Lucy Rose

I started playing guitar when I was 11, a few years before I got into music properly.

I wanted to play guitar because I thought it’d make me cool at school, though that didn’t exactly work out.

I started playing guitar when I was 11, a few years before I got into music properly. I wanted to play guitar because I thought it’d make me cool at school, though that didn’t exactly work out. However, over the years, when I discovered music more thoroughly, it gave me a great creative outlet. It was something I could rely on for myself, remind myself I could still do something, even when life was trying to convince me otherwise. So, I stuck with it, and I’m glad I did.

You never know what you’re going to find. You could be sitting in your room, in your PJs, noodling on the guitar and stumbling upon a cool riff and then this ends up growing and changing with the influence of others to become the next big band song. Or it could end up being a small song, one intensely personal that no-one will ever hear; just for you. Either way, creating through music is a unique and rewarding experience that offers a raw, vulnerable and unforgiving perspective on things, a way to scream and shout, or cry catharsis and have everything be okay.

My biggest inspiration would be Guns ‘N’ Roses, especially the guitarist Slash. Their Greatest Hits album was the first I ever bought, and being such an iconic song, Sweet Child O’ Mine was a huge influence on me, so much so I’ve bought a Gibson Les Paul just like Slash’s, because why not? That riff was one of the first I learned to play and I still remember it all these years later.

I’ve been on stage in one form or another since I was 4 or 5 years old. Having the starring role in Percy the Parkkeeper was my first big break in Nursery. Because of that, I feel at home at the stage. It’s one of the few places where I know what I need to do.

Big crowds scare me because I’ve no idea what’s going on, but give me a guitar and put lights on me, and then I know what I’m doing. And I find that very calming. I love the serenity of playing, the utter focus it demands, and how for the few minutes I’m performing a song, or for the hour we’re doing a set, there’s nothing else in the world as important or as enjoyable as that moment.

This one happened recently, during the tour we just finished. [Plug EP Launch tour and EP itself, Pride Not Prejudice]. We were playing the main stage of Soton Pride and things were a bit hectic there, as you can imagine. The crew were experienced and talented and doing the best they could to keep up with the day’s energy, but it did mean that I rushed a bit and didn’t set up properly.

My sound cut out for nearly a whole song and I didn’t know until it came to bridge when it’s just me and there was nothing. It took some rapid emergency pedal mechanics but I got it working just in time for my solo, but yeah, that freaked me out. But I also feel relieved. The worst thing happened and no-one cared, and I know I can only get better as we get more experience with bigger, high-octane shows.