Alicia Lena was on the WBLI 106.1FM this morning discussing each individual track and the recording process of her debut album This Is Who I Am. Presenter: So your new album This Is Who I Am drops on Monday evening, how are you feeling, it’s usually a nervous time for musicians?
Alicia: Yeah I’m definitely nervous about it but I’m also very excited I really can’t wait to see how it does and hopefully people like it.
Presenter: Well I’m sure it’ll be a huge success and you’ve got some huge names to perform on some tracks, how did that come about?
Alicia: I had an idea of who I wanted, it was like a list of my dream collaborators and we got all of the main one’s I wanted. Max really helped with that and I have to thank him a lot he really helped get some great people on board
Presenter: What was it like to perform with those huge superstars of music?
Alicia: Probably one of the scariest things I’ve had to do. Obviously I’m new to the music industry so I was completely starstruck really. We got Stephanie Fierce on board early on and that was a huge coup for me because I’m a huge fan of her music mainly her earlier stuff but that was an honour. Then we got Tisha Jackson who is a really close personal friend of mine now, We worked well together and quickly became good friends so that was great. Then I found out that Ryan Ross was interested in working on a track and he also produced 4 songs which was fantastic, he’s really one of the funniest guys I’ve met and he’s music is amazing. And finally I wrapped up the album with Moquel which was great because I didn’t know him, I heard one of his songs before we worked together and it was unbelievable, I really liked working with Moquel because we just fit each other perfectly and he’s become a person I really admire and we’re really great friends.
Presenter: Rumours would have it that you two are more than just friends, what can you tell us about your recent meeting?
Alicia: I’d rather not say, It’s a bit too soon to be commenting on it, but we spent a great evening together, he’s a true gent and I enjoy his company. But I don’t want to give too much away about the other night.
Presenter: Well we look forward to your album, could you explain the songs from your album before you go?
Alicia: Sure
Don’t Break My Heart No More This is pretty much self-explanatory. It’s about letting go of someone. If you’ve had your heart broken before this song could really speak to you. It’s about not letting yourself fall in love because of fear of having your heart broken. It’s not something I’d recommend.
Never Felt This Way (Before We Met) It’s a slow song compared to some of the other tracks on the album. It’s about someone who’s about 25 years old who’s never been in love before, But towards the end of the song she does fall in love for the first time. It’s one of my favourite’s from the album.
Heartbroken In Love There’s a lot of songs on this album about love and having your heartbroken. Again it’s pretty self explanatory, if I’m honest. It’s almost like part 2 of Don’t Break My Heart No More. I wrote this song immediately after a break up.
New York Love Affair (Feat. Stephanie Fierce) Ahh, the lead single from the album. It’s kind of about my love of New York. It’s about a girl who leaves LA for New York with her friends and is just amazed by the lights of New York. I enjoyed working with Stephanie a lot but to be honest it’s not my favourite song from the album but it’s pretty good.
We Ain't Gonna Grow Old Together This one’s just a case of realising that the person your with isn’t the person your gonna grow old with. It’s about the search for the clichéd “ONE”. The person your gonna grow old with.
Rooftops (Feat. Ryan Ross Hernandez) A great song, I loved working with Ryan on this. It’s a great anthem type of song with a catchy chorus, Scream It From The Rooftops, Show Me What You Got. I was delighted when I finished recording it and I heard it fully formed for the first time.
Party-Starter (Feat. Tisha Jackson!!!!) I love it, It’s sort of the opposite of what you’ve heard from the album so far. Most of the album is about heartbreak and love but this one’s about having fun with friends, just partying until the early hours of the morning. And I couldn’t think of anyone better to have on the song than Tisha she’s just the most fun person to be around. If you ever get the chance to party with her then don’t hesitate. This song is going to be the 3rd single, I think it’s gonna be released in August - September.
New Developments It’s the most stripped down song on the album. It’s just me the piano and emotion. If you’ve ever met someone randomly who you’ve instantly fallen in love with then you’ll like this song.
More Than You'll Ever Know It’s kind of autobiographical it’s about having a past which you don’t regret, but which you’ve put behind you and the fact that you’re a different person now. The fact that people think they know everything about you but in reality they only know the person they see in magazines and on TV.
Clarity (Feat. Moquel) This song is about seeing someone for who they actually are. I’ve dated someone who wasn’t a really nice person but I never saw that because I was kind of in love, so the song is about having clarity and seeing him for who he really is. I’m very happy with it, it’s a great song.
