Third-year Rose Gipstein released her debut single “Fantasy,” on Feb. 14 and it is currently available on all music streaming platforms.
Gipstein is a recent transfer student from San Jose and said she’s been singing for as long as she can remember and started writing songs when she was 11.
While she has written many songs in the past, “Fantasy” is her first platform release. The song has even more special meaning, as it was written about her boyfriend Daniel Sanders (a.k.a. DSND), who also happens to be her producer.
“I was in a music club in high school called the Acoustic club and I became really good friends with this guy Daniel and we eventually started doing shows together. He was on guitar and I was singing,” explained Gipstein.
When Sanders began producing in college, he worked with a series of rappers but soon realized that he prefers having the freedom to be versatile in terms of which genres he works with. Gipstein has had a similar experience, saying she doesn’t like to put herself in a box and limit what kind of music she makes. Her unreleased songs range from Pop, Indie and R&B.
The duo have been working together to make music for two years now, with Gipstein writing the lyrics and adding ideas to the production elements, while Sanders focuses on mixing and mastering the songs. Gipstein said the pair “have at least five songs in the works and we hope to release one of them soon. We’re also really focused on getting an album out.”
Sanders is currently attending West Valley College in Saratoga and is planning on transferring to Chico State to finish his degree in recording arts and music industry studies.
“Recording is super fun but on the other hand – the business side, working with artists and stuff like that is super cool… I plan on eventually gaining access to recording with other artists and hopefully building a business to help independent artists rather than label artists,” said Sanders.
“I do my best to take her vision and add mine to it. It’s worked pretty well for both of us. You want to craft something that perfectly balances between the producer and artist to get the best product,” he explained.
Gipstein shared that when they were beginning their professional relationship, “I used to come over like twice a month and just rant to him about my life. He would listen and make beats while I vented and I would use those experiences to write songs on the spot to the beats he made.”
Things happened a little differently when it came to creating “Fantasy.”
“For this song, we were on Facetime while he was making a beat,” explained Gipstein. She jokingly said that she wanted to write a song about their relationship and he encouraged her to follow through with it.
Both Gipstein and Sanders made a point of mentioning that when they first started making the song, they hadn’t said “I love you” yet, but the song later turned into the evolution of their love story. The song never actually says the word “love,” rather, it’s a vivid depiction of how it feels to fall in love with someone who you have known for years.
Gipstein shared that “Fantasy” “represents finally being able to support and feel supported by someone else in a healthy way… I’m living my fantasy. I’ve been through a lot and I don’t feel amazing all the time, but this relationship is a really safe space.”
She also explained that seeing their dream come to fruition has been an incredible experience, especially after knowing each other since they were 14. “Our dreams are about music and now we’re on Spotify and Apple Music… it’s really cool,” she said with a big smile.
As a seasoned music producer and student of music industry studies, Sanders has some tips for anyone starting out in music production. He explained that “If you take music classes, Youtube and your peers are the best resources you have. There’s so many tutorials you can watch, and being creative and bouncing ideas off of other people just makes everything better.”
He also advised producers who are starting out that “there’s so many ways you can exceed your expectations. It’s just a matter of researching and spending time learning different techniques.”
Fans of Gipstein and Sanders can look forward to new music from the pair in the coming months. Gipstein said to “Expect the unexpected. Each song represents a different portion of my life and sounds totally different.”
Otters who want to show support to the duo can follow Rose Fields and DSND on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and iTunes to be notified when new music drops.
Listen to her single “Fantasy” on YouTube at