Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I’m a 24 year old indie-pop singer songwriter currently living in Brighton, having spent the last 4 years in Amsterdam! I grew up in Bristol and lived between two houses from the age of 6. In my mum’s house we listened to a huge amount of musical theatre, so I was probably singing ‘The Sound of Music’ soundtrack before I could sing a pop song! We did integrate a lot of powerful female artists in though too, some that stick out to me are the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, McFly and Anastacia. I think that the mixture of musical theatre, which is typically a form of dramatic storytelling, and strong, mostly female pop has informed the way that I perform and write music. I’m inspired by dramatic ballads such as ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret and ‘On My Own’ from Les Mis, telling a raw, emotional story, but I combine that with the pop elements of songs like ‘Wannabe’ by The Spice Girls and ‘Sound of the Underground’ by Girls Aloud, creating my own unique version of how I want to write about my life. I faced a lot of challenges throughout my childhood, and wish I’d started writing sooner, but I’m just grateful now that I have such a cool creative outlet.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Alina”?
A: I’m using social media as a means to share my music, but I honestly prefer meeting people and performing for them in real life. I’ve been performing for years now and the best fans are usually people who discover me on stage. A message I’d have for anyone who is about to discover me would be: welcome to the chaos! My music is created as a way to express the chaos of life in a 3 minute poem set to music – that is the most simple way I can describe it! Please join me in the radical acceptance of chaos in all forms and shed a tear or laugh as I write songs to try and unpack it.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: I’m really inspired at the moment by Suki Waterhouse and The Last Dinner Party, among many others. I think that raw, feminine, honest indie music is exactly the direction I’m excited to head into. No fear, no shame, just excellent music. I find inspiration from a variety of places; I’m often told my life is a bit like a soap opera so I’m never short of personal experiences to delve into. I also like using character’s as inspiration, in times when I’m less keen to look inward – for example a few years ago I played Ophelia in a production of Hamlet and I wrote a couple of songs inspired by her story. I’d like to do more of that.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Silk or Corduroy.”?
A: ‘Silk or Corduroy’ is a song expressing that every single person is right kind of person to choose joy. I am a person who tries to regret nothing in life. I believe that every mistake made is a lesson. However, I grew up too fast, and I can’t use what I’ve learned now to go back and change that. Though this wasn’t my fault, I still made choices in my childhood and teenage years that could have been replaced with more childlike adventures. This song is sort of a love letter to embracing and choosing joy NOW, instead of waiting for it to ask or feeling like the time has gone.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Honest
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Silk or Corduroy”?
A: The demo for this song was written and recorded in a cabin in Wales with Thea Kay, a friend and producer. We actually wrote it almost instantly, it bled out onto the page like it was always supposed to be there. I had already written the bridge and just needed to build a song around it and I was lucky that all the pillars aligned for us that day. I developed the lyrics and produced the final version with Tripped n Sat, a production duo from LA. We went back and forth over a few calls to iron out dynamic flares and tweak some instrumental factors but the whole process, somehow, was fantastic.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: The message of my music is that, no matter what you’re going through, someone else is too. That’s not to say there are no original experiences, or to invalidate anyone in any way, but I have personally been through some awful things throughout my whole life and I aim to write music that my younger self would have needed.
My goals as an artist are to live off my career, build a band and tour, performing my songs to as many people as I can.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Oof, big question… right now I would say Mac Miller, RIP. I think we could create something really unique.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: You literally just need to keep going. Nobody is going to wave a magic wand and make things happen for you, or give you permission to make art; you simply need to do it… and keep doing it. When it feels like you’re going nowhere, I promise you’re learning, all the little breadcrumbs of success will one day lead to a big sexy cake of success and you get to eat it knowing you worked so so hard for it!
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: I would tell that girl to breathe, and to put all her energy into music. She was too depressed to do anything for years and, though I would never blame or judge her for that, I wish I could gently nudge her into songwriting as a teenager before it got too dark and difficult.
