Exposed Vocals Interviews Anna Aliena
Anna Aliena officially started her career as a singer and songwriter in 2008: She first got noticed as the lead singer of the duo ShirayasDream though she has actually loved making music since her early childhood. Her expressive mezzosoprano voice has been classically trained: Besides combining electronic pop music with operatic vocals, Anna Aliena also sings opera and lied. By mixing synthpop and classical voice elements, she wants to be remembered for the term “alien pop”.
Anna Aliena’s first EP “Silly Little Boys” was released by Go!Diva Records on November 25th, 2011. In 2012 the label published her second EP “Cinderella” and the single “Gloomy Sunday”. Her third EP “Alien Pop” (release date: August 6, 2013) is a celebration of her innovative genre. In 2014 Anna dedicated an EP to her home town: “Swinging Berlin”.
2015 has brought a style break which will be heard on her fifth EP “The Muse” (release date: October 30th, 2015). On this record Anna concentrates on emotional waltz time ballads with rich orchestral arrangements.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Anna Aliena: I grew up in the German country-side of Lower Saxony. Right from the beginning I’ve had an urge to express myself creatively. When I was a little child I started to make up my first children’s songs I used to sing with my younger brother. In the course of the years that urge for creativity and self-fulfilment became stronger. No-one decides to be an artist. In fact, you are born that way!
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Anna Aliena: As a teenager I happened to be an outsider at school. In consequence, I concentrated on composing music, writing poems and painting. One day I was wondering about a stage name and came up with “Annie Alien”. A few years later I latinized my artist name because “Alien” sounds so ridiculous!
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Anna Aliena: Creating music means a lot of work, especially for a solo artist like me. For that reason I only publish snippets of my songs on SoundCloud and ReverbNation. Whenever I release a new video on YouTube, the song is available for everyone … However, I love making videos. It’s good promotion. In general, sharing music on the net has lowered the value of music. People are less willing to pay for it nowadays.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Anna Aliena: Don’t sell yourself under value! It’s always possible to play for free, but please ask yourself if the scene and the venue are worth doing it. Better focus on quality than on the quantity of gigs! That’s what I had to learn in the past. Concerning airplay, it’s important to build up a personal network of promoters who broadcast your music on internet radio stations. I’ve also started to use promotion networks. They cost money, but you can’t do everything by yourself.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Anna Aliena: Sometimes I forget my lyrics. So what? I just keep on singing! Hardly anyone notices anyway.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Anna Aliena: Yes, I intend to tour. If there is a booker willing to work for me, please send a message to [email protected]!
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Anna Aliena: I need a muse to inspire me. In my opinion there is no music without being kissed by a muse. As a matter of fact, it helps to be in love, but sometimes I’m also inspired by places and situations. You cannot force the songwriting process to happen. Usually there is a melody or a line of lyrics emerging like a sparkling light in my head.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Anna Aliena: I’ve been using the social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Besides, there are Anna Aliena profiles on YouTube, SoundCloud and ReverbNation. In the next couple of weeks I will build up my own music website.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Anna Aliena: “Barbie Girl” (Aqua) and “Baby One More Time” (Britney Spears). Just to name a few … 😉
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Anna Aliena: I would travel the world because I want to see as many different places as possible before my soul leaves this body. New impressions, foreign cultures, encounters with people and beautiful nature can be so inspiring!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Anna Aliena: I’ve been working with Logic Studio 9. Until now this music software has been very reliable, but I will definitely upgrade it in the future.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Anna Aliena: Recently Facebook promotion has helped me a lot. This summer I wrote a Croatian love song and then I realized that I had hardly gathered any fans from Croatia and other former Yugoslavian countries. After posting an ad my numer of fans has increased. Meanwhile I’ve been looking for new strategies to promote my music. It’s try and error. Moreover, I send my music to the people who have assisted me in promoting my stuff for years.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Anna Aliena: Please take me to the kingdom of legends for one day! I would love to sing a duet with my heroes Freddie Mercury and Klaus Nomi. Both of these geniuses had marvelous voices and brilliant ideas. Freddie was one of the most creative songwriters Earth has ever seen. A duet at Wembley stadium would be the most magical moment of my career!
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Anna Aliena: My next project after my fifth EP ”The Muse” will probably be a multilingual album of songs in all the languages I’ve learned so far …
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Anna Aliena: I would be a writer or a painter.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Anna Aliena: As far as I remember, I bought Queen’s Greatest Hits. I desperately wanted to have it because of “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Anna Aliena: I keep on following my path. Even though there are certain daily duties I dislike, I’ve always been striving to reach my aims and to accomplish my personal vision.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?
Anna Aliena: On October 30th I’m going to release my fifth EP ”The Muse”. You can expect a couple of emotional ballads, orchestral arrangements just as multilingual lyrics in English, German, Russian and Croatian!
