Photo Credit: Naserin Bogado
[Sam DeRosa](https://www.instagram.com/samderosa/) makes defenseless pop music that is both anti-expectation and completely relatable. Her latest single ‘Sad Faces’, aside from being magnetically vulnerable, can be seen as an ode to the paradox of 2020: spreading the news that it’s okay not to be okay.
A songwriter at heart, DeRosa shines as a superstar in her career, having made a name for herself in the genre best known as sadgirlpop (à la Julia Michaels and Sasha Sloan). Her repertoire leaves a relatable impression on you, uplifting mental health awareness within dancing melodies and irresistible drum lines. Additionally, DeRosa’s well-crafted, candid lyricism makes you feel as if she’s right there with you, even if you connected over a :(
_“Tired of ending all my sentences with sad faces. Tired of taking all my happy thoughts to bad places.”_ DeRosa croons in her new single. After relocating to LA, she admits, “I felt like I got everything I wanted in music and in life, and my Instagram looked all sorts of ‘happy,’ but my mental health was just in the toilet.” Contributing her voice to a world in which soundness of mind is normalized as a common priority, DeRosa ends the chorus by saying _“And I really wanna change, really wanna be ok, But it’s hard when everybody’s got the same sad faces.”_
Lucky for us, DeRosa’s music has been heard far and wide, having penned hits for lovelytheband, _Dixie D’Amelio, and_ Alisa Xayalith (of The Naked And Famous) to name a few. Following a remarkable performance of her original song _“Pill For This_” on NBC’s Songland (with special guest Charlie Puth), Sam DeRosa instantly impressed judge Shane McAnally (Kacey Musgraves, Kelly Clarkson, Sam Hunt) and landed her first major record deal. Shane saw a bona fide pop artist and quickly signed her to Monument Records.
‘Sad Faces’ comes as the third song from DeRosa’s debut EP, _The Medicine_, out Nov 13. She shares, “From track 1 until the final track, I really wanted it to feel like... a full day of healing and processing your emotions. Hopefully my fans will hear this and feel like I’m right there with them - whether we are stumbling home, dancing around the house, or crying it out on the bedroom floor.
FLAUNT caught up with Sam DeRosa about her new music, being a woman in the industry, and mental health. Check it out below.
**Tell us about the “Sad Faces” single and video...**
“Sad Faces” is my first non-love song and first song that I’ve really ever written about my mental health. It was written after I felt like I got everything I wanted in music and in life, and my Instagram looked all sorts of “happy,” but my mental health was just in the toilet. I’m really good at throwing a smile on pretending everything’s okay, when it’s really not. I started realizing that who I was surrounding myself with and living in LA had a huge affect on me, so the song poured out pretty quickly with my friends Nolan and Ryan one day. The video was actually shot in quarantine! I want every song on the EP to feel like a mood or color. Yellow is actually known as a color that makes people feel uneasy or anxious, so that’s why there’s a lot of yellow in the video.
**You wrote “Be Happy” - which was released by influencer and now chart-topper Dixie D’Amelio. Why did you give the track away and what was it like for you to see the massive support around it?**
I love that song so much. I think the reason I decided to give it away was because it wasn’t initially written with the intention of me keeping it, and when I wrote it with my friends, we all felt like it was really important. As songwriters, it’s important to separate your ego from your art. If you have a song that can help more people by having a certain artist with a bigger platform take it, then you always should choose to help people and get the song heard. It’s been amazing to see the success of “Be Happy.” I’m just really happy for the whole team and really proud of Dixie. Thankful to her for going for her dreams and choosing this song.
**There’s clearly a connection between “Be Happy” and “Sad Faces” - why was “Sad Faces” ultimately the release meant to stay with you?**
“Sad Faces” was written in a session that we specifically had for my project. Something about that lyric of diving too deep into self help and crashing mentally felt like it resonated more with me for this EP than “Be Happy.” This EP is all about my search for closure after a heartbreak, and “Sad Faces” really tells my side of the internal struggles I was dealing with. Plus, when Dixie D’amelio says she loves your song and wants it to be her first single, you let that queen take it! I was so honored.
**Women in music are often told to 'Be Happy' or 'Smile' or asked 'what's with the Sad Face" - what's your experience and take on this? And how have you persevered as a singer and songwriter in music?**
I think it’s wild that, after all this time, we as a society are finally normalizing mental health and calling people out who make women feel like they need to be a pretty face or paint a smile on. That’s why we titled the song “Be Happy.” Because we are saying the exact opposite. It’s “sometimes I don’t want to be happy.” But by having the title sound like a command, that’s the fun of it - we are talking about the opposite: how much we don’t want to be happy sometimes. With “Sad Faces,” I wanted to make the song sound upbeat and happy while I talked about something difficult. Having those little things here and there in songs helps me feel more human as I send them into the world. In regards to perseverance- I think as a songwriter who’s now an artist, I’m learning how to take the “no’s” in stride. It means something better is coming. I’m learning to accept things I cannot change and to not worry too much about things being perfect. The mess is the fun part and my journey’s been a wild one, but it’s mine, so it’s awesome and I’m thankful for it.
Photo Credit: Naserin Bogado
**Your debut EP - entitled ‘The Medicine’ - is finally coming out on November 13th via Monument Records. How does it feel?**
Oh man, it feels so good but SO scary. This is me serving my heart on a little platter to the world and hoping they like it. I’ve never released a full body of work and I’m just hoping people resonate with it.
**What’s the one thing, if anything, that fans and even your fellow singer/songwriters should take away from it?**
I hope they hear my truth. I hope that from these stories, they feel like I’m helping to tell theirs also. Heartbreak is universal. In some way, we’ve all had our hearts broken. These 5 songs were me navigating my way through creating my own closure.
**What else can we expect from your forthcoming body of work - both sonically and narratively?**
The whole idea is supposed to feel like I’m walking myself through my own love rehab. There’s no specific concept of time, except that a relationship is clearly over. From track 1 until the final track, I really wanted it to feel like each track is a full day of healing and processing your emotions. Musically/sonically, I tried my best to dance through the problem and disguise the direct conversations with lyrics laid over some little baby bops so that you can drive to it, work out to it, cry to it, or clean your house to it. Whatever you feel!
**And lastly, with everything going on in the world right now, what's your best piece of advice or pro-tip for self care and on managing your mental health?**
This is an awesome question. I say PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY FOR A LITTLE :). For me personally, I’m finding myself being inundated with news, information, music, sadness, happiness, etc., and I have to quiet the noise. The more I unplug, the faster I can get back to me and what I need that day. It’s super important for my well-being, lately.
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