“If you’re f-cked and you know it, clap your hands / If you’re thinking I am also, clap your hands,” sings Carly Rose towards the end of her song, “Change My Mind,” and after 2020, everyone should be clapping along. After eight or so months in lockdown, everyone should be feeling a little screwy and a little stir-crazy. That cabin fever and frustration is captured in Carly’s new video for “Change My Mind.” As the dreamy pop anthem plays, she finds herself bored out of her mind in her bedroom. But, nothing cures the doldrums better than wanton destruction, right?
“There was a lot of smashing and jumping and spray painting and madness involved in this shoot, so I would say it was the perfect way to let loose after lockdown,” Carly says in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife over email. Despite all the restrictions and cancellations, Carly has had a busy year. She released a handful of tracks – “birds & bees,” “getaway car,” “warned you” – that culminated in her ep, WILD. While chatting with HollywoodLife, Carly shared which songs on WILD are the “can’t miss” tracks, which King Krule song she’d love to cover, and what we can expect from this rising star in the next twelve months.
HollywoodLife: What can you share about the making of the “Change My Mind” video? Where was it shot, and was it fun to go crazy after a year of lockdown?
That was one hell of a day. I had so much fun! We shot it in the desert about 30 minutes from Palm Springs. The video is largely inspired by some of my favorite characters from 90s TV shows like My So Called Life and Freaks and Geeks. Claire Schmitt, the director, did an incredible job building a bedroom inspired by that aesthetic in the desert. We collaborated a lot on all aspects of design for the room, and I could not be happier with how it turned out. My brother Russ executive produced the video, and that made it all even more exciting. To have him there, every step of the way was so special. There was a lot of smashing and jumping and spray painting and madness involved in this shoot, so I would say it was the perfect way to let loose after lockdown.
When it came to music videos this year, many musicians did their best to work around the pandemic. We saw a lot of animated videos, Zoom-based videos, and ones shot in empty locales. Do you see the video for “Change My Mind” being closer to what you would shoot if COVID-19 weren’t a thing?
Yes! I think the concept for this video was the closest we could possibly have gotten to the experience of making a video during regular times while being safe. Since the bedroom is set outside and the reveal at the end is to show this bedroom you have been watching for the past 2.5 minutes is actually set in the desert, we were able to pull this off in a really safe way.
You released your EP WILD this year. What would you say are the three “can’t miss” tracks on it? Like, what are the songs that – one or five years from now – you’re going to look back on and say, ‘these were the ones’?
This is a great question. I mean, the title track Wild is a really special song that I know I will remember forever because it was the name of my first EP. I love that song, and collaborating with Goody Grace on it was super fun. “Birds & Bees” will also always have a really special place in my heart because it is the first song I ever released. Every time I hear this song, it brings me back to that time of being so nervous and excited about what it would be like to finally have music out. I also love the song “I Don’t Like You When You’re Like This.” It is the furthest I have gone in the alternative rock direction, and I jam out to that song harder than anything.
You professed you’re “just an indie rock girl” at heart while sharing your love for such acts as King Krule. He released an album this year – if you were to cover (or join him) for any track from Man Alive!, which would it be? And which one of your songs would you love to hear him cover?
I love the song “Underclass“ from that record. I just feel everything that man says so hard. It’s soulful and classic but still new and captivating. In a dream world, I would love to sing that song with him. Oh wow, that’s an interesting thought. I’m actually going to have to go with a song nobody has heard yet. It’s my next single. He would crush that song…
What do you hope to accomplish in the next twelve months? Like, what do you want to say you got “done” in 2021?
Well, I have lots of new music lined up, which I’m stoked about. Plus, an exciting collaboration that I am looking forward to putting out. Putting out quality music consistently is the mission. Aside from that, I hope 2021 will be the year I start to play shows. That was supposed to start happening this past Summer, but obviously, the pandemic put everyone’s plans for that on hold. Ugh, I miss concerts so much, haha. I’m hopeful about this coming year, though!