By: Gemma Mastroianni
Claire Rosinkranz is an alt-pop artist and California native. Within just one year she has garnered over half a billion streams and has received widespread media coverage. Her song "Backyard Boy" has inspired over 3 million TikTok's, and she has just dropped a brand new EP titled "Six in a Billion."
I discovered Claire through TikTok and have been obsessed ever since! I was so excited to chat with her and it was great to dive deeper into her background as an artist.
Please see my interview with her below:
Tell me a bit about yourself as an artist.
Well, obviously, I'm close friends and I make music with my Dad and I have been doing it for a really long time. I started pursuing it really seriously, basically only a year ago. That’s when I dropped my EP and then everything happened and now I'm here, which is great.
So fantastic! And I'm assuming you got into music because of your Dad?
Yeah, honestly, because my entire family, which is really fortunate for me, my grandma, was an opera singer. My Dad has been composing and producing all of my childhood and my Mom has been singing and her mom, my other Grandma, was a children's singer songwriter.
Honestly, it was just like both sides of my family were in music and it all kind of transferred to me, which is really great. They're also very supportive of me wanting to do music, so I've gotten really lucky.
That's awesome. And then when did you realize you wanted to take it a step further and do it professionally?
When I was 11, I was like ‘Oh, this is actually something that I could do in the future. Like, it doesn't have to just be a family affair.’
When I was around 13 and 13 I started to experiment with my sound, and then I started releasing things. But I actually released my first first project about a year ago. So crazy. But it's been a good roller coaster.
Cool. And where do you write your music?
I mean, like, my bedroom is a really safe place. I honestly don't like when I'm around people when I'm writing music, I have to be by myself. I can't be around people. I don't like people hearing my process. Sometimes I just drive around and I'll make something or I'll be in my car, or the studio, or my living room, or anywhere!
Awesome. And I know you're in school and doing music. What's your approach to time management?
So I am in school, I'm going to be a senior. Since it's been like such a big whirlwind and stuff, I haven't really been in school that much, but I will graduate next year! But yeah, I don't know, it hasn't really been that hard to manage it because I have been homeschooled for the majority of my life.
It wasn't very different, having to learn how to homeschool. It was good and bad, but it gave me more time to pursue music and get into all that, which is a really big blessing.
How do you stay organized?
Probably if I do like I mean sometimes I am not organized at all.
My mom and my dad both manage me at the moment. So it's very like, ‘Oh by the way you have this!’ Or ‘You have an interview’ or ‘You have a meeting’ or ‘You have this like super last minute or just like with everything.’
But, I am a list maker and I just love writing and I love writing music, obviously. But I love just writing out lists in my notebook and stuff. So yeah, I'm cool now.
I'm the same way. How does it feel to have over two million TikTok’s using ‘Backyard’? How did it feel to have that blow up?
Oh, I don't know. It's weird every time I hear it because I don't really look at the numbers that much. And it was like, I don't know, I put it out and was like teasing it on TikTok and then I got off of it. And then I was getting texts from my friends and I still didn't check. And then I was getting more texts and then I checked TikTok, and there were like seven hundred videos. And I was like, oh crazy. But then I don't know, it's just weird. It almost doesn't feel real because it's just on my screen.
I feel like it’ll feel real when I start performing and once I get to see people in person.
Yeah, it'll be a whole other feeling once you get in front of people for sure. Speaking of TikTok, have there been any artists that you personally discovered through the app?
So many! It’s really cool because a lot of people I've discovered on the app have become my friends, which is so cool. It's such a cool community.
And who are some of your big inspirations when it comes to making music ?
All different people for different reasons. But my favorite artists are Frank Ocean and Daniel Caesar. Even though I don't really make that type of music, I've definitely written a lot of stuff like that. I have a big selection. It's a hard question. Yeah, kind of cool.
So I know you're a ballerina, and I'm a ballerina as well which has played such a big part in my connection to music. I'm wondering how it played a part in your journey with music?
It's been a huge part because I've been dancing since I was three and specifically ballet was what I was always passionate about. Just being in classes and doing competitions over and over again and having to be on time, I think that plays over into music a lot. It helps you even with performing and stage presence, and work ethic because it's so strenuous and you have to do it until you get it right, and it hurts like hell.
I think it transfers over to music a lot because of timing and rhythm and all of that stuff. But it's been really great and I feel like it kind of just matures you on another level, too, like ballet specifically.
It also helps me handle high pressure situations which transfers over to performing in person for music.
Your music videos are really fun and there is always so much detail, how long does it take to usually plan those and shoot them?
“Backyard” was really funny because it was all thrown together by my entire family. It was me, my dad, my uncle, my cousin.
It was very last minute! My cousin flew down from New York, my uncle flew from Oregon, and my Dad and I were already in California. We used my best friend's house and it was basically thrown together, what felt like the night before.
‘Frankenstein’ was a whole different situation because there were directors and a wardrobe person, hair and makeup and all that stuff. It's kind of different every time so far!,
Congratulations on your EP ‘Six of a Billion.’ I love EP. What does it mean to you?
Basically it kind of stemmed from my song ‘Boy of a Billion.’
There's six songs in the EP, so I was like, it's six of a billion songs that I want to write, so I don't know, I was kind of like either that or ‘Secrets.’ Then a lot of people thought that ‘Six in a Billion’ caught their attention more. So, yeah, I don't know. It is six of a billion songs that I want to release because all I want to do is just release more music.
What do you like to do aside from playing music?
There are so many things right now since it's summer, I feel like there's so many like summer activities that I want to do. The other night my friends and I went night swimming in the ocean. We go to hotel pools and we go swimming, and I go to the mountains a lot. I love swimming in different lakes and oceans and all that stuff. I love the water, off roading. I have a lot of little things, but also dance.
I do miss dancing a lot, especially because of COVID. It's just been really hard and with everything else going on.
I did see your TikTok about sneaking into hotel pools if you like to go. Do you have any tips for people who also want to sneak into hotel pools?
It's honestly so easy because we go to this one and all you have to do is talk with your friends.
One of us opens it from the inside and nobody questions you, they're not like, ‘Are you staying at the hotel?’ It’s just fun because it's adrenaline and it's just fun, you know. But yeah, unless high security, it should be easy. Go swimming. If somebody asks you for a key card or whatever, just say ‘I left it in the hotel room.’
Your style is really bright and fun, where are some of your favourite places to shop?
Lots of it is thrifted. I also love going to the trading post in L.A. and then really specifically I love surfing and Oregon, which is super random. I have family there and my best friend lives there and everything is actually like thrifted pieces because everything's still expensive even though it's thriftier or whatever.
I also love Urban and Brandi Melville which are so basic but sometimes the basic serves!