Meet Poppy Roscoe

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Poppy Roscoe. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Poppy below.

Poppy, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.

It’s important to realise that it’s impossible to please everyone, and anything you create as an artist will garner a fair amount of negative reactions in some form. The most common way of dealing with these so-called nay-sayers is to just ignore them, but I believe that’s missing a valuable piece of an audience reaction.

While it’s important to take what people are saying with a grain of salt, even the most hating of haters is saying something for a reason. In that way, every bit of negativity that comes your way can be boiled down into a criticism that can be thought of in terms of a learning experience.

Why are they saying what they’re saying?
Who is saying what they’re saying?
Is there any validity to what they’re saying or is it just throw-away bile?

I don’t believe outright avoidance is the answer (unless you have thin skin and can’t handle the criticism). Constant praise and approval is a direct path to stagnation and turning into glass; Poppy Roscoe would much prefer to accept that everyone has an opinion and growth can come from everywhere, while also realising that not every opinion needs to be taken so seriously. It’s a balancing act in that way.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

We’re Poppy Roscoe, a local Art/Garage Rock band based in Los Angeles, CA.

Resurrected in 2023 surrounded by the arid Sonoran Wastelands, we’re dedicated to creating multimedia musical-video experiences for its dedicated cult following.
Captained by founder Izzy Fortune and drummer Jacob Smith, Poppy Roscoe is bringing back the concept that music can tell a complex, meaningful story that’s really special.

… also rats (and soon a full-blown space opera).

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Electrical/Audio Engineering:
It is incredibly important for every musician to know how their equipment and instruments work, even at the most fundamental level. The amount of guitarists who can’t change a string or explain what compression of a signal really is is staggering. Furthermore, it greatly helps to gain confidence in the material and avoid the sea of half-truths, misconceptions, and outright falsehoods that plague musical forums.

The Ability to Hang:
You could be a virtuoso in all regards, but you’ll be stuck at the gate if you can’t be on-time and reliable, or aren’t able to be friendly enough to work with others. As an add-on to that, take care of your personal hygiene and it’ll make everyone’s life easier.

Simple Dedication and Focus to the Craft:
The sad fact is you can’t get away with only giving one-hundred per cent to art– you have to muster twice or even triple that to have any hope of going anywhere in this life. Every pay-check, every hour, every drop of blood and/or sweat needs to go towards your goals.
That, or you need an exorbitant amount of luck. Though I would content that luck is just hard work’s residue

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Poppy Roscoe has always believed in the adage “Play to your strengths”

Improvement has a time and a place when it comes to growth and development, but when it comes down to brass tax it’s only wise to bring your best attributes to the table– if only for sensible management of the situation.

In the context of the musical realm: a veteran guitar player of an actively touring band might be learning mandolin in their free time as a passion project. After a few weeks (months) of practicing privately, maybe they start playing a song or two during their live set on the mandolin. Those few songs can turn to many on subsequent sets, but before then, they’re still playing guitar on the majority of the set. In this example, leading with your strengths allowed for the growth of a weakness.

I’ll note that I don’t necessarily mean to outright ignore your weaknesses, but if someone isn’t an accountant, then they probably shouldn’t be filing other peoples’ taxes; on the other hand, a seasoned plumber might want to pursue a career in pipes, even though they may also be a dang fine gardener in their free time.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.poppy-roscoe.epk.fm/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poppyroscoe/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@poppyroscoe
• Other: https://hyperfollow.com/poppyroscoe

Image Credits

Images Courtesy of Toadwart Records (2024)