Alicia Lena was born in California and was adopted and never met her parents. She started to rebel when she hit her teen years. Drinking and Partying almost every night in California her life was about to go completely off the rails until something changed, She then decided to try to get her life back on the straight and narrow and found solace in music, She spent most of her nights listening to old records and began to take up playing the Piano again, a gift she had when she started playing when she was 8. She decided to try and make a go off pursuing music as a career which led her to move to New York City. In this interview we will be trying to figure out what led Alicia to a career in music and what made her life turn around As I walked through to the reception desk of The Hit Factory Record Studio in New York I am greeted by a smile from the girl behind the desk, “Hi I’m here for an Interview with Alicia for Billboard Magazine” I inform her, “She’ll be down in a moment just take a seat over there Sir”.
I walk over towards the seat and I hear footsteps coming down from the stairs, Alicia walks over towards the desk and speaks to the girl sitting behind it, I can’t hear what she’s saying but she soon turns around and walks over towards me. She’s dressed in very casual clothes and it almost seems like the studio is her temporary home, She’s dressed in a baggy shirt and jeans. She says hey and explains that the interview will take place in the studio, “This has been my home for the last month and a half, I’m totally in love with this place.”
We make our way into the recording room and take a seat at the sofa which has a couple of book shelves next to it. “I’m still not totally used to these interviews so I may be a bit cautious with some of the questions but I’ll try and give you as much information as I can.”
I suggest that we begin the interview and she duly agrees.
So you were born in California and once you were born you were adopted straight away how did that work?Alicia: Well my birth parents obviously found out they were gonna have a child but they were heavily involved in crime and drugs so they decided to have me adopted which I think was the best thing that happened to me. The whole adoption was arranged before I was born so my adoptive parents were in the room when I was born which I guess was kinda nice.
Have you ever met your birth parents or have you ever wanted to meet them?Alicia: I tried to find my birth parents once when I was 15 but there was no way of knowing where they would be, I don’t know them so it would be like meeting a stranger, and right now I’ve got no interest in meeting them not for malicious reasons, I’m glad they put me up for adoption but just because I have my adoptive parents and the situation is good right now.
How often do you see your adoptive parents, and do they live in New York?Alicia: No they don’t live in New York they still live in San Diego but I see them as much as I can, I was there for Christmas and I was there in early February and I’m gonna try and get out to San Diego sometime soon, But I see them quite often it is difficult to get there with so much going on though.
Do you think your upbringing is part of the reason why your not so comfortable talking about your private life?Alicia: Kind off but not because of the parent situation, I was quite wild when I was 15 and 16 and did things which I still sometimes think about and it kind of embarrasses me, But it’s not like I don’t talk about my private life with my friends it’s just the media where I have a difficulty talking about my private life, maybe when I’m more used to the media attention then maybe I’ll let people know more about my private life.
Are you currently in a relationship and do you ever feel lonely?Alicia: At the moment I’m not dating anyone, It’s kind of tough to do the dating thing when I’ve got a lot of stuff going on, but if I find the right person then sure I’ll be happy to be in a relationship.
Yeah I get lonely sometimes and that’s what New York can do to you, you spend an evening at home and you look out of your window and you see all sorts of people together and it sometimes gives you a little bit of pain in stomach but I’m used to it now.
So have you ever been in love?Alicia: Honestly no, I don’t think I have, I’ve been in relationships before but I don’t think I’ve ever been madly in love, sure I enjoyed being with those people but not to the extent where it hurt when we broke up. I've had two relationships which have made me upset when it was over.
Have you ever had your heartbroken?Alicia: I’ve been in two relationships which meant something to me, and both of those relationships ended badly because they were seeing someone else while we were together. It’s tough to take but I’m tougher than before.
Do you believe in soul mates?Alicia: Part of me wants to but then part of me can’t see how it’s even likely. I think certain people are more suited to others but I don’t think there’s one person out there who is specifically designed to be your soul mate and even if there was one person out there for you then the chances of meeting them are almost non-existent. Love’s tough but its part of life.
What made you change your ways from your wild lifestyle in California to pursuing a career in music?Alicia: It may seem clichéd but I had a best friend in San Diego we were almost inseparable and we partied a lot in California. One night we went to a party at someone’s beach house and we both drank a lot but she drank much more than me that evening, she ended up taking something while we were at the party and things just spiralled out of control, she went down to the beach with a boy she was dating and things happened there which I still can’t get my head around, but they were fooling around and somehow ended up arguing, at about 2:15 in the morning I went out onto the beach to see her and she was lying there motionless and dangerously close to the water. I called 911 and they arrived but it was announced that she died I later found out that it was a drugs related death. I was devastated and spent the next month or so in my room. I could have gone one way or another I could have either continued down the road I was going down or try make something of myself.
That must have been difficult to take? Alicia: Yeah it was devastating, I did basically lose a family member. But I like to think she’s proud of me and hopefully she’s with me all of the time.
Your debut album is coming up and it’s expected to be a success, Is that a pressure?Alicia: It is to an extent but I think the album as a whole is exactly how I wanted it. I’m confident that it will do quite well, and there’s gonna be some great singles from it.
Well we hope to talk again soon, thanks for your time I feel like we have got to know Alicia better and it seems like she is starting to open up a lot more to the media, She’s a very happy person with a trouble past which is one of the things which make her a great role model, She has been to the depths of sadness but she’s somehow changed things around to become a positive person with a great outlook on lifeEdited by user 30 March 2010 23:25:53(UTC)
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