It’s a rainy miserable day in New York City and I’ve been asked to meet with Alicia Lena who is currently hard at work prepping her debut album This Is Who I Am. Since February 2010 she has been almost a recluse from the media spotlight, Spending most of her days in the studio and most of her evenings at home “over thinking” which songs to put on the album and how to make them better. So it was inevitable that this interview would be taking place in the record studio which she’s spent most of the last month in.
So I met up with her at the lobby and she took me into her recording room, the room is very personalised by Alicia. We sat down on the sofa and we begun the interview.
So you’ve been in this very studio a lot over the last month, Does it get a bit boring and mundane?Alicia: Not really, I’m completely obsessed with the recording process, I think that the final cut of the album will hopefully prove that the effort and time I spent in the studio was completely worth it.
You’ve set a release date for the album but the single is still undecided, Any news on that?Alicia: Yeah, that’s been a bit of a difficult decision, But It’s definitely gonna be released in April, It’s all finished but there’s just a couple of minor issue’s which needs to be addressed but it should be out sometime in April, hopefully towards the beginning of April.
So your obviously just as excited about the release than the fans? Alicia: Yeah definitely, I just want to hear the song on the radio or see the video on TV, It’s a weird feeling but definitely a good one.
You got to work with Stephanie Fierce on the single, what was that like? Alicia: Like a dream, honestly it was indescribable, A massive honour. I was pretty shocked when I got the call saying that she was on board to record a track from the album.
Do you expect criticism from some people with the single being a collaboration for example people may say that you’ve chosen this song as the debut single to help get some extra publicity?Alicia: I don’t see that as an issue, I think the tracks on the album where it’s just me will prove to people that I don’t need to work with these huge stars to be successful, But I think that it helps develop your vocal ability working with different musicians with different style’s of music.
You’ve also worked with a couple of other people on the album, which collaboration did you prefer?Alicia: I don’t want it to seem like I’m dodging the question but I enjoyed working with them equally but for different reasons, like working with Stephanie was great because she’s unbelievably talented and one of my idol’s, working with Ryan (Ross Hernandez) was great because he took the pressure off and we had so much fun with our tracks, working with Tisha was great because we’re really close friends and she’s got such a great vocal style, and working with Moquel was great because he’s kinda new to the music industry like me and he’s so vibrant and enthusiastic about everything he does. But I couldn’t possibly choose one.
How would you describe your friendship with Tisha?Alicia: Like most friendships, we have similar interests and a similar sense of humour, we live pretty close to each other in New York so that’s an advantage and she’s great fun to be with.
Your touring with her in the summer as a guest, but that ends in August what touring will you be doing after that?Alicia: That’s still kind of undecided at the moment, The question we’re asking at the moment about that is Do I want to tour as a headline act, which I don’t feel ready for at the moment. So hopefully I can find someone who’s looking for an opening act/guest on their tour.
What are your future plans after the album?Alicia: I don’t really have plans yet, I think I’ll probably tour as a support act for someone and then once that’s over then I’ll probably take a small amount of time off on holiday somewhere and then start thinking about the follow up album.
What about your personal life, any thing happening there?Alicia: Not really, I don’t have time for dating or anything like that at the moment, But if I find the right person then sure I’d be happy to be in a relationship. I’m pretty happy at the moment, to me it’s a great feeling to be single in New York City, in terms of song writing and the freedom that comes with being single really helps.
Well we wish you all of the best on your album and the future