Ones2Watch Home

Photo by Austin Ciesz

We are all dancing aren’t we? Atomically, metaphysically, within our schedule, and if it’s a good day, with a good partner, moving to the music, feet shuffling, falling in love. If you could bottle up that latter feeling, then Claire Rosinkranz's "Dancing" is the swig that sets you from solo two stepping, to duo tangoing. With this single as the dance floor for a larger project on the horizon, we wanted to know more about this spellbinding pop choreographer. We luckily caught up with Claire during a midsummer thunderstorm, and between lightning clashes we caught up on: life, love and most importantly what rollercoasters to avoid:

OnesToWatch: Why are you an artist, Claire? 

Claire Rosinkranz: Ever since I was a child, I couldn't help but make music and write. I watched my dad make music and my mom play music in our household, and naturally, I was obsessed with it. And I also just feel like I was given the gift of writing straight out the womb. That is how I process everything. I would have to get my feelings out through music either way, and feel I’m able to verbalize very specific feelings, so it’s a huge benefit to be able to make people feel seen through my music. 

What is the most niche feeling you think you've nailed? 

The first thing that came to my mind is a song that’s not out yet, called “Chronic.” I endured a ton of chronic illness, and there was a time when it was especially gnarly, and my body felt very helpless. I was just trapped in my body and very dependent on everybody around me. There were times where I wasn’t even that conscious, and it’s very interesting to see life still happening around you, but you’re not capable of participating because of fatigue or symptoms. It’s hard to explain, and that goes back to how music is an outlet for me, because my normal words can only say so much, but with music, the melodies and instruments are articulating thoughts as well. “Chronic,” the chorus is literally just humming, but it’s the way I’m singing it that expresses such a specific feeling. 

You've clearly been writing music for like a very long time. 
Do you remember the first song you wrote with the intention of it being consumed by people other than yourself? 

I think it's always for myself. I don't think it has actually ever been for the public to consume, if I’m being honest. 

So we're just passengers on this self-expression journey? 


Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

Then with that in mind, what has changed in your songwriting in terms of methodology? 

There’s never been a method to the madness. I start writing when I'm walking down the street, or when my friend says something in a conversation, or when I’m taking a shower, or about to fall asleep. It’s always striking me down. I’m constantly inspired, too. So in that way, my process hasn’t changed, but as I’ve grown up, I’ve done a lot of writing with other people now. At first, I wrote solo, and then I was thrown into rooms with a lot of people where I got to observe how our minds blended together to create something. That was really cool, I’d say I learned a lot inherently from those experiences. But I've actually resorted back to writing by myself because I just feel like it's the most intimate, vulnerable and personal. So, comparatively, the album I’m about to release is a lot more personal than my last album. 

I love that. Now that you’ve tapped into this personal songwriting journey, is it harder to write with other people? 

It never really makes me frustrated working with other people. It was a fun challenge, and exciting to be surprised by what other people would offer to my story. It also lets you see your experiences from a zoomed out perspective, when you let other writers into what you’re going through – like a therapy session. Co-writing is just very different than writing alone. It’s always fun and interesting, but when I write by myself, I can be so so honest because I’m in the safest space. 

What is your exact process then? Do you start with melody, guitar, lyrics… what is it? 

You're gonna hate my answer. It literally changes every time. It just gets dropped in my little brain tank. Also, my faith is really important to me. So sometimes I'll really just ask God what I should write about. Other times, if I don’t have an instrument around, I’ll latch onto a rhythm – that’s how I made “Backyard Boy.” 

Let's pivot over to “Dancer.” I just watched the video. It's beautiful. 

Thank you. 

I love it. 
It's really cute. Why don't you tell me what it's about? 

It's very spot on with how me and my boyfriend met, and how we're both very much in love now. But more generally, it's just about meeting a person and not knowing how much they’ll mean to you or impact your life, and then all of a sudden, you’re falling in love. Dancing is really the best way for me to describe the feeling. It was funny because when I did meet Max specifically, I just genuinely had no idea what was ahead of me, let alone this little swirly bubble of dancing and falling in love. It's just fun to look back at that moment now and be like, oh my gosh, I really didn't have a clue all the ways I would fall in love with you. Which is literally the lyric.

It's lovely, very beautiful. Making me sentimental... Did you dance on your first date? 


What did we do for our first date? Oh, I think we were actually in New York – we met in California at church – but then we didn't really see each other till we were in New York. 
That was such a whirlwind of things. We definitely danced on our first dates, and in New York it's inevitable. We go to a lot of jazz clubs. I would say Max cannot help but dance wherever there’s music. So that was also very real. 

What's Max's best dance move? 


Max's best dance move is probably spinning me around. I grew up dancing, actually, specifically ballet. So I feel like I always am spinning. But also, when we go out dancing with our friends, I like to give people categories to dance off of. Like, now you have to dance like you’re fire! Keeps it interesting. 

What's your favorite place to get down and boogie in New York City? 

Currently, I really love going to this place called Night Moves in Brooklyn. It's just this small little dance floor with disco lights and there's four massive speakers, but it's fun when it's packed. And I'm in Manhattan, so we'll go on a City Bike and go dance. 

That's true Manhattan. A few more personality questions: Max and all your friends come over after a late night of dancing. You have to whip up a meal. What do you whip up for them? 


Probably cereal. 

How about when they wake up, what’s for breakfast?

Swedish pancakes. My dad was born and raised in Sweden, and his nanny would always make his really good Swedish pancakes. We have that recipe and I make it all the time for my friends. 

Breakfast is your vibe. If you could perform with anyone, anywhere, at any time, what would that performance entail? 

Oh gosh, this doesn’t exactly answer the question, but in the future I would love to do a really intimate venue tour, like playing in much smaller rooms. It’s just so much more personal than seeing artists at arenas or stadiums. 

That's my favorite, too. If you need to relax, what do you do to give yourself time, space? 

I feel like in a sense, everything I do is relaxing to me. All my friends think it's not. I'm from California and I'm actually going back there at the end of this month. 
And my schedule is: write music, ride horses, go to the beach, surf, do hot yoga all the time. And it's so awesome. I have a very luxurious life. Actually, though, I'm currently on my fifth concussion right now, because somehow in all of this, I love adrenaline. 

That is definitely a risk with surfing and riding horses… not so much yoga, I’d say. How do you have so many concussions? 

Once I get one, my head is really sensitive, and my body has a hard time healing. But, the first one was from ATVing and jet skiing, then I slipped while playing tag the second time. The third one, a lady hit me in my car, and the fourth one was retriggered from surfing. And this one, was not very smart of me, but I went on roller coasters in Coney Island with Max and hit my head.  

Claire, do stay safe out there.
Last couple of questions. I’d love a recommendation – something you’d insist upon everyone – a book, movie, anything non-musical. 

Instantly I thought to go to the beach in Malibu because it's actually probably one of the most therapeutic things for me. And secondly, read a book by Francine Rivers. She's really fun. 

Okay, I love it. Finally, I’d love to know your OnesToWatch, some artists you’re listening to that we should be listening to. 

My first thought was my best friend Summer, who's an amazing writer, and she recently started putting out music under Summer Davis.

Awesome. Any last words to leave on? Advice, a joke? 

I would say some advice that I feel like I'm even trying to take, is you reap what you sow. And so I would say invest into things that are good for you, even if it's behind the scenes, like meditation or praying or writing or practicing your instrument or whatever it is, I think that when you invest in things that help ground you, you'll just be so much stronger. Your stamina will be stronger when you put yourself out there. And you have to put yourself out there, even though it requires exposing yourself to negativity and differing opinions. If you take time to practice those muscles behind the scenes and find the things that center you, then when you are out there, you just have a way better grounding.

It sounds like that self-therapy of writing has given you great perspective. Thanks so much for chatting with us!