I'm Maddie Rose and I'm fourteen years old. On Friday 26th October I released my debut single "Good Days" on RUM Records.
The first time I sang in front an audience was around a year ago with Soundwave's DIY Production Academy. I've always loved singing from a very young age; I grew up listening to Ariana Grande and I can definitely thank her for inspiring me to pursue my singing. She practically taught me how to sing!
Since joining Soundwave I have realised how important it is to be able to accompany yourself when singing, as I watched other acts perform, and therefore I knew I wanted to learn how to play guitar. I started learning guitar around a year ago and since then I have performed at local gigs around the area. I soon realised that being able to play guitar gave me the freedom to be able to write my own songs, and that's how "Good Days" began.
When I first started writing "Good Days" I had no idea which direction it was going in. To begin with, I found it hard to come up with lyrics, but after I stopped forcing myself to write in a certain way, it all happened naturally. Since "Good Days" was the first song I had ever written, I was scared at first, to put my feelings out into the open, for everyone to hear, but I knew that if I wanted the song to be the best it could be, I had to.
When writing "Good Days" I knew I wanted to write something that anyone could relate to, something that was accessible, as I think that is a really important part of songwriting and is something I look for when listening to song lyrics myself. "Good Days" for me was definitely about a personal experience. It's about being in a situation where you know you and this other person have both done things you regret, know that it's over, and are now asking for forgiveness. Although my song is, for me, about a personal experience, I think that anyone can relate to it, and that it could mean something completely different to someone else, which I think is really cool.
After finishing writing "Good Days" I was really nervous to show it to people as I wasn't sure what they would think. However, after performing it to the people around me, I got a really pleasant response, which then gave me the confidence to perform it at local gigs. But before performing it live, I decided to showcase my song on one of Soundwave's Magic Carpet Sessions, on YouTube. After performing "Good Days" a few times at gigs put on by Soundwave, I was thrilled to be asked by the director of Soundwave, David Roberts, to create my song in the studio!
It took around 5 months to produce "Good Days", but time definitely flew by!
When creating "Good Days" I had no idea how it was going to turn out, since this was my first time doing anything like this, but I knew I wanted a pop and electronic sound. In the studio, I was given some great advice on my song and added a bridge, which I think really brought the song to life, and I have Emma Dockeray to thank, for helping me out with that one!
I think that the produced version of "Good Days" is definitely different to how I used to play it live and has not only helped the song come alive but has also altered the way I play it, by speeding it up and adding the bridge. What I think really makes the song is Kane Harper's bass line, and the synth bass, which literally shook the studio walls!
I received so much help and advice whilst producing "Good Days" and I really appreciate the support I received from Simone Armstrong and several family members in bringing the song together.
For the final touches I was fortunate enough to have expert mastering engineer, Pete Maher, master my track which I think gives the song a really polished sound. It makes "Good Days" sound really professional which has left me over the moon with the final product.
When we came to the end of producing "Good Days" , we decided that we should create a video to accompany it, which in my opinion turned out pretty cool!
The video is full of fun, vibrant colours and some quirky out of focus shots. I really enjoyed filming the video. It was so great to be able to express "Good Days" in a video and i'm really happy with the final product.
You can check the "Good Days" video out on my facebook page, or on Youtube.
I am so happy to finally be able to share my song with the world. I'm so grateful for all the support everyone around me has given me, and I am so pleased with the finished product."Good Days" is available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Music etc!
