For Millennials. By Millennials.
Trinity Rose is an aspiring singer and songwriter who has been on The Voice’s Season 12. She is a rising talent and has recently collaborated with The Umbrella’s Academy Aidan Gallagher to release a new duet titled ‘Miss You’.
She sat down with Dankanator to tell us more about how she started her music career and where she plans to go from here.
Dankanator: How did you realize that music was going to be an important passion for you to pursue?
Trinity Rose: I have been singing all my life. I have been singing with my parents when we would have these music nights with some neighborhood kids. Basically, I have always been into musical theatre and I did this musical with my 5th-grade teacher Mr. Lantos. And he gave me the leading role and I just started performing then and there because I hadn’t really performed before. I realized how much I loved musical theatre and performing general singing. So that’s kind of where it all started.
D: You wrote your first song with your sister. How was the experience?
Trinity Rose: Oh, that. She had written it quite a long time ago before I actually started singing. She wrote it for herself. She used to write a lot of songs, now she does more of creative writing but she showed it to me and I changed some words and I decided to record it. It was my first EP which I made in 6th grade.
D: Do you write all of your songs and compose them as well?
Trinity Rose: I do write most of my songs, almost all of them. I write a lot of them; I co-write a lot actually. And it’s very fun to kind of work with other people as well as work with yourself to get very different products. Like my more personal songs are only written by me but my favorite songs are written by other people, always in collaboration.
D: You have been doing a lot of covers. Which one was your personal favorite?
Trinity Rose: It’s the red bones/closer mashup I did. Actually, I really ended up loving that one. I made it with Ian Sloane who wrote Love Is The Only River with me and it ended up being so much fun. We did it all together in my house. And then we recorded it. I still play it to this day.
D: What about the original songs? Do you have anyone in particular that holds a special place in your heart?
Trinity Rose: I have to say “Coughing Up Flowers” is my favorite original so far because it has a lot of sentimental value to me. I co-wrote it with my friend Casey Malanuk and Andrew Dixon who I have worked quite a lot and it’s kind of like my baby. I have been thinking on this concept for quite a while. So actually writing it down it ended up being such an amazing song for all of us. Not to be like super overly confident but I really ended up loving this song. I wrote it almost a year ago now I still love playing it.
D: You have been doing a lot of covers and performances with Aidan Gallagher. Miss You was your first official duet with him. How did the friendship with him inspire the song?
Trinity Rose: So when Aidan DMed me until we met he had seen a lot of my music. He is also such a big musician as you know and it’s his true passion and mine. We bonded over that. When he contacted me, he didn’t know I lived in New York at the time and he stays here in LA. We never got to meet in person until a few months after we started talking. So, when we started writing Miss You, we kind of had that whole experience of being sad that we actually can’t be friends that live close to each other and we can’t actually meet in person yet. It kinda rolled out like a sad bittersweetness of really loving someone, like in this case as a friend, wanting to meet with them and hang out with them. But we can’t because he was so far away.
D: Is that how you wanted the song to be interpreted by the listeners?
Trinity Rose: Well, there are a lot of interpretations. That’s the beautiful thing about music that you can interpret it in any sort of way. A lot of girls I’ve seen online are thinking about their internet best friends, and how they miss them so much. And it’s more of a positive thing,
For some people, it’s also negative because they are not able to see them. But honestly, I think of it as a way to really cherish what you have even if they’re far away. You can still keep those strong relationships. Like when I was away in New York and I was still friends with Aidan and a lot of my friends are back here.
D: You have mentioned that singing brought you and Aidan together. Apart from that, is there anything in common between you two?
Trinity Rose: Oh yeah! Of course, we definitely bonded over music. I introduced him to Billie Eilish, whom he now loves. And we both love The Beatles, we love Jack White, we love Calpurnia. So, we have bonded over some musicians. But we also are compassionate about the environment. So, we do like to do whatever we can on our platforms to push a change to help the world.
D: We know that you love to collaborate with other musicians. Are there any more collaborations coming soon with Aidan or someone else?
Trinity Rose: I haven’t had any in mind yet at the time to professionally record it. I definitely want to do more collaborations with Aidan. I am sure we will do a cover of something pretty soon. But we are kind of focusing on our solo careers right now. You know we love doing music together. Honestly, if someone comes my way that I really admire then I will definitely collaborate with them.
D: You have managed to do 50 gigs last year. How did you manage it along with your studies?
Trinity Rose: My mom is really good at organizing stuff for me so I have to thank her a lot. Because without my parents I would not be able to do everything that I do. I just really adore them for it. It is my passion, I love writing songs and performing them for people. Even if I have to balance school, I’m not home-schooled, I go to public school. So, even if I have to balance those two sometimes it becomes difficult, but it’s all worth it in the end.
D: You do a lot of philanthropic activities such as singing in hospitals for cancer survivors and doing charities for homeless people. What’s that like and how has the public responded?
Trinity Rose: Well, I don’t really do things for the public. It is more like spreading my music and my passion for other people who are in need. I have always been a big advocate for any kind of charity like I have helped the west side food bank, and I have helped all the circles around LA. I have always been friends with the Glendale Hospital. I have tried to do as many gigs with them as possible and I’ll be honored to perform for a bigger event. As long as I am helping other people even if it’s just for singing and it lifts people spirits then that’s all I care about.
D: Congratulations on winning the International Songwriting Competition for Love is the Only River! Did you love the process?
Trinity Rose: Oh yeah! Thank you. It was amazing making that entire song. I wrote the lyrics to the song and Ian wrote the music for it. We ended up wanting to do this huge group song because it wouldn’t have as much power with me alone. I got together with a lot of my closest friends in the industry that are singers and wanted to spread love and unity. We got together one day and we got everyone in one big old recording studio. We recorded the video and recorded the song in one day. It ended up doing pretty well. I am really proud of everyone who was part of it!
D: You have mentioned that Ian Sloane is a mentor to you. What has his impact been like to your music career?
Trinity Rose: Well, he is a very kind person especially when working with younger people. He has always believed in me even when I was much younger. He kind of sees the best in everyone and he’s someone who really knows to work with younger kids. He just probably is the kindest guy I know in business. He is always helping me be creative and wants to work with others and just has that positive attitude. I mean you should see it; how he works with all these kids. It’s like he truly is happy and passionate about everything he does. So, that’s why I love working with him.
D: Apart from Ian Sloane, do you have any other inspirations in music?
Trinity Rose: Oh yeah definitely. I have taken inspiration from all corners of my life, like what I grew up listening to. I don’t take direct inspiration but people like the Beatles are a huge inspiration for me. I would listen to Nirvana, Lead Belly, who I’ve done a cover of that helped me get on The Voice. And I have been really into Jade Bird and Billie Eilish. I think they are fantastic female singers. They have just really inspired me to be more confident in myself and confident in my writing.
D: So, you have been on The Voice and Alicia Keys complimented you on your song in particular. How did that make you feel?
Trinity Rose: Oh My Gosh, that whole thing still seems like a dream when that happened. I was 13 and I know I was pretty young when I went onto The Voice. I am still so grateful for the experience I had. Alicia was just so kind. All of the judges were really kind actually. Gwen Stefani, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton were also just incredibly sweet to me. And they encouraged me to keep going. What she said about my voice really has stuck with me till today and it’s really what has been driving me to work even harder and to believe in myself even when things didn’t work out.
D: You have mentioned in one of your interviews that you are auditioning for American Idol. When is that happening?
Trinity Rose: I was going to be auditioning but I started to kind of focus on myself. I have done a lot of these reality TV shows already and I have decided that I am going to work independently for a while. Even though they are really fun to do. I’ll be focusing on my school and career more; I am focusing on all originals that I want it to get out at least by the fall.
D: You are into acting and Broadway theater as well. Are you going to go for that?
Trinity Rose: Broadway was my first love, let’s be honest. I have always been such a huge Broadway nerd when I lived in New York. I saw basically every play I could and if I do get successful I will definitely be focusing more on a pop/modern kind of career in LA. But if I do get to the point of being successful enough here then I’ll definitely go to Broadway at some point. I will absolutely love to. I was classically trained so my voice could go in that direction but I also really love it here in Los Angeles. So if I do get to the point where I am successful enough here, I will definitely do Broadway. It’s just one of my big dreams.
D: Do you have anything to share with our audience?
Trinity Rose: I am planning on releasing Coughing Up Flowers pretty soon. I am not sure of the exact date but maybe in about 2 months. If we are on time. So I am going to be releasing that very soon. So, I hope you guys will listen to it when it comes out!
Watch Trinity Rose’s interview with Dankanator below:
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