Sax Appeal: A Behind The Scenes Look at Gabi Rose

Article by Rebecca McDevitt / Contributions by Rebecca McDevitt & LJ Portnoy

If you're feeling saxy, Gabi Rose is here to blow you away—literally!

This powerhouse saxophonist and vocalist mixes pop, jazz, and R&B like a musical mad scientist, creating sounds that are as smooth as they are inspiring. 

She’s jammed with big names like Bilmuri and the Jonas Brothers, all while leading her own band, Enrose. Whether she’s lighting up the stage or going viral with her killer sax covers, Gabi is always pushing musical boundaries and keeping things fresh, funky, and full of soul!

Photo by Rebecca McDevitt - RJL Photography

I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Gabi Rose and dive into her journey as an artist. We discussed her unique sound, the experiences she's had while touring, and what’s next for her band, Enrose. Gabi shared insights into the creative process behind her music and gave us a glimpse of the exciting plans the band has in store for the future.

SoundCheck: I want to talk about your saxophone first. How did you develop a musical identity with the saxophone? And what made the saxophone such a core part of your history? 

Gabi Rose: So, I always heard when I was younger, before I even knew that being a musician was in the cards for me. I remember hearing that, and I can't. Man, I wish I remembered who said this to me, but I remember hearing that the saxophone is like a human voice, and actually, arguably the most similar to a human voice than any other musical instrument. And so that has allowed me to have my own unique sound with it, because I'm also a vocalist. And really, everybody has a voice. So that is why vocals in music resonate the most with people: we all have a human voice, even if we choose not to use it for singing, it's the most connective way. And so I feel like then, especially identifying as a singer. Even, you know, when I was a kid just doing it for fun. The more I was singing and the more I was playing, and the more I was doing them together, the more I was able to develop a voice. 

SoundCheck: What made the saxophone such a core part of your artistry? 

Gabi Rose: Oh, yeah, I mean, I feel like a saxophone. It's just. It's a little bit more unique, you know. I grew up going to shows. I loved rock music. I was listening to a lot of The Killers, and I loved the Foo Fighters and Paramore and all these bands, and I didn't play a rock instrument. I picked up a guitar when I was in high school because and just like acoustic guitar, because I wanted something that I could learn to accompany myself with to sing, but I still wasn't like playing a rock star instrument. But then, yeah, just like never stopping playing saxophone. The cool thing about that is, as I said before, it does resemble a human voice, but it can resemble a lot of different instruments. I feel like the saxophone can very closely resemble a guitar, too, if played in the right way. It can be a lead instrument. It is a lead instrument. So, in the same way that you might choose to have a rip and guitar solo in a song, you can substitute that for sax, which is what they did a lot in the eighties and increasingly more now. So I feel like I'm in the prime of that being something that's like making a comeback and. So I feel like I'm right on the sweet spot of that as a saxophone player in pop music and rock music. So yeah, I think that's why I've been able to use it as a tool. Because it is a little bit more unique. There are a lot of guitar players out there, but there are not quite as many saxophone players in pop music, at least not yet. 

Photo by Rebecca McDevitt - RJL Photography

SoundCheck: That's my next question is, do you think that you're seeing a resurgence of saxophone and pop music? Or do you feel like you're the one paving the lane with it? 

Gabi Rose: I'm seeing it for sure. And I think I'm helping pave that, too, because when people hear it, they're like, oh, cool, like, I want to have that in my song. I would say, really, ever since TikTok. I got on TikTok, January of 2021. I said, I don't know how long this whole lockdown thing is gonna happen. But at that point I had already been committing myself to producing and making videos, and what I was doing, was learning how to video edit, and so, taking some of my favorite songs and reconstructing them, reharmonizing them, singing, playing all this stuff just kind of treating that as if it was my job which wasn't paying me. But I wanted to stay on top of the grind and on top of learning and all this stuff. So then with TikTok, I was like, “Hmm, maybe this is a platform that I can get”.  I can start using it, and things don't have to be quite as polished. So that was the 1st time that I was like, maybe I could just get on and start playing over music. And the 1st video that went viral for me. It was within 2 weeks of being on TikTok and posting, and it was a video of me playing a saxophone solo over Olivia Rodrigo's Driver's License. And I was like, Wow, like it went so viral. And I was like, Wow, that's crazy. And that was the first.st That was the beginning of a long string. Thousands and thousands of comments since then like, “Bring saxophone back”. And at first, those comments would be replied to, and people would reply to those comments by saying things like, Yeah, I agree. Like, I love saxophone; we need more of it. And now it's funny, because the comments that I see are people not disagreeing with that. But people saying, yeah, let me give you like 5 to 10 bands that are already doing that now, or 5 to 10 artists that are doing that, or they're sending over albums. They're sending over songs; they’re like, if you want that, it's out there, and we know where it is now. So, I think it's been happening. It's just, I think, in the last 5 years, I've seen it so much more. And maybe that's just also my bias, because I'm the one I'm in it. I'm definitely seeing it more, which I think is cool. 

SoundCheck: Okay, your biggest music influences. 

Gabi Rose: I mean, definitely Paramore. Sometimes when people ask me this, they're like, Oh, my God, you didn't say Paramore like, I'm so surprised. And it's like, yeah, actually, I mean, of course, it's Paramore like that. Not that the band was hugely influential for so many people. And I think I would say Paramore and Foo Fighters came around for me at this sweet spot where I was starting to dial in my own unique taste in music. It's like we grow up listening to the music that we're just exposed to, whether it's our parents or what we're hearing from our friends or in school, what's on the radio, whatever.  And then you hit this point where you're maybe pre early teen years or something. And that's when you start to choose what you want to listen to and get in with the communities and start going to shows. So that was the beginning of that for me. Well, the Jonas Brothers, for sure there was that era. Yeah, there was like the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. Well, 1st it was Christina Aguilera, then it was the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and then it came like Paramore, Foo Fighters, and then when I got to college, I was exposed to R&B music. I had these like CDs growing up, the Now That's What I Call Music. CDs, and there would be songs by Brandy and Aaliyah, and TLC. And Erykah Badu, and stuff like that, and I love and and Babyface, and I love those singles, but I never got my hands on full albums, and then my freshman year. I remember the day so vividly when I discovered Spotify so vividly. It was my roommate at the time who was like, Yeah, there's this new thing, and you could cause we were just downloading music or ripping it off of Youtube or Limewire. If we had money, I would try to buy as much as I could to be fair, but I had so many interests, you know. That was the Tumblr age, too. So I was discovering a lot of music on Tumblr, and I was like everyone's talking about this band Arctic Monkeys like, I need to hear this album, you know. So yeah. So then, I remember vividly going on to Spotify for the 1st time. And that's when I got exposed. That's when I heard D'angelo for the 1st time, and that's when I heard Moonchild for the 1st time. That's when I heard Lawrence for the first time, these bands that were incorporating more soul and jazz, and it was perfect timing for me because I wasn't writing music. I wasn't soloing or improvising or performing with a band or any of that stuff until my second year of college. So it was a combination of discovering that kind of music where, for the first time, I'm like, oh, I feel like my voice, I like that. I like learning how to sing that stuff, and saxophone is very prevalent in these songs, too, like soul music and R&B, and that kind of stuff, and then coupled with. Now, I also am in a school with a music program that isn't gatekeeping. I wasn't in a music conservatory or anything like that. Kind of like. The sky's the limit here, and I can choose what to do. And you know, I wanted to learn. And I wanted to discover. So those happen at the perfect time. So that's when I started directly, the songs that I was beginning to perform and try to write were directly were from the influence of that music that I was listening to. But like that was kind of my arc of music. And then after college, that's when I kind of it all sort of came together, because that's when I got back into rock music. I wasn't listening to rock music for like 4 or 5 years. I listened to what was happening now and realized I really like this. And now I can start to combine some of what I have been exposed to and studied over the last 5 years and combine it. And that's my experience being with a band like Bilmuri.  Now, it's the common, the culmination of both of those things. And that's why I feel so at home in like my role in this band, because it's the perfect combination.  

SoundCheck: All right. I want to talk about Enrose. If someone is just discovering Enrose for the first time, what's the one song you'd want them to hear first?  

Gabi Rose: I think I would say the new one, “Not A Barbie”. I love the saxophone lead. It's using saxophone in a way that's not just a solo. And it's also similar to like My Happiness, which I know a lot of people like that song, too. It's using the saxophone as if it's a guitar lead or even a vocal lead. It's the chorus and I have enjoyed utilizing the instrument in that way. And it's like with my music. I can do whatever I want. It's been fun to experiment with that. It's my main tool of choice, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's a song that’s directly related to my life. And I get to sing on it, it's not just about the saxophone. It's just an element that's part of it, and it is a major part of it done in a different kind of way. I think that song is just fun. It's girly but also aggressive. It hits you right away. Yeah, I think that's the song that I would show people. I'd be like, this is kind of like me in a nutshell right now, and it's gonna change. But this is me in a nutshell. And this is the song that I think best represents the music that I'm doing right now.

SoundCheck: Going back to that. Between Not A Barbie and i like it. They're similar. But they're different. What was the inspiration behind both of those songs? 

Gabi Rose: So “i like it” was, I was sitting in my room just making a beat. And I liked those chords, and they were whimsical and dreamy to me. It kind of brought me to the feeling of being a little bit tipsy and a little bit just like you're feeling yourself. It's like one of those nights that you're just like, I could do anything. I feel good, and I maybe want to put myself out there. It kind of reminded me of getting into this space that you want to get in that you can't always access. You can't always tap into feeling good. You can't always tap into wanting to go out and put yourself out there. It's scary, but a song like that. Something about the chords. And then I just started gibberishing, and that's what came out of just feeling yourself and wanting to maybe do something crazy. And it's not even LMFAO like, get crazy. Not that kind of song. It's almost like embracing your feminine divine and embracing your body and feeling sensual and sexual and everything. So that's why I had this idea of being in a hotel room like I am now, and just kind of what do I want to do like you're on vacation or something, or in my case, I might be on tour, and I could be anybody that I want to be right now. 

SoundCheck: You’ll never see these people again.

Gabi Rose: Exactly, exactly. I think about that identity of cause. I travel all the time now, and you know. I think I like to think that as a touring musician being in all these different cities, I can tap into that. But I can't necessarily, because I am traveling in a group, and like I do have an identity. But I've always loved the idea of going on vacation or traveling solo, or traveling with just one other person, and for however many days that you're there. Nobody knows you. You're a complete stranger to everybody. You don't ever have to go back there. You can pack whatever kinds of clothes you want to wear, you can change your hair, you can change your style, you can change your accent, you can change anything about yourself, and be a different person for a week. And I love that concept. I think that's so cool. 

And then “Not A Barbie”. It's sort of an angry song. It's a bitter song. It's a little bit resentful but playful, resentful. So it's kind of the acknowledging that at one point or another, you might have felt trapped, and sometimes we do. I guess I could speak for myself, feeling the need to show up a certain way for somebody. Not meeting expectations and feeling like you need to be perfect, and that you're never getting it right. And it's kind of like a fuck you song so it's very different than I like it, which is a very peaceful song. But Not A Barbie is about feeling like you were put in a box. And now it's like that's not me. I'm unapologetically, I am so not perfect; I'm so far from perfect. And so that was the whole idea behind the music video of, I just wanted to rip some hair off of Barbies, and burn their clothes and draw eyeliner on them and everything. I saw this photo on Tumblr way back on my computer. It's stayed on my hard drive for all this time. And it's just this captivating photo of a fucked up Barbie, which is funny, because then the Barbie movie came out, and Weird Barbie was a character, and I was like yes, like everybody, had a weird Barbie at one point or another. We are all Weird Barbie. We're not regular Barbies. We are weird barbies, and every weird Barbie is different, too. When you take a regular barbie that hasn't been fucked up out of the box, they all look identical, but once you start fucking up a Barbie, it's never going to be the same as any other Barbie again. So we are more like that. That's what I wanted to do for that music video. 

Photo by Rebecca McDevitt - RJL Photography

SoundCheck: What's the biggest misconception about being at your level in the industry? 

Gabi Rose: That I know what's happening, that I know what I'm doing. I think people I remember looking up to people that were, I guess, at my point now, and thinking that they had it all figured out. I kind of go one step at a time and work my way up. You never really have it figured out because you're just faced with more and more challenges that you're not familiar with. And even more, I interact with some bigwigs and stuff. Maybe before we met, I thought, wow, this person, they know what's going on. I look up to them, and don't get me wrong, like I am so lucky to be in rooms with some of the smartest, most creative, brilliant people. But I kind of realized we're not that different. You just have the balls to still be here and grinding and figuring it out. And I think, especially in the music industry, that's all it takes. It's the balls to keep going because people don't have it figured out in the same way that I might be scrambling to put a show together, for one night or something, and I'm like, oh, my God, I forgot to get the merch together. I need to get a merch seller, and we need to print the set lists. And what am I gonna wear? I have to tell the band what they're gonna wear. And oh, my God, wait! What time do we have to be there? There are so many things. It's that times 100 in every other touring circumstance. And the only difference is that you might have more people with a little bit more experience. But every day, there's something new coming up. So yeah, I think that's the biggest misconception is that people like me have it all figured out, and we certainly don't. 

SoundCheck: You guys are just winging it day by day. 

SoundCheck: I wanted to dive into your energy on stage. Do you think about the crowd? Do you think about the music?  Are you just up there getting lost in everything? 

Gabi Rose: So I feel like when I get ready to go on stage. I am getting into character. It's not too dissimilar from the type of person I am in real life, I don't think, but it's sort of this extreme version and this elevated version. I take notes from my favorite artists because they do the same thing. You have a very obvious example, which would be somebody like Chappell Roan, who speaks very openly about this. She's like, I go into drag when I'm on stage, and she named herself Chappell Roan because it's an alias. It's a different name. It's the artist version of her and so I tap into that before I go on stage because then I feel like I can perform and try anything that I want. And I'm not worried about what to do? What is that person from high school who was in my drama class gonna be thinking? I'm not thinking about who I am and all my experiences, and who's going to judge me and all this stuff. I'm showing up on stage as this kind of character. So I think being able or having now sort of gotten a lot further into figuring out who that person is, what kind of charisma do I exude when I'm on stage, is what feels honest. Like what doesn't feel forced, but it is challenging to my regular ego like it's challenging but not dishonest. I think that helps me show up consistently because now I've done hundreds and hundreds of shows in different types of circumstances. You know I might be playing with Enrose, but I might be playing with the Jonas Brothers. I might be playing with Bilmuri. I might be playing at a wedding. I might be playing a club gig  I might be doing a jam session, there are so many I might be going on. Tiktok live. And they're all different. And you need to. I've always wanted to show up in a way that works for those different circumstances. You know you're I'm not gonna do a wedding wearing the same types of clothes that I would wear with Bilmuri, and then holding up my middle finger and be like “let's crank our hogs!” I'm not gonna show up that way, but I think the charisma is something that is the through-line. I'm gonna have a different language and a different-

Gabi Rose: What's the word? 

SoundCheck: You have to adapt 

Gabi Rose: You have to turn it on because also there's been times that I have to perform, and I don't feel like performing and I think that's what gets draining. And I think that's where a lot of it is. I can see how some artists who become so big, so quickly, and who tour 250 days of the year or more and who never really get a break. And then, even when they're not touring. They're getting recognized on the street all the time. It's like they never have the chance to turn it off. 

SoundCheck: Can't imagine 

Gabi Rose: It's hard. I could see that. But I think tapping into this person helps, because then, when you're on stage, that's who you are. And then when you're off stage, you can get back to like who you are at your core. So, yeah, separating them a little bit is good. 

Full Enrose Gallery Here!

SoundCheck: What's your most memorable performance between festivals and shows? 

Gabi Rose: There's been a few. Last year I played with the Jonas Brothers at this big festival in Quebec City. I honestly don't remember the name of it, because it's like this French name. Huge festival, and we played to 65,000 people and the energy, you couldn't even see people at like. It was a sea. At that point I had played over 70 shows with the Jonas Brothers, and something about that one. I also love playing outside. So playing festival stages is always fun. I used to love going. I haven't been an attendee at a major festival like that in quite some time, but I always loved that when I was in high school and college. It was also how I bonded with other people, you're there for multiple days. Sometimes you're camping. You're discovering so much new music. And all this stuff. So people almost tap into their vacation selves when they're going to festivals. They're like, oh, yeah, like this is who I am, this weekend.  That was super memorable to me. Bilmuri shows get better and better all the time. Last night was one of my favorites. 

Gabi Rose: We played in Munich, Germany. It was like a smallish room for us. I think it was 600 capacity sold out. The image in my head that I took was, everybody was jumping up and down at the same time. But there's this scene from Woodstock, 99, where I mean all hell broke loose at Woodstock. 99. But Korn was playing. And everybody's jumping up and down. But there are thousands and thousands of people, and the sound is traveling slower than like what you're seeing on stage, like sound travels differently than light, and you know sight and all that stuff. So you're seeing people jumping up and down at the same time. It's like a wave. And even in our 600 capacity room yesterday. That's what was happening. And I'm glad that you asked me this question. Because I meant to have this conversation with the guys, and I just haven't yet, but I want to make sure I bring it up, because that image has always been a dream of mine to see from being the person on stage and helping facilitate that and orchestrate that, and that was so cool yesterday. Then I also just felt like as a band we put on such a world class show yesterday, like I think all of us would be so proud to watch that show again, and to present that show on a big stage at a big festival or something like that, like if that's if that's the capacity that we have to perform at on a regular basis. I think we're gonna do well this year, now that we're doing like a lot of festivals coming up for the summer and stuff.  I haven't played with Enrose as much as I would like to because I'm always on tour. I want to say the very first Enrose show. We were playing in New York City, and it was a small room. It was at Mercury Lounge, and the room was pretty full. Everybody was feeling it, and I remember I was nervous because there were so many moving parts. And I forgot my makeup bag. So then I was like fuck. I have to go on stage without my makeup. And I felt like I was gonna feel so exposed and ugly, and all this stuff, and then that show went so well, and I had so much fun. And once I started performing with the guys. I wasn't thinking about anything else. And that's the best feeling, too. As the leader of a project, the lead singer and stuff, to feel like the guys or girls that you have on stage with, like they got your back, and you can just perform the way you want, and the show's gonna go smoothly. That's a great feeling. And I got the same feeling when Enrose opened up for Bilmuri at Bowery Ballroom back in 2023, or something like that. It was such a great show, and it just felt so locked, and I felt like I could loosen up. And I feel like I've learned something new from every show. So, those are some of my favorites.  I try to also remember them cause like, when I have a really good show, I'll do a TikTok video of me saying how I feel. It's the same thing with journaling; I journal to remember the feeling. I don't journal to remember what happened. I journal to remember the feeling. And so I try to take note of the shows that felt the most impactful and memorable, so that I can hopefully recreate it.  

SoundCheck: So, every artist has tough lessons that they have to learn in the industry. What's something that you had to learn the hard way when you were starting, or even now? 

Gabi Rose: I guess the first thing that comes to mind is so Chris Williamson, who has the podcast Modern Wisdom. He talks about unteachable lessons. And in a nutshell it's lessons that we've heard throughout our entire lives, such as you know, don't eat the junk food because you're going to regret it, or, going to the gym is going to be good for you, or make sure you call your mom, or he likes to say you don't love that pretty girl. She's just hot, and you were able to get her. It's all these things, or money doesn't buy happiness, these cliche things that we hear. Yet we still feel like we need to learn them for ourselves or in the girl world. It's like that. The guy is a cheater. He's a player. He's not good for you, girl. And she's like he's different, like, I promise he's different. And then he's not different. It's like there are certain things that we just need to find out for ourselves. So, I guess something that I've learned. The hard way is you don't learn unless you do. You don't learn unless you take action and try. You have to fail in order to learn and in order to grow. And I've been lucky with some. I, at least feel lucky with some of the things that I've gotten to experience. I'm always gaslighting myself. Sometimes I'm like, Oh, my God! Like something's gonna get ruined. Something's gonna get messed up like this is too good. But you know I've been rejected. I've had tough things that I've had to get through. I feel like the reason that I keep growing is because I keep showing up, even when it feels scary. Back to what I was saying, it seems like no one knows what's going on. Everyone's just learning by doing so.  Maybe it's not a hard lesson. It's just you kinda have to show up every day and try or else. 

SoundCheck: We kind of talked about this when I last saw you in New York. Social media can be such a powerful tool, but it can also be overwhelming, especially because there are so many platforms nowadays. Do you see it as more of a help or more of a burden? 

Gabi Rose: I don't want to knock social media because it's been really helpful for me. It's beautiful that we have something like that where you can show up how you want to show up, and you can self-promote. You don't need to go through a middleman, and you don't have to go through agencies or management, or labels, or anything to get your music out there like. Really, for the first time, we have artists where they have the ability to craft whatever story they want. To craft and create the type of audience that they want, and the type of narrative that they want. So it's cool in that way, so I can't knock it. But I also find myself growing resentful of it because I think it takes me away from my creative brain. Social media to me is never-ending. It's like there's always a new message to look at. There's always a new thing on your algorithm. There's always a new comment that you want to look at, and maybe you shouldn't even look at it. And there's always a new idea that you have to post and a new trend.. And the problem with social media is, it's so addictive. I would love to say creativity comes from thinking about content or photos or something that I'm gonna post and then letting it be. But that's just unfortunately not the way it works. And I do get sucked into the optics of it and the results. And I think, being a creative person, creativity is not about results. It's about the process, and social media taints that a little bit. You're constantly comparing yourself to other people, and if you're not getting the outcome that you would have hoped for, then you start to think, is my art bad? Should I stop doing it? And so in the same way that social media can be encouraging because it's a vehicle for us to do whatever we want. It can also be super discouraging because you get sucked into feeling like they also have option anxiety. It's like, should I be doing that? I see this person is doing covers of Shania Twain. like should I be doing that? But this person's doing, you know, mostly original stuff. And this person isn't doing any videos at all. They're just posting photos. And it's overwhelming. I'm still finding a healthy balance. But the way I approach content is content is,  my content comes out of what I'm doing in real life. So I'm not showing up every day thinking, what kind of content am I going to make so I can grow myself on social media. The way I do content is if I'm doing cool shit in real life. I'm trying to document even a small percentage of that, and come up with some kind of story that is enticing enough to post on social media, and that feels the most genuine and authentic to me, and it doesn't cause burnout for me, because I'm like I would be doing this stuff anyway. And now I'm kind of treating it as a little bit of a scrapbook, because now I can remember how I was feeling and what I was working on and where I was at musically. If it's playing video or something like that. So I love being able to then go back in the archive from 2021, and even before that and see where I was at.  So I think it's really good, but I don't really approach it in the sense of I'm creating content to grow as a content Creator. I dipped a toe into that world, and I realized it didn't feel authentic to me, and it started to feel like work, and I didn't like that.  

SoundCheck:  The next question is about your time, strictly with Bilmuri and the Jonas Brothers. You've toured with them both. What did you take away from those experiences? And then, did they shape your approach to performing in any way because they're 2 different types of music?

Gabi Rose: So I joined Billmuri at the it like kind of 2021, and then toured for the first time with the band in 2022, which was the first tour that Johnny, our lead singer, and who created the project, that he did since before Covid and so it was a new beginning in a way. I continue to take away a lot from that band because I'm very involved in it and I have a stake in how well it does. I've been with the band since we were hoping that even a hundred people would show up. And we were doing sold-out 200-person rooms. And we were like, “What, this is crazy! It's sold out!” And now we're doing 2,000, and we're doing even more later on. And now we've played arenas opening up for Sleep Token. So, I’ve been a big part of that band's growth, and I fervently want it to succeed. And so even though it's mainly Johnny Frank's baby, I feel like it's my baby, too, and I think all of us feel like that, too, like we're proud to be part of that project. The initial thing that I took away from it, which I continue to take away from it, is, there are so many that there's no one-size-fits-all for how you can be creative. Also that music is the most beautiful when it is a team effort. Everybody works together really, really well, and everybody respects each other a lot, and it's allowed me to try things and to grow into this type of artist that I am now and be bold and be brave, and it's been just like a great vessel for me to explore my own creativity, and how I fit into this project, and luckily it's always felt like super honest. But I think I didn't believe in myself before joining Bilmuri. I didn't believe that I would ever have a place in a band like this, and a rock band like this, now, being very much a part of the band, but playing, not a conventional instrument, for a post hardcore, post emo country leaning sort of jazz, but mostly rock band. It's allowed me to create a new role. And redefine what a rock band has to look like. And that set me up for playing with the Jonas Brothers, because I learned how to perform in a new way. And you know, with Jonas Brothers it was going to be different, because then I'm performing with a horn section which then the beauty from a horn section is the bond that you have, and then also locking in to the harmony and the rhythm, and being super super tight and then, once you get that right, we're like characters on stage. We're like moving all over the stage. And we danced a lot. And we're interacting. And so I think both projects have gotten me to think about a performance on a whole.  I can appreciate now the roles that everybody has. So there are so many roles like there's so many things that go into creating a big production, I mean, even in a 200 person room. It's like everybody is doing a really important role, from lighting to playback to monitors to front of house engineer, and so learning all of that and appreciating all of that, then I can lock into okay, what am I best at? And where do we need to fill in the gaps? And so both have allowed me to just step into like, you know, I do have something to offer here. And I feel really grateful that my inherent, I guess skills. What I enjoy and I'm also good at has been appreciated and utilized in both projects. And now I feel like I can get on stage in front of thousands of people and feel pretty confident and have a good time. 

Photo by LJ Portnoy

SoundCheck: So, between both, what is the funniest behind-the-scenes moment that anybody would be surprised by? You don't need to out anybody.

Gabi Rose: Well, God. I don't. Honestly, I don't know if I have, if I have a specific moment, but what I can say is with both groups. We really became like family. And so it just gets really stupid. It gets really silly and really stupid. And it's part of what gets us hyped up to be on stage. It kind of reminds me of when I first started doing musical theater. And there's a bond with musical theater kids where everybody gets close, and everybody's like really touchy feely. But then, when you're on stage and you're rehearsing, and especially when you're in a show setting. You're like, I feel comfortable with this person. So this is gonna make our performance that much better. And I think it's the same with both Bilmuri and with the Jonas Brothers. The closer and the more genuine your connection is, the stupider you can be, and even the more secrets you share. The more yourself you can be. Then it translates to being on stage, and people can see that. So I can't. I honestly can't think of a specific thing right now. But what I can say is, some really, really, really stupid shit goes down on a daily basis. And I have a bond with the people that I have toured with the Jonas Brothers and with Bilmuri, which I don't think I can have with anybody else in any other setting. It's a different type of thing. The people that you tour with. 

SoundCheck: This makes me excited for the day that I ever get to go on tour. 

Gabi Rose: You would fit in perfectly. 

Gabi Rose: Yeah, it's super fun. It's one of a kind. 

SoundCheck: These next ones are like random questions that have nothing to do with anything. Build your dream tour, lineup, dream, dream tour lineup with any artist, dead or alive, no limit.

Gabi Rose: Oh, my God, okay, so for me, it would be D'angelo headlining. I want to make a dream band that's headlining. So you have D'angelo, then you have Beyonce, and she's dancing, and she's singing. She's also like the dance captain. Olivia Rodrigo's dance team gets so much hate. But I think their moves are so good. So I would have Olivia Rodrigo's dance team.  I don't know if this band is gonna work. But those are the people that I want to see on stage the most. And then who am I missing? And then you have the entire current Eagles touring band, all 15 of them or however many are on stage doing the backup vocals because their vocals are so locked. And then you have John Mayer's original rhythm section. So like Pino Palladino. And yeah, that it's like all over the place. But I think it could work. And then Hayley Williams comes on and she's belting it out. Yeah, we can't do it without Hayley Williams. 

SoundCheck: Can't do anything without Hayley Williams. 

Gabi Rose: Yeah, she can fit in anywhere, honestly. 

SoundCheck: You're not wrong. 

Gabi Rose:  I think I would have to. If I had more time, I would think more deeply about this and craft it out. I don't know if this would work, but I think it would work because I love the artists that I love. I have great taste, and I know that they can jam. They could work together really well. I like Olivia, specifically her dancers. That's who I want. 

SoundCheck:  What's a completely unexpected hobby or talent? 

Gabi Rose: I don't have any other talents. Yeah, I don't think I have any other talents, nothing that I've discovered yet. Everything that I try to do, I realize, like shit. This is hard and would take a long time to get good at. It's funny, like, I think if you talk to a lot of musicians, it's like, What is your hobby? It's like, what do you mean?  I've made it a point to try and get into some other hobbies. Honestly, my favorite thing to do is so boring. But I started going on long walks last year, and long walks are a way that I can clear my head and decompress. So long walks are my favorite thing to do, and that's another reason why. Also it goes hand in hand with touring, because then we're always in a different city, and I don't mind getting 30,000 steps in on a day before a show. And I love to dance so I love to maybe pop a 5 to 10 milligram gummy, put my headphones on, get in front of a mirror. I think, in another world, if I wasn't a musician I would be a backup dancer or something like that. That would have been like the craft that I would want to develop so dancing is cool because I don't feel this pressure. And I like to go to the gym, too. I like to lift. 

SoundCheck: All right. These last ones are all fan questions. This one's from Donna on Twitter. She said, “Did Sleep Token create the music for your sex part in Emergence, or did they have you listen to the song and then give you free rein to write the music?” 

Gabi Rose: I don’t know how much I can speak on the Sleep Token thing, to be honest, because they try to keep it super private. I think out of respect, I wouldn't want to say too much. I'm actually kind of surprised that I wanted to ask permission before I said, am I, you know? Am I being credited? And can I say that?  I don't wanna speak too much on the process because I wanna respect their process. A lot of people have asked to interview me since then, and I'm like I just don't know. 

SoundCheck: I knew that question was gonna pop up somewhere. 

Gabi Rose: But what I will say is, it feels really good to be like to be on that record. 

SoundCheck: Feedback on that has been insane. 

Gabi Rose: The feedback is huge, they keep it to a very tight ship, so the fact that they welcomed me onto that song as somebody that's outside the band. I don't take that lightly. That's huge. So yeah, that's what I will say.  

SoundCheck: This is from Megan on Facebook. she said, which fan base is better? Bilmuri or Jonas Brothers, and then put “There's only one right answer.” 

Gabi Rose: Oh, my God! No, they're so different. It's a different fan base. I feel like if somebody approaches me on the street. Like, “Oh, Gabi Rose!”  You must have been from a Jonas Brothers concert or Bilmuri or whatever. Both fan bases have been kind and just super supportive. It's like, obviously the Jonas Brothers fan base is so large. But the Jonas Brothers fan base is so unique in the sense of those fans are fans for life, and support the brothers in whatever music they do and whatever they do, even outside of just being part of the Jonas Brothers, and I find similarities between that and Bilmuri, even though Bilmuri is a smaller fan base at this point. It's like people are just into it. They care about the music, but they also care about the band members, and like what's going on, and the lore and all this stuff. So it's just been fun being part of the story. Because fans in both camps want to follow along with the story. I'm like a character in both stories now. 

SoundCheck: It's always interesting because, as someone who's also very into the Jonas Brothers fan base, I never realized how much we're very like “Let's follow every single person in the band” Not just the brothers, but the band. 

Gabi Rose: I didn't expect that. Been very, very cool.  

SoundCheck: Okay, this is from Jeremy. On Facebook. You already mentioned bands you grew up listening to. And he said what finally inspired her to move, to doom Sax.

Gabi Rose: None of the bands that I grew up listening to had saxophone, so I wasn't inspired by a band, necessarily with the saxophone, maybe a little bit like Steely Dan. But it wasn't a band that inspired me. I do feel like it would have been nice growing up to see more girls like me doing it because then I would have had somebody to aspire to. But at the same time it does feel very much like a unique experience for me being able to do it.

SoundCheck: This is from Pau on Twitter, she said. “You used to be a Jonas Brothers Fan. How did that impact your tour experience now, being on the other side?” 

Gabi Rose: I was definitely starstruck. But I also knew that there's a big difference between meeting heroes, maybe 20 years ago, and then meeting them now, because in meeting the Jonas brothers, now, it was like, I'm working with you now, I'm literally supporting you on stage. So there's immediately this respect. And we're gonna be cooperating. We're gonna be seeing a lot of each other. So it was, it was a combination of being starstruck because 12-year-old Gabi would never believe that. But also just being like, I respect you a lot, and we're peers. And you know I'm happy to be here. And I've put the work into it now. So I know what I'm doing here. I feel very determined, and I know what's going on. I know what we're doing here; it's hard to describe, but it was cool. They were welcoming. And they're really kind. And so some people say, don't meet your heroes, but I feel so lucky to have not only met my heroes but gotten to perform with my heroes. So it feels very full circle. 

SoundCheck: Okay, this is from Rachel on Twitter. If you weren't a musician, what do you think you'd be doing as a career? And what is your favorite place that you've traveled to?

Gabi Rose: So, like I said before, I'd be a dancer. I kind of like to say this every day, because this is how I warm up for shows like I'm the annoying one in the dressing room that's blasting music and singing and jumping up and down and dancing. They're like some guys in this band, and then some guys and girls, even with Jonas, that want to relax. And they might go to the bus and take a nap, and I'm like, that is so not me. So I would want to be a dancer, I would say. And then what's my favorite place that I've traveled to? 

Gabi Rose: I think Barcelona, of all places on earth, is my favorite still because actually, that was the first place that I performed professionally when I graduated from university and it opened up my world in a lot of ways. It was almost also kind of like performance boot camp for me because I needed to sing, and I was playing, and I was like DJ-ing in a way, too, and performing for hours on end, and also speaking Spanish and trying to interact. So it was learning a lot of skills at once, also learning a lot of songs and things like that. So now that I get to come back to Barcelona, and I'm planning on big stages, and I feel like I know so much better who I am now as a musician and as a human, as an artist. And when I first started in that city I was like a fish out of water. So, it's a great reminder of how far I've come. So that's why, on a personal level, I love that city, but also it just never so it never ceases to amaze me how energized I feel when I'm there. Sometimes you have this memory, and you're like God. I think about this so beautifully in my head. But I'm actually kind of afraid to experience it in real life because it might not be like the story that I've come up with in my head. But that city, I think, has it all. So every time I go back there, I feel amazing.

Photo by Rebecca McDevitt - RJL Photography

SoundCheck: Lastly, do you have anything you want to say to all of your fans? Is there anything we can expect from Enrose in the future? 

Gabi Rose: So I guess to everybody I would say, this is unbelievable to me. I really never thought that I would be in this position, and I really do feel like the poster child of somebody who didn't necessarily have a lot of self belief, but just kept doing it and never stopped and truly followed a passion that has led me to a more beautiful and fulfilling and creative life than I could have imagined. So to have anybody that's supporting what I'm doing pushes me forward. It's: it drives me a lot. I have a lot of self-doubt. So to have anybody who believes in what I'm doing helps, and then, as far as Enrose, I'm never gonna stop making music. So even with such a crazy touring schedule, you know, with Bilmuri and Jonas and whatever else. I still have a lot that I want to say and that a lot that I want to write about. Enrose is the place where I do that. So I'm writing more music, and we're always gonna be squeezing it in in between the chaos.

SoundCheck: Thank you for taking the time, even in your busy schedule. Women supporting women. 

Gabi Rose:  Hell Yeah. Of course. Thank you for having me. I'm excited for you and this whole thing.