Indie-pop, soul artist, Lele Rose and her bandmates The Thorns were at Sonic Rocket Studio in Fallbrook, Ca. to kick off the recording of a new up and coming LP. Originally from Washington D.C., Lele Rose has been performing and recording her music for over a decade. Although her style is rooted in indie-pop, her songs often obscure the lines between Indie, EDM, Blues, Rock, and Soul. Her deep soulful mellifluous voice and refined piano prowess deliver a genuine depth and sophistication to her songs. Joining Lele in the studio are two extremely talented musicians. Bass guitarist James East, who’s extensive musical career includes performing with Sergio Mendez and recording with Patti LaBelle. He also is the younger brother of renowned bassist Nathan East. Drummer, Korey Kingston Horn, has played in various Ska bands, including The Aggrolites and Hepcats. Korey is also the creator and owner of the Drum Brigade.

BackStage360 met up with Lele Rose and The Thorns at the studio, where we had the opportunity to hang out during the live studio recording session. While the band began warming up, we set up some of our audio equipment in the control room. The group began performing the first take of the track titled “Take Me Home.” The room came alive with the sound of Lele’s fingers gliding over the keys, and abruptly breaking into a powerful piano riff accompanied by the chick of Kingston’s hi-hat.

Easton’s bass kicked in, and Lele’s earthy, soulful voice, effortlessly flowed through the speakers. The track erupted with restless, vibrant energy, and a buoyant melody. The result was a refreshingly distinctive and sonically engaging track. As the recording session moved ahead, the band was gracious enough to allow us to snag some live video footage. With our shoes off, we tiptoed around the live room with our video equipment and quietly recorded the live performance. Once the session wrapped up, Lele sat down with us for an interview. Lele shared with us how she got her start in music, who her significant influences were, and the inspiration for one of her songs.

Lele Rose’s passion for music started at a very young age. At around three years old, she began performing dance and taught herself to play piano by ear.

By preschool age, she started classical training on the piano and later studied classical guitar. Lele explained that she always wanted to be a singer, and was influenced, early on by Madonna and Michael Jackson. Her decision to seriously pursue music was inspired by Lady Gaga. When she came out in the 2000s, that’s when, as Lele states, “I decided to go ahead and begin writing songs and – rock out.”

In 2010, after graduating from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Business Marketing Management, the artist began working on her first album. The project was entirely self- funded. Working in Marketing and Promotions while living at home, Lele spent her days in the studio recording, while working at night to finance the album. Completed in 2011, the LP titled “Bliss Kingdom,” offers a collection of indie-pop tunes infused with shades of rhythm and blues, electric dance rhythms, and a sprinkling of Latin undertones. Lele shared that the inspiration for the song “City Dreams” came about while she was sitting in her bedroom at Virginia Tech during her senior year. “I had this poster of New York City on the wall, and I was sitting at my keyboard, and I was just kind of looking up at it, and I was dreaming of taking my music all over the world to big cities and touring with a band.”

Lele’s city dreaming began to awaken to a heavenly reality that landed her in the City of Angels. In June of 2011, Lele performed an album release show for “Bliss Kingdom” at the Whiskey a Go Go in the West Hollywood district. From there, a residency opportunity traversed her to Philadelphia. During that time, Lele expressed, “I really honed my skills and began to pursue my career.”

A career that has carried Lele as far as Holland, where she was a featured performer for two weeks at the piano bar, Maxim in Amsterdam.

Lele’s second LP titled “Back 2 Life,” released in 2016, illustrates the artist’s myriad of musical styles. The songs, Back 2 Life along with What I Want and Lucid (Dreaming of You), deliver a rich mix of vibrant indie-dance flavors. While the song “The Way You Do,” with its bluesy piano riffs and quick lyrical vocal phrasing reveals, a certain palpable Jazz Blues feel. The album also includes the song “Waiting,” which is reminiscent of the 1960’s pop-soul sound of Sam Cooke. In December of 2019, Lele released a Christmas EP titled “Holiday,” comprised of both classic holiday songs and original compositions. The EP earned her The Founders Service award for San Diego’s Holiday Magic project benefitting Children’s hospitals.

Here, today in the studio working on her third LP, Lele spoke a bit about the project. “I have released several singles that have been leading up to this album.” “It’s been in the works for quite some time, and we will be revisiting some songs from the past albums and doing a remake of them.” Lele also said she hopes to release a single from the new album sometime before the album drops. Although she did not give a specific date, Lele did mention the band was hoping to drop sometime in late summer or early fall. We will be keeping a close eye out for the release of the new LP. With Lele’s dynamic songwriting power, infinitely evocative voice, and the collective talent of the band, the new LP is brimming with promise.

Currently, you can see Lele Rose and The Thorns performing live weekly at Eddie V’s, in both Seaport Village and La Jolla, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can also check out Lele on her website; lelerose.com, Facebook, Spotify, Youtube and Instagram@leleondakeys.

BackStage360 would like to extend our gratitude to Lele, James and Korey for the opportunity to be a part of their most recent recording session. We appreciate their patience, kindness, and time. (Oh yeah, and a very special thanks for the delicious ice cream and tasty snacks!) We would also like to give a giant shout out to Sonic Rocket Productions, Chris Cash, (Owner) Jamie Dixon (Studio Manager) and the rest of the staff for accommodating us. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the studio and were quite impressed with the studio’s superior equipment, excellent acoustics, and very relaxed retro vibe.

JenB / BackStage360

jenb@BackStage360

Watch Our interview with Lele………………