Intimacy and Expanse with Rookes
The reveal of the first single from an artist’s debut album is always an important and exciting moment, a tantalising glimpse of the work that’s to come. The release of this single by Rookes is exactly that. ‘Consent’ is taken from her forthcoming album, ‘POPNOTPOP’, with Rookes answering our Q&A on the single, album and her wider career as a music producer.
Image Credit: Keziah Cooper.
The London-based Rookes is a full-time producer and songwriter, working out of her space at Ten87 Studios in Tottenham. As an artist, Rookes released her debut EP ‘The Game & The River’ in 2017, followed by the four-track ‘Liminal’ in 2019. During the first lockdown, Rookes released a cover of Roxanne de Bastion’s ‘Red & White Blood Cells’ and collaborated with CRISP&CLASSY on their single ‘Basic’ in 2021.
In early 2020, Rookes co-founded the 2% Rising community with mastering engineer Katie Tavini. 2% Rising is a Facebook group for women and gender minorities working in the music industry as producers and engineers. Based on the study that found around 2% of music producers were women, the group hosts weekly Zoom calls for networking and skillsharing, with their social media presence spotlighting individuals and their achievements. Beginning with 50 members, the UK and European group has since grown to almost a thousand in less than three years.
More recently, Rookes appeared in Bergen at Norway’s Vill Vill Vest as part of the Platform Responsibility and Cancel Culture panel. Presented by Complete Music Update (CMU) and moderated by Chris Cooke, this was one of many panels that featured a variety of industry professionals.
Rookes also maintains a following on Patreon, giving a behind-the-scenes peek at the creation of her songs, sharing demos and the journey behind her debut album, ‘POPNOTPOP’. With the full record due for release in November, it’s off to a brilliant start with ‘Consent’.
‘I didn’t sign up for this.’
Beneath the pulse of bass, distorted guitar reverberates across the stereo mix, creating a blend of intimacy and expanse, the latter pulled back to introduce Rookes’ vocal. ‘Was it all for nothing? Who’s in charge?’ A quietly damning piano chord bringing in crisp drum programming, Rookes sings as if this is a personal letter, carefully constructed and perfectly delivered. Her verse continues to build tension, the string arrangement taking one step and another closer to the listener.
‘I didn’t Consent to this.’
From here, ‘Consent’ is easily imaginable on an arena stage, several layers of rhythmic accompaniment running ahead wailing guitar in the distance. Rookes reinforces her already commanding voice with powerful harmonies, and later, backing vocals, ‘No I should not have done,’ as if strengthening her resolve. The final chiming to your right sounding as if it’s coming from another room, interrupting the conversation.
Rookes has created an excellent pop production in ‘Consent’. Further to this, the presentation of her songwriting and component parts is given a standing ovation by the mix created by Rookes and fellow 2% Rising co-founder Katie Tavini.
A name we’re familiar with at Moths and Giraffes, Katie was the mastering engineer for Crouton Cannon’s ‘Lockdown Sessions’, recent singles by Alice Mary and ‘Fight’ by The Subways. Tavini’s work also extends to M&G favourites Penfriend, Stealing Sheep, Ash and Arlo Parks, as well as previously mastering Rookes’ ‘Liminal’ EP.
The music video for ‘Consent’ is produced in collaboration with Eduardo Bernal, whose animation follows the journey of a dragonfly through a digital landscape. Everchanging, the environment morphs from sea, to mountain-range and city, even visiting a rendering of Rookes in this unreal world made of real concepts.
In 2020, Rookes was the recipient of the Music Producers Guild scholarship. Earlier this year she was interviewed by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance about her experience studying with them. At the same time, she recorded an acoustic rendition of ‘Consent’ at ICMP’s SSL Studio. This stripped back version shows another side to this single, slower in tempo and giving more heart to the already weighty lyrics.
Having recently performed a DJ set at London’s Strongroom Bar in August, Rookes will be playing a gig at the Green Note in Camden to showcase some of the music from ‘POPNOTPOP’ in October. Also on the bill are Charlotte Jacobs and Emily Magpie, with tickets available from the venue website.
Continue reading for our Q&A with Rookes. We ask about the making of ‘Consent’, Rookes’ journey into music production, remixing for other artists, her upcoming live performance, 2% Rising and much more.
Image Credit: Curious Rose Photography.
1. The production on your new single, 'Consent' is in perfect balance. Would you talk us through the songwriting and arrangement process that led to this final recording?
Thank you so much for that incredible feedback. Myself, Katie Tavini and Steve Kerrison from Weird Jungle worked hard as an engineering team to get it right. Consent was the penultimate song to be written for the album, and to be honest I was in two minds as to whether to write at all because of the subject matter. I’m not usually one for shying away from controversial topics, but the events that inspired it still felt raw to me. In the end it became a song of necessity because I was struggling to crystallise my thoughts and feelings around these events, and the moment I finally gave myself permission to sit down and write in the summer of 2020, the whole thing came tumbling out.
The second verse was revised a few times. I wanted to choose powerful enough imagery that people could still wrap their brains around without flinching, so the mix of almost conversational versus more image-based lyricism was deliberate; but I am deliberate about most things, generally speaking. I also wanted to generate something empowering without avoiding the everyday grief that was embedded in the experiences, so I let the production and arrangement reflect that as much as I could and leaned into my more rock-based influences like Alanis Morissette, St. Vincent and PVRIS to inspire my choices. They felt like obvious reference points in terms of music that reflects relatable rage. The remaining production aspects grew slowly over time. Working with Katie on the mixing process was remarkable, and she really inspired me to elevate the track (and the whole LP) in ways I wouldn’t have done if I had tried to finish the mixing alone. The bass track, for example, was finally run through the outboard compression gear in her Brighton studio, which gave it so much more heft.
2. This is the first single taken from your debut album 'POPNOTPOP'. Was 'Consent' the obvious first single? Was that something you planned from the start?
I didn’t know it would be the first single until I started constructing the production for the bass part. It’s not actually one bass, but two bass presets (a synth bass and an upright bass) plus my mirroring the same part playing my bass live through my fuzz pedal and amp, and then stacking and compressing them together to get that final monster sound. As soon as I realised how big it could get, the guitar riff I had already written sounded less like a 1975-style riff hook and more like a trumpet call to arms. It felt like I was sending the cavalry over the hill to save myself, which is exactly what this album became for me - a way of writing myself out of the darkness. So it felt important to set the tone for people’s expectations of the album right from the beginning - if I’m going to have to deal with all this traumatic nonsense, then I’m going to find a way for us to bloody well dance on it.
3. Congratulations on recently becoming a full-time freelance producer! When did you first realise music production was your calling?
Thank you! In terms of the penny dropping around a career in production, that was all down to the pandemic. The POPNOTPOP album was already on the cards, but being trapped in one room for 18 months will definitely make you realise some things about yourself and force you to try things. I wanted to work more collaboratively with other people anyway, but I hadn’t known how to begin, and once I started discussing with other artists the possibility of remote-producing them, everything fell into place quite quickly. I realised record writing and production was my favourite bit about being a musician and I could have the option of doing it all the time, so why wouldn’t I?
4. Your road to and from music has been a whole story in itself with many twists and turns, what have been some of your wilder routes of employment?
Oh boy, I’ve been all over the place. Although I’d probably describe them as varied rather than wild? I was a Higher Education campus director for a bit, also a logistics coordinator for a Marble company. I’ve worked book stalls at festivals. I’ve done lots of community-building work. I was also an orthodontic secretary for a while. Turns out, I have a lot of transferrable skills.
5. Another avenue you've taken in music is producing remixes for other artists, what's been the most exciting of these to work on?
I’ve really loved the work I’ve done so far with Dirty Freud and Ruby Tingle from No Such Thing Records. I’m looking forward enormously to working more with them. Those two projects (‘Meet Me In The Real’ and ‘Familiars’) were so different, but the processes through which we made them felt organic and energetic - which is a wonderful vibe to ride and make music on. More broadly, there’s a couple more fun ones in the pipeline but I’m not able to talk about them yet.
6. You co-founded 2% Rising which has seen incredible growth since its beginnings in 2020, what's next for the 2% Rising community?
More growth is always a nice goal, but right now we’re keen to re-focus the community towards our core values and simultaneously shift gears into facilitating better opportunities for allyship. We are conscious that holding a safe digital space is still very important, but we want to make sure people who don’t fall into marginalised demographics have a chance to observe what we’re doing and how we’re doing it in order to help us all perpetuate a better music industry culture for everyone. So, we’re working out how best to do that right now.
7. You recently travelled to Bergen for Vill Vill Vest to contribute to the Platform Responsibility and Cancel Culture panel, what was that experience like?
I am genuinely delighted I was offered that opportunity. Norway is a beautiful country and I got to chat with other remarkable people about a topic I find to be fascinating and important in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. Social Media platforms have become the lightning rod for our values in society as we learn what it is to be connected to a global village. It’s so essential that we keep reminding ourselves that these platforms are tools and we can choose the way we use them rather than just contributing - almost by default - to a reactive online culture.
Vill Vill Vest is also remarkably well-run. The team are helpful and joyful to interact with which is deeply refreshing. I heard a lot of music, had some great conversations and made some nice connections - you can’t ask for more really, can you?
8. You've got a gig coming up at the Green Note with Charlotte Jacobs and Emily Magpie in October, how does baring your soul in front of a live audience compare to presenting these songs in their slick studio versions?
I’m still pondering that question at present as I begin to prepare the live set for that gig. Right now it’s looking like a lot of my production will make it into the live presentation of the record, but who knows? It might change again between now and then!
9. Could we be seeing more Rookes live performances in celebration of 'Consent' and 'POPNOTPOP'?
You might. I’ve been performing live for a very long time, so if I’m going to do it then I want to really enjoy it. One thing I have in mind is that I want to create some special livestreams to continue to explore what it means to deliver live music in a digital space, but also to highlight issues with touring costs, audience accessibility, etc. But I’m not throwing the baby out with the bath water. You’ll all just have to jump on my social platforms and see what I cook up.
10. 'POPNOTPOP' comes out in November, what more can you tell us about the music we've yet to hear?
It’s big. It’s very, very big. All the width and depth of band music or stadium-music, but created almost entirely by me. I have a couple of collaborators on there too, who I am excited to introduce. This album is like climbing right into my brain for an hour, and finding out that it’s quite rich and stimulating in there. My brain is a place where we can rejoice and rage and grieve and dance together to massive pop hooks. Welcome to POPNOTPOP.
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Stream and download the music of Rookes, as well as purchase CDs and T-shirts from her Bandcamp page here.
Listen to the music and productions of Rookes on Spotify via the Complete Rookes playlist.
For more information about Rookes, visit her official website here.
Support Rookes on Patreon to get early access to music releases, CDs and online performances.
To purchase a ticket to see Rookes, Charlotte Jacobs and Emily Magpie on the 11th of October, visit the Green Note website.
If you’re a woman or gender minority working in music production and you wish to join the 2% Rising community, visit their Facebook group.
Follow Rookes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @iamrookes.
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