An Interview with Rowan on "For all my eyes have seen"
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
We're excited to sit down with Rowan, the talented musician behind the raw and heartfelt debut EP, Dear Ella. Known for his introspective lyrics and emotive melodies, Rowan has resonated deeply with fans. His latest project, For all my eyes have seen, takes a different direction, diving deeper into personal experiences and emotions, reflecting significant personal growth.
In this interview, we explore the creative process behind For all my eyes have seen and how it differs from his first EP. We discuss the album's title inspiration, Rowan's hopes for listener connections, and the challenges of writing personal tracks. We also touch on his experience touring with X Ambassadors, future projects, and his evolving songwriting approach. Join us as we delve into Rowan's latest work and gain insight into an artist unafraid to bare his soul through music.
Next Wave: Your debut EP, Dear Ella, was a raw exploration of a breakup. How did the creative process for For all my eyes have seen differ from your first EP?
Rowan Drake: Yeah, I think the biggest difference I've found is with Dear Ella, as I was creating songs, I would end the day and I would go back to the person that the music was about. They were still so present in my life and it was almost like I was reflecting on what we had, but I still had a way of seeing them and connecting with them. This project is different, because the creation of it kind of took place completely after I parted ways for good with them. It was almost my way of revisiting them through the music. So it was just completely different. In a lot of ways, I think it was… I don't know, it was much more out of necessity this time around versus out of trying to document. The last one was kind of trying to create a timestamp to look back on and this one was more just trying to stay inside of a feeling because I saw it slipping away.
Next Wave: Reflecting on that, where does the title For all my eyes have seen come from, and what does it mean to you?
Rowan: I was kind of between two names. I was between “for all my eyes have seen”, and then another title “see me”. See Me was just a phrase that Ella, who has kind of been the centerpiece of a lot of my music, would always say. Just the sentiment of seeing somebody, to truly see somebody, is a much more impressive thing than to love somebody in a much more difficult way. I'm not entirely sure why, but that just felt a little… I didn't want to take something she had said and make it the title. I kind of wanted to leave that be and honestly, for all my eyes have seen was just something that popped up into my head. I really needed to decide on a title and I didn't want to use the other one, so I just went with this one and it just kind of had a nice ring to it, I guess.
Next Wave: How do you hope listeners will connect with ‘for all my eyes have seen’?
Rowan: I mean, personally I made it because I really needed to re-enter this kind of world that I had lived in with Ella, and so I created it and it served me very well in the time of creation. It did exactly what I needed, to let me live inside of a person even after they were gone. But beyond that, I really have no idea. I don't know, I don't need any reaction from anybody. I'm kind of just sending it off into the world and hoping I can kind of continue on.
Next Wave: Does it feel like that with your past projects? Does it get nerve wracking putting it out into the world like that or have you kind of just settled with this is what I need to say and this is what people hear?
Rowan: It's very, it's very freeing. I'm so excited for it to come out because it kind of feels like… it's at least six months delayed, if not more. So I have kind of moved past a lot of this already, but as I prepare for release, I have to kind of keep myself submerged into it for almost longer than I would necessarily like. So by releasing it, it just frees me up to kind of move on to the next. And I'm really excited for that.
Next Wave: So looking ahead, what kind of news stories or themes are you excited to be able to explore for future projects?
Rowan: Well, I am going to just go home back to upstate New York for the summer. I have nothing that I need to say right now. I'm sure that there's a lot under the surface, you know, there's always more with this person, but I'm also really looking to find life outside of her. I've been so wrapped up in that story for four years now, that I just don't know much else. I really want to give myself the time to figure out what to say next, because there's no point in saying things just to say words, you know. There actually has to be something behind it and that's what I'm looking to do.
Next Wave: Can you share the story behind the track We’ll Be Okay, and why you chose to open the EP with it?
Rowan: Absolutely. ‘We’ll Be Okay’, again, it was a phrase that I love and we kind of say to each other a lot. I think we always had a pretty clear understanding that eventually, our lives would move in different directions. We were together so young, and just have such different interests in life and ideas of what we want our life to look like. It was just a promise we made to each other, no matter where we ended up going. Just a promise that we will always care for each other and I think that song is very youthful and it's from a long time ago. I kind of wanted to put it at the beginning just to put it behind me and then let the music that’s more recent follow it. Also, you know, if she does listen to the project, even if she doesn't get through the whole thing, at least she hears that one.
Next Wave: Which track would you say on the EP was the most challenging to write?
Rowan: I guess I'd say either Waiting Room or Unsee. Unsee is the last song on the project and talks about a very different part of my life part that's many, many years behind me. It wasn't hard to write, it's just hard to keep reopening that more. So for the other people in my life, you know, the songs are kind of selfish, because they typically involve other people. Yet, the other people, most of the time, have no say in the narrative, the perception or even if it gets released. That song just involves people beyond myself and people that I care about a lot, so that one was challenging. Then Waiting Room for a similar reason. It's kind of a cruel song to the person it's about and it's just a strange line to write things about somebody and then put them out for the entire world to see. And those two are just very much that.
Next Wave: When you write the songs that have these real life narratives about people, do they hear the songs before they're out? Or do you just tell them that, hey, I'm writing this song about this thing that involved you and it just goes out?
Rowan: I think that I am very young in my approach to that. I think I'm hopefully changing as this project enters the world, because to be honest, I did play Waiting Room for the person it's about a couple of weeks ago, but I waited until the last minute to do it. Again, I just don't think that's actually how it should be. I think moving forward, I definitely plan to involve people in the songs much earlier. Especially if this still holds such a prominent place in my life. I still very much believe that it is my life that I'm living and I'm allowed to write about whatever I would like, but I think that I need to find a middle ground and as I grow up in this world, I'm seeing that more clearly.
Next Wave: You're currently on tour with X Ambassadors. How has that experience been being able to perform live, especially with a band like X Ambassadors?
Rowan: Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. It's my first time ever really doing this and definitely my first time doing this in front of this many people. It’s incredible, I was so afraid to go out and do this. I was very excited, but very afraid. After the first night, I realized just how special and validating this is. Creating music is my favorite thing in the world, then there's a lot of other things that come with this job where you don't really feel close to music or to people when you do them, kind of like the marketing of it. Then the second I started playing these shows, it opened up another channel of just deep fulfillment and reassurance that this is what I want to be doing. From meeting a fan who's listened to 70,000 minutes of the music or having somebody fly across the country to see another show. I really can't understand at even the smallest level, it's the most amazing thing and I am so excited to continue to grow with it and to get better. I just would love to play shows for a long time to come.
Next Wave: Do you have any plans of doing your own tour? And if you do, what venues or cities would you like to play?
Rowan: Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I would love to, and I think kind of the traditional thing, is to start off in the major cities, like the New York's and LA's and Chicago's. It’s cool, because even if it's one person in Spain, it's like, I will hopefully find a way to play for that person. I really think that this year is going to hold something that opens up kind of my reach. And I hope that means, you know, some of my first shows, but I'll be back out very soon. I'm very motivated to return to all of these cities, because, again, this tour has made it so now in every city I played in, there are people who will come back and that is the beautiful thing about touring.
Next Wave: Looking back on the journey of creating for all my eyes have seen what do you think has been the most rewarding part of the process?
Rowan: I think I'm just growing as a musician. Again, I just like creating music. One of my best friends who kind of did all of it with me, Johnny Shore, being at his house and bringing in fiddle players and piano players and drummers, just getting to do something I've dreamed of my whole life. I mean, creating music is the most amazing thing in the world. Having it reach even the amount of people that it’s reached already, telling an honest story of the life that I lead and honoring someone who I care very deeply about, it's all of it. All of it has been amazing, but definitely the creation of the music and then playing some of the songs live, those are by far the most special sides of it all. It's amazing once it's out it just exists and I am yeah, I'm very proud of it.
