Philthy

Alana Grace performs on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

By PHIL PALIOS

Alana Grace, while influenced by Alanis Morissette, has a style and voice all her own.  Where Alanis Morissette has crisp and raw vocals that sometimes border on whiny, Alana maintains a more full vocal range and warmer tone.  Their similarities are better found when exploring the lyrics, both artists have something to say and are not just producing good beats and melodies but deliver an emotional rollercoaster of music.  The songs on Alana’s latest album “With One Word” cover emotions from upbeat songs about moving on, paranoia and obsession to down-tempo ballads reflecting on loss, fear and doubt.  All of her songs fit into the wide pop-rock genre, which is unusual for an artist on Warped Tour where most bands play punk rock and carry a more aggressive tone with no interest in becoming mainstream.  Throughout this new album I find a common theme of independence, hope, and reflection on lessons learned.

My first listen through the new album revealed a collection of catchy melodies that will stick in your head.  After a few more times through I could start to appreciate Alana’s complex lyrics that reveal a diverse set of stories.  The title track of her album, “With One Word” has a hint of country style that may be attributed to her Nashville roots.   Other songs like “The Other Side” have a close resemblance to the epic style of Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee.

The lack of permanent band members has the unfortunate result of generic drum and guitar instrumentation that doesn’t add much to the songs.  I think there is potential for more musicality, but this approach brings focus to Alana’s well-crafted vocals that are far superior to most auto-tuned pop stars, not to mention the punk rock singers on Warped Tour that prefer yelling to singing.  The synthesized effects on each track help differentiate the musical style from one song to the next and make up for some of the generic drum and guitar patterns, but nothing beats the real thing.  However, remaining a singer/songwriter has the potential to help her avoid the drama that has led bands like Evanescence to a stand-still.  It would still be nice to hear her sing with a talented group of musicians, perhaps this is where collaboration is key.

Some songs on the new album may be slightly feminine or overly emotional (the two terms are often used as synonyms, I know), but I believe most of Alana’s songs discuss feelings and experiences we all go through and in challenging times they provide hope.  My favorite song on her new album is the last track, “Black Roses Red”, a piano ballad with a dark sense of emptiness and longing.  The song breaks into rock near the end with the repeated lyric  “I feel like I’ve never known love.” as the song fades out.  I think what attracts me most to this song is the theatrical feeling and development of a story line as the song progresses and changes styles.  The dramatic style comes as less of a surprise given the song’s original appearance in the film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”  While listening to “Black Roses Red” I can picture a dramatic video displaying the emotional journey of someone looking for love as she describes in the song.  Unfortunately, the actual music video is pretty simple and consists of close-up shots while she sings in a bedroom, at a piano and while walking outside. The video’s lack of creativity may have been due to a limited budget or poor artistic vision from the video’s director.  Hopefully advances in Alana’s career will provide opportunities for more elaborate music videos, the storytelling in her songs offer a lot of potential for good videos.

Alana is not someone who arrives to a chorus of screaming teenage girls at her live show, there was a mix of both men and women for her performance at The Gorge.  Her short shorts made many guys stop and take a second look while walking by the stage, her strong stage presence and live performance kept them around for the rest of her set.  Alana Grace is not just a studio artist, while on stage she is full of energy that instantly uplifts and engages the audience.  She does not differ much from the recorded versions of her songs, but has an authentic voice and connects well with the crowd.

During her stop at the Gorge in George, WA on Warped Tour I had the chance to sit down and discuss her new album and struggles in the quickly changing music industry.  Here’s what she had to say:

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Is this your first tour?

AG: This is my first nation-wide tour, I’ve gone out and done five or six states with different artists but never a full-length tour.

PJ: Where are you from?

AG: I’m based out of Los Angeles.

PJ: How do you like Seattle?   Have you ever been to Seattle?

AG: No, the Gorge is beautiful but I hear this is three hours away from the actual city.

PJ: I’ve seen your music related to Alanis Morissette, is she one of your influences?

AG: Yeah, she’s a big influence of mine.  Her, Joni Mitchell and more crazy theatrical bands like Styx and Queen are my main influences.

PJ: Do you write your own music?

AG: Yes, I’m a writer/co-writer, sometimes I don’t write by myself.

PJ: How many people are performing with you?

AG: Right now I have a three piece: drums, bass and guitar.  I play keys on one of the songs in this set, I generally play more than that, but it’s such a short set here.

PJ: Are these the same people you recorded with?

AG: No, generally my recording process is that I’ll hire a producer and use his studio cats for the actual record, then we try to re-create what we can live.

PJ: So you are more an independent artist than a band?

AG: Yes, exactly.  We don’t consider ourselves a band, this is my first tour with these musicians.  My lead guitarist that I had hired quit three days before the tour started, so I met my [current] guitarist three days before Warped Tour.

PJ: How long have you been making music?

AG: This is my second album.  My first album was released in 2007, but I’ve been writing since I was 13 and I’m 21 now, so eight years working on the craft of writing and music.

PJ: Have you collaborated with other artists, or are there artists you would like to collaborate with?

AG: Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic is an amazing writer, he’s had huge hits now.  I would love to collaborate with someone like him.  If I could do a collaboration where we were both on the song, probably someone like The Fray or Coldplay.  I know it’s reaching for the stars at the moment.

PJ: What do you think of the fans at Warped Tour?

AG: It’s different in every city, people in Boston and Detroit are very into music and shows whereas some other towns are not as into new music.  Here they seem to be okay with new music, we’ll see how they respond to the live show.

PJ: Your genre is different than most of the artists on Warped Tour, do you see a lot of existing fans or people coming and discovering you?

AG: Most people are coming here and discovering me.  I do have people that come to every show, but really not that many because I’m such a new artist.  But that’s part of why we did it; to get out there and meet new people every day, and this is such an amazing opportunity for that.  I feel people come to Warped Tour looking for new artists to like, so we tend to find people that like 3OH!3 and they like “this band” but they didn’t come with any one band that they have to see.  Those people are the ones that get drawn in.  It’s really cool to see the mixture of fans, we’ve got anywhere from Bad Religion fans to Aiden fans at our shows.

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Are you working with a label?

AG: No, I’m not on a label.  I used to be on a label and now I’m not.  I did it backwards.

PJ: How do you like being independent, do you think you need a record label?

AG: I think for making a record and going out and doing what I’m doing right now you don’t need one, but honestly for the type of music I want to go into, for pop-rock, you do need that distribution and you do need that big machine behind you.  So I’m looking for another label right now, it looks like we’re going with a newer label that has a lot of money behind it.  It’s really all about money, which is why I hate to go to a major label, they don’t have any.

PJ: That’s ironic!

AG: They have all the connections you need and no money to do anything with.  So if we can manage to do it with this new company it would work out amazingly well, because I wouldn’t be at risk of being dropped or anything like that again.  At the same time I think you do need some sort of machine behind you.  Whether it’s something you put together yourself or not, everybody on this tour, everybody that’s doing anything in music, you need a lot of money to keep it going.  That’s the biggest problem because nowadays people think that music is free.  I’ve been on the tour and say “Hey, want to buy an album?  I’m selling them for five dollars.”  A full length album!  And they’re like “Oh, no, I already downloaded it illegally.”  So I’m like: “It’s five dollars!”  Especially because I am doing this independently, to hear that is kind of heartbreaking.  I’m like “You just took away an opportunity for me to record another song.”  So you do need someone or some kind of company that can help you move things forward.  If you’re completely horribly rich then congratulations, you can do it on your own.  If you’re not, you need something.

PJ: Do you buy CDs from the bands you like to listen to?

AG: I do, and it’s weird because I don’t really have a CD collection, I guess I do have a CD collection, I just don’t display it or anything.  I listen to everything on iPods just like everyone else, but I think it’s important to keep that aspect of everything around.  Generally, if I like a band I’ll buy a t-shirt and a CD because that’s the most I can do to help them.

PJ: That’s interesting, I know some bands have given up on albums and rely on touring for income.

AG: That’s really the only way you can do it, but you have to have a certain level of success to do that if you’re a solo act like me.  If you’re a band then you can split everything, but I have to pay people.

PJ: What about other media, TV opportunities, movies, video games, are you interested in any of that?

AG: Yeah, I’m trying to get TV placements and stuff like that but I also act and I hosted one season of a show called “The New American Thunder” last year on the Speed channel.  That show just got cancelled, but they’re putting me on other shows like “Super Bikes.”  So I’m kind of getting into that world, they use my music on the shows all the time.  I think it’s really helpful if you can get your music out there in TV shows and stuff like that.  Especially if you can perform on the TV show because then they see a face, they hear a name, they hear the music , it’s all there at the same time so nobody is going: “Oh, I like that song, who is that by?”

PJ: What advice do you have for artists that are earlier in their music career than you?  What brought you to this point?

AG: Try to make sure you have a clear vision of what you want and realistic expectations.  That’s the biggest thing: Have realistic expectations!  You will not become a huge star over night.  It just doesn’t work that way.  You’re not going to put out your record and have it go number one the next day.  I’m sorry, but it’s not how the world works.  I know everybody says it is, but “over night successes” as they say, have probably been working on it for three to four years at the very, very least.  Like Katy Perry, everyone’s like “over night success”, but this is like her third album.  You will have people that don’t like your music, but at the same time there will be people that love your music.  You can’t expect to have an amazing response from every single person, especially on a tour like this.

PJ: Do you think being in LA helped you?

AG: It really did.  For me as a co-writer I love working with other people and I used to live in New York for a while and there it was you were either in a band or you were hip-hop.  Whereas in LA there’s a lot going on in the pop-rock world.  So I think your location does help, but you don’t have to be in LA, you can start something happening in your own community.  I grew up in Nashville and I have fans in Nashville.  If you can start something in your own community then you can start growing in other places too.

PJ: How do you interact with your fans?  After shows, online?

AG: I do all my own MySpace stuff and Facebook and Twitter.  I have a phone application, it’s made for iPhones but it works on smart phones and feature phones as well.  I try to update that at least three times a day, although it’s hard on days like this when I don’t have any internet.  So, today, I’m sorry fans, I don’t have anything because I can’t get online.  It kind of puts a damper on things.  But I try to keep things going, it gets really hard when you go on a tour like this because we have such a routine every day, for me it’s like “What can I film?  I do the same thing every day.”  It’s different people outside but it’s not like anything crazy happens every single day of your life.  Other than that it’s really just answering messages and trying to get music out there.  The problem is it takes so long to get a track produced and I feel like fans have to wait so long, but there’s a process to get everything together.

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Are you playing any new songs in your live set that aren’t on your album?

AG: No, not today.  I actually just wrote one with my band two days ago that we’re thinking about adding.  We’ll probably add it after these two days off, because we’ll practice it.  Whoever goes to the tour in California will probably hear the new song,  I’ll post things acoustically online sometimes, just an acoustic guitar and me singing.

PJ: Have you found certain producers or people to work with that you want to keep working with?

AG: Yeah, this last album was kind of a mix, I worked with Dwight Baker and Mike Greene.  Dwight Baker is out of Austin, TX and he’s awesome, he did half the album with me and Mike Greene’s out of LA, I wrote a few songs with him.

PJ: What do you have to say to college-age people thinking about listening to your music, why should they check you out?

AG: If you’re my age, I’m college-age, I remember growing up and hearing all of these amazing songs on the radio and you don’t really hear that anymore these days.  Yeah, there’s great party music but it’s kind of hard to find people that you want to listen to the lyrics.  People like the Alanis Morissettes or Smashing Pumpkins that used to be on the radio and aren’t there quite as much now.  If you liked that, come back and listen to my music!  I’m not a dance party music type person, but I think there’s going to be a resurgence of good classic pop rock.

PJ: Do you think about your lyrics more than other pop artists out there right now?

AG: I don’t know how much people think about their lyrics when they’re writing them, but I know that I think about it more than saying “Just dance, everything’s gonna be ok.”  Not that I don’t love Lady Gaga, I absolutely love that song.  But, is it stimulating my brain?  No.  Or “I’ve got a feeling tonight’s gonna be a good night.”  Great song, but not well-crafted lyrics.

PJ: How would you feel if a club producer remixed one of your songs?

AG: I would love that!  That would be awesome, I have nothing against that.  But a lot of music that’s out today is definitely not great song writing, it’s not song writing at its best.  Not that I am, but I know I think about it, it’s important to me to be a good song writer.

PJ: When you write your lyrics do you have a particular message, or life experience you are relating to?

AG: It’s really from life experience for me.  My song “Mess of You”, I actually dreamt of that song before I wrote it, I woke up and recorded it.  I was like “That’s amazing!” and that’s just about how I am in a relationship, I play it for every guy I’m gonna date.  I’m like “This is what will happen, I’m just telling you that’s how I am.”  I have a song called “Cold Day for August” about a friend of mine that died.  It is life experience and my view of things.

PJ: Do you see yourself as a role model for fans?

AG: I try, I don’t really consider it when I’m writing but as I’m living my life I do try.  I’m not like this perfect angel that never does anything wrong, but am I going out and doing stupid things?  Basically, I always say “if I can’t tell my parents about it, I shouldn’t be doing it.” because I have a really close relationship with my parents.  So that’s my gauge if I’m doing things right or not.

I hope that this glimpse into emerging artist Alana Grace inspires you to listen to her music, and if you’re not ready to drop $5 you can download a free single from her website and also listen to her music videos on YouTube.  If you like what you hear be sure to buy her album and show your support, otherwise this may be the last you hear of her.  I believe Alana’s description of how pirating music impacts an independent musician’s career is a great example of why it’s important to support artists you like.  Especially those that are independent and have the majority of album sales coming back to them to be reinvested in their work.  There’s no money machine delivering cash into her bank account (yet) so it takes support from fans to bring an artist like this into the mainstream,  you have control.