ALICIA LENA

Alicia Lena is so in love with New York right now, it’s evident throughout the afternoon as we sit together in a studio in Lower Manhattan to discuss her future plans, she enthuses. “New York has everything I could possibly want. It has the fashion side of things which is amazing, it has the popular culture, it has so much entertainment. It’s the perfect place to live.” you’d think that these would be unwanted distractions for a pop star planning on developing her huge career. “It’s hard at times to put focus on work and not be distracted by all the other things which New York has to offer but I like to think I work hard. I’m hoping to release a follow up (to This Is Who I Am, her hugely successful debut album) early in the New Year, I’ve already got about 17 songs to select from for that album so far but hopefully I’ll have even more songs to choose from when I get to begin work on it.” It’s pretty evident that she likes to work hard and wants to feel like she has earned any success she has.
She has had quite a bit of interest from guys since becoming such a big name in music and that is something she struggles with, “It’s hard to meet good guys you know, because now I’m always thinking would they be interested if I wasn’t in the public eye and I think a lot of people want to be famous or whatever, it’s really not something that appeals to me personally, If I could be a successful singer-songwriter but not have that media attention then life would be perfect but the media attention is definitely a little bit difficult to deal with at times, it seems like everybody wants a piece of you and that’s why it’s so difficult for me to find someone to settle down with, I just don’t know who to trust.” She says with an air of disappointment.
As we continue to talk I discover that she’s very self conscious, “Photo shoots are ok but when I step out of my apartment at 7:30am in my jogging clothes then I find things a little worrying, I have to admit that I do read a lot of things about myself on the internet and I’m always drawn into reading the comments sections, I fall for it every time, I think oh I wonder what people have said about me, hopefully all nice, and then as you scroll down you realise that it was better to just imagine what people were saying. There’s always a lot of hurtful comments but I try not to let it get to me.” She says with a smile.

She has recently been enjoying her time off by doing good for New York City kids, “I always wanted to be a sort of teacher to young kids, I was given the opportunity recently to spend time at a New York elementary school as a teachers assistant which was pretty fun, It makes you think that the future could be very bright indeed because these young kids I’ve been working with, know, no evil, they don’t know about some of the bad things that have happened over the years and they’re all very innocent, it’s a real eye opener and I think it’s important to help out anyway I can.”
She’s also been writing songs which she hopes will appear on her next album, “There’s a couple of specific songs which I’m particularly enthusiastic about, Clichés Come Easy, Everybody’s Fine and Time Spent Wishing are my favourite’s so far. But I’ve also taken on a song written by someone else for the first time, my good friend Tisha Jackson had a couple of songs that she thought would be good for me and I’ve chosen one of her songs as a bonus track for the album, called Pretty Brown Eyes. I’m not hugely comfortable about not writing the songs on my album but this is a really good song, I have to say that in the future I’m not really going to be interested in recording other peoples songs. I’m a songwriter and I take pride in the songs I write so that’s mainly what you’ll see from me for hopefully years to come. I don’t mind working with people in the writing process, maybe a writing collaboration but generally I prefer to write my own music.” She explains.

She plans to tour in support of her debut album This Is Who I Am with her first headlining tour, “It’s kind of scary with the fact that I’m the headline act, I’m the person the majority of the audience has come to see, so that’s a little bit daunting really but I’m hopeful I’ll do a good job. I’ve also got two support acts signed up in G2L, they’re pretty cool, we’ve met up recently and spent some time together so that has been quite good for bonding purposes and they’re all pretty good singers and I’m sure they’ll do fine. I’ve also got support from O’Bryan Richmond, he’s a great singer and a very nice person, we met up recently for a meal in New York and that was great to get to know him. He‘ll be the support act who plays before my set. So it will go, G2L, O‘Bryan and then me. I’m really looking forward to it because I love performing, ever since I was a young girl, I learnt the piano at a young age and I perform at school events and stuff like that whenever I could.” She explains.

So as the clock ticks on it begins time to have a search through the various letters from fans for Alicia Lena, “I’m pretty nervous about these questions because I know that fans like to ask awkward questions and they like to see famous people squirm but this is what I signed up for so bring it on.”. She says nervously.

Your always immaculately dressed and always manage to look stunning. How long do you take to get dressed on an average day? Aimee Kay, Glasgow
I generally don’t take too long, My hair probably takes the longest amount of time because in the morning it’s a complete mess. Make-up generally doesn’t take very long because I’m pretty minimal when it comes to make-up and I usually choose my clothing the night before so really an hour maybe an hour and a half at the most. I know a lot of friends who take almost three hours to get dressed even if they’re only going to the supermarket. It’s pretty crazy, I wouldn't want to take so long getting dressed for something so basic and minimal, It's a little bit too obsessive if I'm honest.

You’re a big fan of motown and soul musicians but who is the number one artist on your ipod and what song? Scott Weller, via Email
I think there’s such great music from the past. People like Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, there’s so many to choose from. And songs well that would probably be either, Isn’t She Lovely - Stevie Wonder, Tracks Of My Tears - Smokey Robinson, Change Gonna Come - Sam Cooke but it’s so hard to choose just one and then you've got the more modern day music to choose from, like Ryan Ross Hernandez, Miss Vanity, Stephanie Fierce, Infinite, The Voyd, Cristina Lake.

Are you gonna be collaborating on your next album and if so who would be your dream collaborators? Sally Greenberg, Chicago
I’m not gonna be collaborating on my next album, maybe a bonus track or a additional itunes track but for this album I wanted it to be 100% me, Every song written and recorded by me and me alone. If I was planning on collaborating I’d say Miss Vanity would be amazing to work with as would Stephanie Ortiz. I worked with Ryan Ross Hernandez on my debut album and I’d love to work with him again but like I say I don’t want to be collaborating on this next album. I think it’s important to maintain a certain level of independence and after having 4 or 5 collaborations on my debut album I think it’s important for to show people what I can do by myself.

Who will be producing your next album? Allan Walker, North London
It’s still undecided because the recording process is still a couple of months away. But there are some people I’d be looking at to produce my next album but I’d rather not say who until I’ve got my producer on board. There are some great options and right now I'm thinking that a fellow musician would maybe be a good option for my next album but like I say I don't have a producer on board but if anyone is interested then that would be great.

In an industry where a lot of modern music is very sexual, you seem to keep the obvious sexiness to a minimum without losing appeal, why aren’t you a more sexual artist? Jake, San Diego.
I’ve never been a highly sexual person any way. But I think the reason why I don’t really go in that direction is because I want to sell records based on my vocal ability, let’s face it if your almost naked in your music videos your probably guaranteed video rotation on MTV but if I have success and in 30 years down the line I look back I’ll be able to go at least I earned it, I didn’t have to get half naked to sell records or have success. I’m not a prude and some people can be sexual but also be classy and respectable with it, Stephanie Fierce is the first name that comes to mind and she‘s followed closely by Miss Vanity and they‘re probably two of the most successful people in music right now so it shows that what they do works because they make amazing music and great music videos, it‘s about getting the balance right.

Would you like to settle down and have a family soon? Jessica, Chicago
I’m not in a rush, I wanna get married someday and have kids and a beautiful family, but right now I’m pretty happy with how things are going. I've been on a couple of dates in my time off which has been a nice change of direction but right now there's nothing going on, or at least nothing serious yet. If the right guy came along then that would be great obviously but I’m not in a rush.

Would you ever be interested in judging a music talent show like American Idol or X Factor? George, via Email
Umm, I dunno. It would depend on the show, I’m not sure if I’d want to judge on American Idol or the X Factor because I’m not really the biggest fan of those shows, yeah sure it’s a great starting board because if you’re the winner you’ve already got a big fan base and it has helped find some good talent in the past. I’d be interested more in a mentoring role but if the right competition came up, a more artistic competition came up then I’d love to try my hand at that but I’m only 22, I don’t know if I’d have enough experience to judge people.

Have you ever considered acting or maybe writing a film script? Kieran, Manchester
Yeah sure, I’d love to try acting but right now I’m not really looking into that, I’m concentrating on my music career. I’m good friends with Cristina Lake and she’s a pretty good actress, so in the future yeah I’d like to try acting, I don’t know how good I’d be. On the film script issue that’s something that interests me very much, I haven’t tried it out yet but I’d definitely be interested in writing a script, I don't know if I'd have the dedication to actually finish it though. With songs it's different because they can usually develop into a decent song within a couple of hours.

You’re a very mellow and calm person, do you ever swear or get angry? Meiko Alexandersson, Gothenburg
I don’t swear, at least I try not to swear. I always try to keep calm and I very rarely get angry. I’m a pretty easy going girl and I hope that’s what people like about me. I don’t like confrontation or anger so I’m generally relaxed. There has been a couple of times when I was younger when I'd lose it a bit more often but I'll just put that down to being a teenager.

Is it true that you have a tattoo? Alison, Via Email
I do have one tattoo. It’s on my back and it’s hopefully the only one I ever have. I don’t regret it because I really like it but I don’t think I’d ever want another tattoo, also I don't have great pain tollerance, It was pretty painful, so yeah I don't think I'd ever get another tattoo. It‘s not the result of a wild night out or anything like that. It has meaning and is something that keeps me grounded but that‘s another story for another day.

Where would you like to be in 10 years? Scott, Dublin
Well I’ll be 32 years old by then. So hopefully my music career will still be going strong. Hopefully I’ll be married or at least close to being married. Maybe even have a kid or two. But I’m happy to just see what happens, I don’t really have a life plan figured out. So really if I‘m happy in 10 years then that‘s good enough for me.

How would you like to be remembered once your gone? Jackie, Edinburgh
That’s something I haven’t thought about before. I guess like anyone I’d like to be remembered fondly. If I die knowing that I’ve made at least one persons life a little bit better then that would be amazing. I generally I’d love for people to think “Oh she was a nice, kind person. She‘ll be missed.” But like I say I haven’t really thought about it much if I’m honest.”

CHECK OUT ALICIA'S DEBUT ALBUM THIS IS WHO I AM VIA ITUNES

OOC: I did post this last night but I felt that it needed a little bit more to it so here is the final version.

"I'm not really in need of money, so you'll have to find some other boobs to look at, sorry to dissapoint you."
- Alicia

Alicia: Thanks, Is that a compliment? I dunno. Like I said in the article I always try to be calm and not get angry or swear. But that was essentially the sentiment I was going for.

Magie: I love your voice..

Glamazon: It's great that you got to answer some of your fans questions as I think fan interaction is very important, loved the interview sweetheart! Talent beats sex appeal all the time.