“Some musicians are against streaming, but we embrace and use those tools the best we can.” This chemistry is easily seen on stage during performances. “You know, some people are brilliant musicians, but they don’t care about the audience, and I would say that Danielle cares about the audience,” says Drew. “She wants them to have fun, she wants them to enjoy watching her, she wants them to have fun singing the songs and it’s really cool because she’s really, really good at it.” Well, if this isn’t #relationshipgoals then I don’t know what is.
Combining their talent, their winnings, and their edgy-yet-approachable look, Dear Rouge has become a main player in the scope of Canada’s music landscape. “A big checkpoint for us was when we had some sold out shows this last tour and people were singing along and really with us – because that’s the ultimate goal,” says Danielle. “Seeing that and being a part of a room full of people who gave that energy back was amazing.” The band is now getting used to their ever-growing fan base knowing their lyrics, partially thanks to the large presence of social media and streaming services which allow fans full access to their music from any location. Dear Rouge is able to reach listeners worldwide through these types of channels, sometimes to people that wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise. Drew and Danielle say they are really grateful for these platforms. “Social media can essentially be a tool, a streaming tool, and we can use all of that stuff to get our music out there. Some musicians are against streaming, but we embrace and use those tools the best we can,” says Drew. “We played in Europe and the States for the first time this past year and there were people there who said ‘I heard you on Spotify.’” Drew reiterates that it’s streaming services that make music so sharable, creating opportunities for musicians who don’t have the chance to tour internationally or the reach to get their music played on the radio in other countries. “If people don’t like Spotify they might as well not like the radio,” says Drew. Streaming is inevitably helping with one of Dear Rouge’s goals: to become known outside of Canada. While they’ve been
feeling unwavering love from the True North, they are itching to take on new stages and new audiences. Another goal for the band? Sticking to its roots. Coming off of such steady success, maintaining their independent sound is something that will admittedly be tricky for the duo, but they’re totally up for the challenge. “We’re just taking it one step at a time. We’re looking at this next record, and we are trying new things. We’re trying stuff that other people have suggested. But ultimately, we’re going to go back to what we are feeling and what got us to where we are today.” Drew and Danielle say they try not to set any expectations when it comes to how their music will be received by the public or industry experts. They reiterate that no band can ever really prepare themselves for how people will react when releasing new material. “If we expect something then sometimes we can get hurt,” says Drew. But that’s not to say that they aren’t incredibly pumped to show everyone what they’ve created next. “We are feeling really excited about our new music. When artists get excited about their music they get really anxious to share it. We want to finish it so we can show people what we’ve been working on,” says Drew. We think it’s pretty clear that Dear Rouge fans aren’t going to do anything but freak out (in the best sense) over any new material in the future. The band is currently taking a break from touring and is continuing to work on their next album, aiming to make it even better than the last one – if that’s even possible. “We are going to write deeper than we did last record. Write a little bit stronger,” says Drew. It’s hard to imagine that stronger writing is achievable given the high caliber of their work to date, but considering the strength of this musical and marital match, anything’s possible.
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