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Emmy Rossum wearing Ralph Lauren at the 2006 Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. |
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It’s hard to miss Emmy Rossum these days. After starring in
a string of successful movies—including Phantom of the Opera (2004), which
earned her a Golden Globe nomination—she is returning to her musical roots with
a self-described “ambient pop” debut album called Inside Out (Oct. 23, Geffen
Records). Growing up in Manhattan, Rossum’s first love was music: She was singing
with the Metropolitan Opera by the age of seven. Her new album showcases her musical
influences and reveals a personal side of Emmy that her fans have yet to see. RL
Magazine spoke to Rossum on the eve of her first music video shoot to talk about
singing, songwriting and why she’s different from the rest of the pack.
You’re about to shoot your first video for your album. Tell
us a little about your first single.
The first single is called Slow Me Down. It’s a song that I wrote because
I think it’s an issue in contemporary society that everyone is over-paced and overscheduled.
There isn’t enough time to just slow down, even for a second in the day, and you
worry that if you don’t slow down, you will miss the things that are really beautiful
and meaningful about life. That’s what inspired me to write the song and try to
mimic the frenzy and pace of life during the verse section and then expand it and
open up during the chorus.
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You started your career singing with the Metropolitan Opera
at the age of seven, alongside icons like Pavarotti, and now you’re returning to
your musical roots with an album. What role did music play in your life growing
up?
When I was seven, my second grade teacher sent me over to the Metropolitan Opera
to audition, and I felt like I found my place in the world. I found a whole bunch
of people that were into the same things that I was, different in the same ways
that I was. I was attending a prep school in New York and I never really fit in
at that school. At the opera I felt I fit in. Then I started to play the piano,
and I was always playing music around the house. Music has always been something
in my life that brings me happiness—it really is complete creative expression for
me. When I was twelve and started to become an actress, the first film I ever did
[Songcatcher, 2000] was about country music. Films kept coming up that required
me to use my musical skills and past experience. It’s been exciting for me to combine
both things by recording an album.
Your career is really evolving in a new direction. After breakout
parts in films like Phantom of the Opera and Songcatcher, which were
musically based, you’re now able to focus on music again. Have you always wanted
to record an album?
I always knew I wanted to make a record but didn’t know how or when it would be
possible. Record labels approached me in the past to make a kind of “popera” album.
I didn’t want to make a record like that because, once I left the opera, I was exposed
to and influenced by so many different kinds of music—different kinds of world music,
country, jazz, piano and urban. So I wanted to create a style of music from these
inspirations that I really felt was my home base, and I didn’t know exactly what
that would sound like. I signed with Geffen because they gave me the freedom to
explore without knowing exactly where I was going. As an actress, you’re only one
piece of the puzzle and you’re kind of one lyric to a director; as a musician, you
express yourself more than when you are playing a character.
How is your sound different from what’s out there on the market
now?
I call my sound ambient pop. The song structure is rooted in pop music. If you played
just the piano and vocal and you had different direction, you could call them pop
songs. But I really wanted to experiment with how much I could do with my voice—just
my voice. And try to sing different instrument parts in place of using conventional
instruments, like strings or the piano. I wanted to create a rich, lush landscape
of vocals using different tones of voice. I think it is sexy and unique.
Did you write most of the songs yourself?
I wrote all the lyrics, wrote the music with a lot of different people and collaborated
on the shaping of the lyrics. It was a wonderful experience where people helped
me realize my vision.
Where did you draw up the ideas from your songs—did you keep
a journal leading up to recording?
I’ve always kept a diary and written poetry and a lot of that became the songs.
I wanted the groundwork for the record to be what I believe in as a person. The
record is called Inside Out because this is the first time that I’m completely
dropping all the barriers and walls that everyone has up to protect themselves.
I think lot of women on contemporary radio and Top 40 are objectified in a way,
and I’d like to stand for women the way I think they really are in the world today—beautiful
and strong and vulnerable and sensual, not objectified. Inside Out is about
putting everything on the outside, letting go and hoping people will like you for
who you really are. That’s what the record is really about.
You wrote about personal issues like infidelity on your record.
What are some other major things in your life that came up in the songwriting process?
I wrote about the infidelity and cheating I experienced in my first romantic relationship.
I wrote about growing up with a single parent and how that felt. I think that a
lot of people grew up with only one parent. I wrote a song called Anymore
that is about that experience for me. I struggled with the question of whether to
put it on the record, and in the end decided that I was going to because it is such
a big part of my life and I’ve never spoken about in a public way. I spent so much
of my life ashamed of that and to put it out there in an artistic way on my record,
which is autobiographical—if I left that out it would be like saying I’m inside
out but not completely. So I felt like I’d be doing people a disservice if I didn’t
put that out there, and probably myself a disservice if I wrote the song and just
kept it to myself.
How did the recording process differ from movie making for you?
Movie making is more like a 9 to 5 job. Making a record is all consuming. I would
wake up in the middle of the night and write lyrics. And sometimes you record in
the middle of the night. Playing a character, you have to work hard to find parts
of yourself that are like the character and you have to express that honestly. As
a musician, I was singing the words that I really believed and wrote. It comes naturally
and you don’t have to look for experiences to relate to because you’re talking about
experiences you already had. It’s much more of a visceral, honest experience than
playing a character that may be different from yourself.
If you could collaborate with any other musicians who would
they be?
Sigur Ros. Listening to them is such a captivating and escapist experience. I was
really inspired by that and wanted to create something that had a similar effect.
I wanted something that would take you to another place when you heard it, that
you could lose yourself in and go wherever you want in your mind. There are times
in everyone’s day that are really hectic and music is sometimes the easiest way
to escape from that. That’s the kind of band I would love to work with. I also really
love David Grey. He writes incredible songs and is a heartfelt, honest singer. Also,
I admire Sinead O’Connor. She is heartfelt and passionate and has enormous conviction
when she performs, even if you don’t agree with her beliefs. She is enormously brave
and strong and courageous to express how she really feels. That is to be applauded.
Do you ever see yourself returning to the stage?
I’d love to, but not in opera because it’s too much of a commitment. You have to
do it the right way when you do it. I’d love to do Broadway. I’ve talked about doing
a show with Josh Groban, and we’d like to do something together. I love the stage.
I think there is nothing better than playing with a live audience. I started that
way and the feedback that you get from them is such a rush. There is nothing more
exciting than that ephemeral experience. Being there in that moment and knowing
you’ll never have that moment twice.
You’re so busy—you’re an actress, singer, songwriter what do
you do in your spare time?
Cook. Everyone’s gotta eat! I think that’s the way that I stay grounded: I cook
for all my friends. We all get together and we kind of make a whole thing once a
week. It’s really fun. I do that and I’ll go horseback riding, which I used to do
at camp when I was little. I like to swim, kickbox, take dance classes. Things that
blow off steam.
What’s your signature dish?
A great duck in an orange cognac sauce. It’s really good. I took some classes at
the Cordon Bleu, but dropped out after a few days because it was too intense.
You just moved to LA and you’re in the young Hollywood scene.
Is it hard to stay away from the persona that everyone thinks of as “young Hollywood”
and stay career oriented?
For me it’s not about just partying or being a workaholic and not partying at all.
It’s about being yourself. I’ve never been the kind of person who wanted to go out
and be a bad girl and party it up. It’s not my idea of fun. Even if it sounds kind
of dorky, I’d rather go paint pottery or have a barbeque. I’m just not really that
kind of girl who is going to go and live on the wild side and go out without any
underwear on. I guess some people might find it a temptation, but the way I celebrate
and let off steam is not the same way that lot of young Hollywood does.
Switching gears: How would you describe your personal style?
My aesthetic for style is feminine, classic and chic, but without needing a lot
of effort. I don’t like to spend hours getting ready. I like things that look put
together. I’m not very trendy; I’m classic and modern in a way that Ralph Lauren
is. His aesthetic is clean and beautiful, sexy without having to show too much skin.
A collarbone or a knee is sexy and I don’t think you need to bare it all.
Who are your style icons?
Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana. I gravitate towards women who are strong and
beautiful inside, and that’s what comes out through their style. Clothing is an
expression of what you’re feeling at that moment and those women were extremely
beautiful.
Who is somebody you met that got you really star struck?
Gorbachev. [Laughs] That’s me! That’s the kind of person who stops me in my tracks.
I was walking down the street and saw him and was like—wow!
What’s something that no one ever asks you but you wish they
knew about you?
Something nobody knows? They have to listen to the record!
Rebecca Isenberg is an Editor at Assouline Publishing and has written
for Time: Style and Design.
Photography credits (L-R):
1-4: Brian Bowen Smith
5: Rabbani and Solimene Photography/WireImage
“Slow Me Down” performed by Emmy Rossum
(p) 2007 Geffen Records
Courtesy of Geffen Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
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