Coming Up Roses Talk Debut Album, Favourite Instruments And More

 Combining guitar-driven alternative rock with catchy melodies, Coming Up Roses are a London-based quartet inspired by the sounds of post-punk and shoegaze. With three EPs already under their belt, the group recently signed to INH Records and will release their debut album, ‘How Did We Fall So Far?’, on Friday 20th June 2025. We sat down with them to learn more: 

 

Who is in Coming Up Roses, how did you meet and what do you play?

We are Emily (bass-vocals), Darius (guitar), Charlie (guitar) and Caleb (drums). Emily and Darius met in Singapore at music school and formed the band back in 2018. In 2022, they moved to the UK and met Caleb, who was Darius’ classmate and Charlie, who responded to a Facebook ad the band put up when they were looking for a guitarist.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Emily: Picking up the piano when I was aged 6. My teacher hit my fingers with a pen for not being curved enough though!!

Darius: My earliest musical memory would probably be listening to The Beatles and Queen in my parent’s car when I was a kid – it was definitely a good start in terms of listening to bands!

When did you begin songwriting?

Emily: I think I wrote my first song when I was 19 just before starting music school. I did not know much about chords and worked with an external guitarist to try to figure out the chords to a song in preparation for an audition for music school.

Darius: I started writing songs when I first picked up the guitar at around 13. I can just about remember some of the early songs I wrote and they just sounded like rip-offs of the bands I was listening to at the time – but I guess that’s how you learn to write!

You will release your debut album ‘How Did We Fall So Far?’ on 20th June 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

Emily: Since it is our debut album, we wanted to ensure that it sounded cohesive but not boring so the songs in our album are quite diverse, ranging from loud and dynamic to soft and intimate. There was an overall central theme of addressing mental health and the struggles of life in our songs which connected them together. Essentially we wanted to confront the uncomfortable as to validate the hardships of life that most of society tries to hide or ignore.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

Darius: We recorded it in a couple of places including a school campus recording studio at Dyne Road, our producer’s studio 310 Studios and even Revolution Recordings in Toronto which we did a while back. Andrea Trevisan produced the entire album and we were really lucky to get to work so closely with him. He really understood the direction of the album and was a joy to work with.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the album recording sessions?

Emily: There was once only Caleb and I could make it to the recording session with Andrea and so I asked if we could take a photo to send to Darius and Charlie. They did not really want to take a photo but upon my insistence, they relented and Andrea took the phone only to purposely try to place it high enough such that it would not include me in the picture since I am only 5 ‘1. It ended with me trying to get him to bring his arm down and him spamming a whole bunch of pictures that captured the entire thing.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

Emily: There were a couple of things for sure. In particular, for guitars, Darius utilised a lot more analog delays as compared to previous records as it suited the more moody texture of this album. We also used a couple of synths, especially the Roland Juno which has sort of been a go-to for creating pads under the music. Microphone wise, the Manley Reference Cardioid was pretty much a mainstay for all of the vocal tracks on the album.

 

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Happiest: There isn’t really a particularly happy song on this album. But if we had to pick one it would be Over Your Head. While the song is about the struggles of perfectionism, and focusing so much on being this perfect person that you neglect yourself, there is also an undertone of showing empathy and kindness to those who struggle to be kind to themselves.

Angriest: There aren’t really any angry songs on this album either, but thematically we would say the angriest song is Little Guy as it is about how big corporations don’t stand up for those they deem less significant, especially when they don’t line up with their agendas.

Most Reflective: That would be the title track ‘How Did We Fall So Far?’ because it questions how the rejection of certain emotions and hardships reflects how far society has fallen due to a lack of empathy.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Emily: Not really, to be honest. The songs for this album were written over quite a long period of time. For example, we’ve had Awake in some form or another since 2020. What was difficult however was finding a way to order the tracks so that it would be a cohesive album. We spent a long time playing around with the track order to see what flowed the best – we wanted to make sure that the album was easy to listen to and that there would be a sense of drive and direction throughout the listening experience.

Who designed the album artwork?

Darius: The album artwork was shot by our friend James Bassett who is a really cool photographer who loves working on film. Despite our band name, we’ve always stayed away from using roses in our artwork explicitly, despite using some other flowers in our image. Since this is our debut album, we decided to go all in on the concept – using lots of reds and having roses on the cover.

One of the tracks is the single ‘Tired’ which is out now. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Darius: Tired was sort of inspired by us feeling a bit burnt out as a band. I think when you chase something with so much passion and grit, it’s completely normal to feel a little tired in the midst of everything that is going on. However, it’s also a reminder to ourselves that we’re not gonna give up in pursuit of what we want to achieve.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

Darius: Career-wise, it would be to have played the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage and to have inspired someone else to start a band.

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

Darius: Yeah definitely, we’ve pretty much played the same instruments since we started the band! Here’s what we use:

Emily: Fender P Bass, TC Spectra Comp, EQD Blumes, Boss VE-500

Darius: Fender Jaguar, Fender Stratocaster, Mooer Yellow Comp, PaulC Timmy, SoundLad Scran, Buzztone Mindflayer, Boss CE-2, Strymon BigSky

Charlie: Fender Stratocaster, Way Huge Green Rhino, Buzztone Mindflayer, EHX Oceans 11

Both Charlie and I use the Boss MS-3 which is such a great platform to build a pedalboard around. We’re not quite big enough yet to have our own crew so keeping things lightweight yet versatile is a priority and the MS-3 is excellent for that.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Our hometown is London at the moment!

We would describe London as: Bustling, Historic, Diverse, Iconic, Inspiring

How do you look after your voices?

There is a magical traditional Chinese medicine for the voice called pei pa koa that we highly recommend. If you don’t believe us, ask Ariana Grande.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

Darius: My pick would be the classic George Orwell novel 1984. I feel that there’s just so many concepts packed in there that would be so interesting to unpack and interpret through a musical lens, I mean we already have 2+2=5 by Radiohead so they are already kicking about.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

Emily: Some of our musical influences include: Wolf Alice, Paramore, The Cranberries, The Sundays, The Joy Formidable, Sonic Youth, Ethel Cain, DIIV

We would recommend having a listen to our friends from Bangkok Death of Heather if you like shoegazey stuff!

Do you have any live dates in the UK/Europe for 2025?

Yes we have a few in the calendar! The next big one is our album launch show that’s happening on the 20th of June at Strongroom in Shoreditch, London. It’ll be a special show as we’re playing the album in full. We will also be a part of the CloseUp Summer Series this year in August and we will have a couple more dates TBA towards the end of the year!

What makes Coming Up Roses happy and what makes you unhappy?

What makes us happy: eating

What makes us unhappy: being hungry (the tour hangriness is real!)

Feature Image Photo Credit: James Bassett

Coming Up Roses’ debut album ‘How Did We Fall So Far?’ is released on Friday 20th June 2025 via INH Records.

Bandcamp: https://inhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/how-did-we-fall-so-far

The single ‘Over Your Head’ is also out now. 

Stream: https://li.sten.to/cur-oyh

In addition, Coming Up Roses will celebrate with an album release show on Friday 20th June 2025 at Strongroom Bar, London, United Kingdom.

Tickets: https://wegottickets.com/event/659416

Official Website: https://www.cominguprosesband.com/