos, lots of content, lots of shows, just keep it ongoing is my motto, really.

And do you have any advice for any younger artists who are reading this now who are looking to get their music out there?
Yeah, I think it’s really just keep going and push past the cringe. That’s what I tell myself. Because I think with looking back at the things I did 3, 4, 5 years ago, I’m not proud of it. I’m like, “Oh, that song wasn’t very good. That picture that I put up on Spotify wasn’t very good.” But I’m proud that I did it because it was all learning to figure out how I wanted to present myself – how I wanted to refine things.  And learning every time I make a song, and every time I write a lyric, it just gets better the next time. So, I just say keep going. And I’d say also keep living life and enjoying life, because that’s where you have to pull the inspiration from.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Rohan on Instagram