What’s the trick to listening to Roxanne Tatei’s (known as ROX) musical harmony? There’s a familiarity in her tunes that makes you feel like you know her, and an honesty in her demeanor that makes you want to get to know her. This is ROX Music - soulful, authentic and incredibly endearing. One thing’s for sure though, don’t call it retro or old school. She’s doing her thing and doesn’t have a diva dime about it. Good thing too, this formula’s known to have plagued many young female soulstresses before her. Hopefully, ROX escapes pain-free under the spotlight, her star continuing to rise since those Saturdays of training at Church. This is Worldtown chatted with ROX over the phone in between her busy recording and touring sessions, catching up on what exactly gives music - her music in particular - soul.

ROX’s sound is familiar, but it brings an unconventional and convincing musical mix that holds true to the distinctive voice that delivers it.   Her mixed background, heartbreak, weekend sessions at church and a kaleidoscopic south London upbringing illuminate her sonic authenticity.

In the video for her first single My Baby Left Me, she’s on a road trip that’s symbolic of her diverse, gypsy-like background. It makes for an interesting introduction to a story that’s just starting to take her places, and the buzz has caught on. She’s featured on a handful of “one to watch” lists, worked with the likes of Al Shux (from Jay Z’s Empire State of Mind co-writing fame), and has had offers from big labels such as EMI. She opted, instead, to release her first album with the indie label Rough Trade records which she says, on a gut instinct, “just felt right, I fell in love with them as soon as I met them.” This kind of instinctive, heartfelt conviction colours ROX’s up and coming story and her musical ingenuity is all the better for it.

And with increased interest in her music there’s increased interest in her unique heritage. Born of a Jamaican mother and an Iranian father,  ROX was exposed to these two sides in different ways. Although raised by her mother, she was tied to her father’s family through Sunday dinners at grandma’s. But she admits it’s her Jamaican side “that’s dominant” in her music and in her life in general. She’s grateful that they helped her come of age musically and as an artist, but she alludes to her pride in having such a diverse upbringing and in pulling two worlds together. Despite the unusual pairing of Sunday churchgoing and singing under her pastor’s watch followed by Persian dinners and Farsi conversation at her dad’s family’s house, she places herself among her south London upbringing by noting that this set-up didn’t perturb her, “I didn’t know I was different. It’s just what I knew.” She continues “it was normal to be at home with my Jamaican side and then see my Iranian family for dinner… It helped me adapt and give a better understanding of the world. I don’t view people by race or colour, I see us as one.” All the while, perfecting musical harmony of her own making.

Her naturalness and honesty - the one you see on display in her performances is just as forthcoming in our conversation.  Days of listening to rocksteady and having a musically saturated family, she speaks about how music was always a “huge part of life”. The singing at family gatherings and regular church attendance paid off, because one day she was discovered by a curious onlooker at a service. Although it was something ROX was always doing she claims that “until that point, I didn’t know I could sing.” So began years of regularly singing at church and supplementing passion with stringent discipline. ROX’s efforts are a product of years of uncovering her unique sound, not a singular overnight transformation.

Self-awareness at an early age translates into the confidence ROX exudes on stage - and it seems to have given her a more prominent understanding of what style of music she wants to convey. Rather than labeling genres or styles that may be trendy, she stands true by musical influences that are “classic and have depth”. Joni Mitchell is referred to multiple times in our talk, revered as a brilliant songwriter that’s tenured with this type of classic taste, which “stands the test of time”.

Avoiding boxing herself within a genre, ROX prefers her artistry to stand independently. “Sade doesn’t make soul music - she makes Sade music,” she asserts. This type of aspiration stands in her own music as well, confident in her view that “it’s rubbish when people say they can’t describe their music”. “For me, I make ROX music. Music that has depth and meaning”.

She notes that soul may be the most accurate descriptor of her music, but she finds labels a bit frustrating, especially when sources are quick to label her style as “retro”. It doesn’t help when most music critics try to place young artists with soulful interpretations into two categories, making it a battle of “old school” vs. “new school”. When I ask her about her feelings about this old/new divide, she’s quick to remind that “I never saw it in that vein, but if you’re seen as doing anything soulful but having classic music then you are seen as retro”. Sensing that she’s not too comfortable with this perspective, she asserts her own music aspires to move beyond “imitation or trying to take something out of an era.” Luckily, she’s wary of ripping off styles from era she wasn’t really around for - something many young females naively attempt. After all, “I was born in 1988 and it’s 2010. I want to make music that’s relevant, not an imitation,” she says.

Despite her young age, there’s a creative maturity to her songwriting that doesn’t seem too forced or provoked. When she talks about heartbreak, it’s with nuance that it was young and foolish. Her debut album, entitled Memoirs, is as inviting as it is personal. Pulled from, what she says are, “personal accounts and pages of a diary” of the last three years of her life. A cathartic release then?  It’s the formula for any classic, meaningful album and it works through depictive and captivating ellipses of her personality and “headspace at the time”. Sensitive, but light and fun-loving - there’s plenty of catchy tunes, not just dejection and pain to sing about. Her songs of heartbreak - which she says are actually only 50% of the album - are revealing, but relatable giving her music staying power. This type of soul, depth and meaning has led young songstresses before her to anguish and career-breaking downfalls. But her freshness, added with the learned ability to adapt to different worlds, saves her from the diva despair that’s followed those before her. For now at least. Lighthearted but true - this seems to be what ROX music is.

—–

ROX’s MySpace and Website.

Rough Trade Records Website.