Italian Songstress Releases New Single

Alessia moved to London to explore the city's music scene. Her new single is titled ‘3 Lies'.

Alessia’s story is interesting. As a kid, she would watch Shirley Temple’s movies and then try to imitate her singing and dancing.

At some point, Alessia – who cites Stevie Wonder as her favourite musician – moved to London to work on her music career.

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L. SOJINI (L.S): Can you tell us about yourself? Where you’re from and what kind of musician you are.

Alessia: First thing off: thank you for offering me this interview!

About me, I’m a self-taught musician, I was born and raised in Rome (Italy) and moved to London a few years back to explore the music scene.

I’m a singer-songwriter, pianist, loop artist and teacher, oh and I write a blog (sorry, it’s in Italian!).

As a self-taught musician, I started singing very young and had the chance to sing professionally from the very beginning.

I’m very interested in creating music with my voice and overlapping it. I love vocal harmonies and I find it fascinating creating different layers of vocals.

My solo act Me, MyLoopStation & I is a ‘vocal only’ project. The set up is a microphone and loop station only. It has been well received by the audience in London and my live music videos have gained popularity on the web.

L.S: How did you get into music?

I was very little, maybe five or six, and I loved watching Shirley Temple’s movies trying to imitate her singing and dancing.

I remember I used to force my parents, aunt and uncle, who lived in the same building as us, and other neighbours to attend my improvised performances of me singing and tap dancing…

L.S: What do you think makes good music?

Alessia: A curious mind, lots of practice and an open mind, a strong interest in collaborating with other musicians, preferably from different backgrounds. I find diversity really important, in society as well as in music: part of our job as music creators is to always keep an open mind as well as an open ear to sounds and rhythm that don’t necessarily belong to your own country or music tradition. So innovation and exploration, as well as practice and commitment!

I’m thinking about Miles Davis or Erykah Badu, great explorer and innovators, as well as brilliant artists and musicians.

L.S: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?

Alessia: Strengths: I think I’m a good storyteller, and I have a sense of the song. Also, I believe I can quickly make up for mistakes when I’m on stage (especially when I’m performing live with my loop machine… lots of mistakes!).

Weaknesses: I tend to get very precise, critical and also obsessive when I need to record stuff and I’m very indecisive too. Oh, I tend to get bossy when I work with a band!

I believe I’m better as a live musician than as a recording one, I believe I’m good at creating a connection with the audience in a few seconds.

L.S: What are you currently working on?

I’m about to release a new song, I composed with Fisher, a musician friend also London-based and I’m really proud of it. I’ve taken care of the production since the very beginning, I recorded it, had it mixed, produced, I made the video clip myself too!

It’s going to be released on the 24th of June, under BeYourself Recordings.

I’m working on a new song, it's supposed to be for choir singing.

I’m currently back to studying jazz piano, to improve my Skills as a pianists and improviser and also filling my gaps.

L.S: How do you approach music? As in, what’s your philosophy when it comes to making music?

Music has always been part of my day to day life since I was little, as well as the writing, the dancing and being creative.

Because I was a self-taught singer or musician for such a long time I very often felt like I wasn’t competent enough (theory/music vocabulary wise) so I would get very insecure when dealing with more educated musicians, who maybe had a music degree or had followed a more traditional path.

It took years to finally realize that what really counts is the world you create with your music: I always had a very clear vision of what my music should sound like and, although I didn’t have the right vocabulary to explain it to my musicians, I had the ability to deliver the message anyway.

L.S: What are you most proud of to have achieved as a musician?

Alessia: I feel blessed to have something that was always present for me, even in the darkest moments of my life

Music saved me and my mental balance. So when you ask what I am most proud of, I should say, I’m proud to have been able to actually believe in myself as an artist, musician, singer, songwriter, despite all the obstacles, money issues, family issues… Having created a job around something I used to love as a child, is a blessing to me!

Highlights of my music path were when I opened for Ursula Rucker in Italy with my band, or having Jaguar Wright on my second album duetting with me on one of my songs, or sharing stage with Frank McComb a couple of times, the last of the two at Jazz Cafe in London. I managed to record two solo albums composing, recording and producing the songs myself.

L.S: How do you promote your music?

Alessia: I’m usually the producer to my music and I do the promotion myself. In the last few years I have published my work with Ama Records and BeYourself Recordings.

The promotion happens mainly through social media and by sending out hundreds of emails/texts/messages to let radios, magazines, clubs, agencies to let them know about the release.

Spotify is a big platform for me!

L.S: Favourite musician? Why?

Alessia: Hard question, there is so many! If I was to pick one and one only, I would probably pick Stevie Wonder.

He has influenced so many artists and given so much to the music world, it’s impressive how huge his production has been: I believe he’s one of those few artists who manages to get everybody on board, jazz, funk, pop, soul lovers… everybody appreciates and value his music.

I’m going to quote a few other ones… just for the record…

Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Michael Jackson, Prince, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Musiq, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Rachelle Ferrell, Jose James, Anderson Paak, Jaguar Wright, Frank McComb, TLC, Babyface, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling.

L.S: What’s your advice or message to fellow musicians?

Alessia: Integrity. I think it’s important for an artist to develop and keep their originality despite the surroundings.

Music business will always try to adjust your music to the market’s needs, and push it towards where they think it’s going to bring more money/followers/views…. I would say, don’t pay too much attention to what people tell you to do, or how they think you should do your art work, song, arrangement, mix…. if you’re a songwriter, most likely you have everything clear on your mind already.

You don’t need too many people having their say on your stuff.

I’m sure Prince did not listen to anybody’s opinion when it came down to how to write, perform, dress like. That’s why he became Prince. The music business is full of clones, you don’t want to be the next one!

L.S: Can you recommend one musician you’ve worked with that The Musician can interview next? You can share their Twitter handle.

Alessia: A brilliant pianist and composer, Maria Chiara Argiro’ (@M_C_Argiro).

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