The Rose Phantom is an American independent underground musician and filmmaker based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Born Theodoric McKean Newsom, the musician got an early start in high school, located in Taylorsville, Utah. While attending Taylorsville High School, Ted Newsom joined a TV broadcasting class. His senior year of high school was entirely composed of TV Broadcasting classes. At that point in time, Ted had already adopted the moniker The Rose Phantom (TRP) for his emerging identity as an artist.
The Rose Phantom’s early musical influences include: Alphaville, Clan of Xymox, David Bowie, David Sylvian, Depeche Mode, Jean-Michel Jarre, Pink Floyd, Recoil, Red Flag, Tangerine Dream, Tears For Fears and U2, just to mention a few.
Before he started producing his own music and music videos, Ted Newsom started out making fan videos to other artists’ songs through his production company called Rose Phantom Films. Most of those videos were carbon copy remakes, but a good majority were thought up by Ted himself. Ted displayed his skills as a novice videographer, emulating the visual styles of the 1980s and 1990s.
The very first fan video was of “Mad World” – a song by Tears For Fears – created in 2003. Ted Newsom was joined by a friend, Dustin Hurst. Another fan video – “Pale Shelter” – a song by Tears For Fears – was recorded at The Great Saltair, located at the Great Salt Lake, later in 2003. Other remakes soon followed. “Stripped” video – a song by Depeche Mode – was recreated in a junkyard in early 2004, where Ted Newsom performed along with his friends.
In August 2004, an original fan video for “A Victory of Love” – by Alphaville – was recorded on location at Ted Newsom’s house. Alphaville never made their own video for this song. The fan video, initially a passion project, was preserved for years on VHS and DVD-R and distributed to friends and Alphaville fans all over the world. YouTube was not in existence yet, back in 2004. Once the video was uploaded to YouTube, it became the most popular fan video ever made by The Rose Phantom and his claim to international fame, currently at 11 million views.
After the fan videos, The Rose Phantom moved on to his own all-instrumental music project, named revideolized. The Rose Phantom composed original tracks and crafted videos to a select few. The result was a debut album which was self-titled “revideolized”. The album was released to CD on December 5th, 2005. The debut album featured 11 tracks, most of which were performed for the first time at the 2005 Dark Arts Festival in Salt Lake City on June 5th, 2005. The live concert was showcased at Area 51 nightclub.
Ted Newsom, under the project name revideolized, produced several instrumental albums: “revideolized” (2005), “The Moon Driven Dark” (2006), “Look-In” (2007), and “Sounds From The Canyon” (2008). “Sounds From The Canyon” remains a personal favorite for The Rose Phantom. The album was recorded live on location inside Butterfield Canyon (30 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah). The Rose Phantom transported a number of keyboards/synthesizers, a PA system, computer equipment, and a power generator to a special spot in the canyon. The resulting recordings were completely live and unadulterated by any digital manipulations – even the distant hum of the generator is evident quietly at the beginning of the first track.
Shortly after the release of the debut revideolized album, The Rose Phantom joined his brother’s (Zakkary Hale) progressive/alternative rock band called Melodramus. For The Rose Phantom, this was an opportunity to experience working with other musicians and to broaden his playing skills, alongside his continuing solo projects. While in Melodramus, The Rose Phantom played keyboards, synthesizers and provided backing vocals. Melodramus released two full-length albums: “30 Silver Pieces” (2007) and “Two: Glass Apple” (2010), during The Rose Phantom’s presence in the band.
During the recording of the second Melodramus album, The Rose Phantom started another musical project, Sleep Slid iN. This was The Rose Phantom’s vocal debut alongside vocalist Whitney Willow. Sleep Slid iN released its first and only album, titled “The Open Diary”, in December 2009.
In 2011, The Rose Phantom left Melodramus, as well as abandoned all of his previous project names/monikers. Going forward with his new solo endeavors, he officially adopted the long-time alias he always credited in his previous works: The Rose Phantom.
The Rose Phantom’s first full-length album, “Abandon” was released in December 2012. The album consisted of ten original tracks that delved into many genres such as darkwave, goth rock, industrial and electronic. The album showcased The Rose Phantom’s vocal range, with clear inspirations from Morten Harket, Bono, and David Bowie. Many of the tracks are accompanied by music videos, as created and directed by The Rose Phantom himself.
In the years since the release of Abandon, The Rose Phantom produced 6 albums, 10 EPs, and 17 singles. And in 2023, Ted began production on his biggest project yet: “Alien in the Train Tunnel” – his first full-length film. Clocking in at 2 hours and 23 minutes, this psychological thriller was self-released on Ted’s 39th birthday: April 1st, 2025.
2025 will also see the release of The Rose Phantom’s final album, “Anthems for Outsiders: The Best of The Rose Phantom 2005-2025” which will encompass 20 years of passionate dedication to a single craft. The new album will also harbor a brand-new track, “The Outsider” which will also be released as a single, with an accompanying music video.