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Part One Rolling Stone: It’s almost one whole year since you released your debut album This Is Who I Am, it went on to sell over 4 million copies in the U.S alone, are you nervous ahead of your follow up? Alicia Lena: There was definitely some nerves early on during the recording process. But I knew what I wanted from this follow up and having Ryan and Will producing the record was a huge weight off of my shoulders. I wanted this new album to be completely different from my debut and I think I managed to achieve that, I wanted to show my growth and gave people a real good idea of who I am as an artist. The success of my debut was always in the back of my mind but I felt that I needed to move away from that pop criteria. Of course I won’t be moving completely away from that, but this is definitely more of a RnB record in comparison to my debut. I wanted to show my influence, that Motown feel which I think is more me than my first attempt was.
Rolling Stone: And were you expecting the lead single to go to number 1? Alicia Lena: Definitely not, I had a feeling that people would like the track and It’s a track which I’ve spoken about for the last 6 months. I’ve always said that it’s the best song I’ve written so far in my career, so for it to go to number 1 was a brilliant thing for me. I honestly don’t release a song with expectations because of that fear that it will fail to meet my expectations. I was very surprised that it went to number 1 though, I definitely didn’t expect it.
Rolling Stone: And do you feel that it will make it tougher for your future singles to match that success? Alicia Lena: I think it’s gonna be tough for any song I release in the future to match that success. I’m not expecting to have 5 or 6 number 1 singles from the album. I wasn’t expecting to have 1 number 1 single. I’ll release the singles that I planned to release and if they do well then great, if not then that’s ok too. Of course it would be great if all of my single’s charted well which is something I will be hoping for but I think the artists who last longer in the industry don’t have huge success with everything they release. I’m optimistic that people will love the other songs from the album because I think they’re all really good songs but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
Rolling Stone: And are you expecting your album to go to number 1? Alicia Lena: No, like I say, I never set myself any expectations. As I’ve said, I think this album is better than my debut album and I hope that it will do even better. I think it shows just how much I’ve grown as an artist and I think it definitely comes across on the record. I’ve put a lot of time into recording the album, I’ve recorded and re-recorded some of the tracks 6 times until I found the right version. I’m definitely pleased with how it turned out though.
Rolling Stone: And now we have some questions sent in from fans. Alicia Lena: Ok, fire away.
Rolling Stone: Question 1: What was your childhood like? Alicia Lena: My childhood was pretty great. I never met my birth parents but my adoptive parents are incredible people. I couldn’t have wished for better parents, they taught me everything I know and from an early age they sort of always made sure I was polite and well mannered. We weren’t a rich family but my parents both saved a lot of money for me to have piano lessons. I owe them everything really.
Rolling Stone: Question 2: Who do you admire most in the music industry? Alicia Lena: Of all time, I’d have to say Sam Cooke. The amount of soul that guy put into his music is incredible and he was just incredible. I guess that a modern artist has to be someone like Stephanie Fierce, My audition song for Junction Records was a cover of her song, Kill The Runaways and I got the chance to work with her, I felt pretty dwarfed by her ability but she’s helped me out quite a lot since I’ve been in the music industry.
Rolling Stone: Question 3: Which artist do you think has the best future ahead of them? Alicia Lena: Well, when I heard Red Symphony I thought I should just give up now because Michelle Green is incredible, because she‘s so young too, it‘s just mind blowing that someone at such a young age can have so much soul, and she‘s not just another teenage popstar, she knows what she wants and she‘s capable of achieving anything if she puts her mind to it. I think she‘s just crazy talented. Another new artist I’ve recently came across is a young girl called Victoria Black, I think with the right guidance she could be great. I think she’s in a girl group that I haven’t heard a lot of but I think she would be better suited to a solo career. I think she’s in quite a manufactured girl group and I think she’d really shine as a solo artist, she’s got a promising future if she does that.
Rolling Stone: Question 4: Who would you most like to work with? Alicia Lena: I’d have to say Glamazon or Miss Vanity. They’re both extremely different and original, they’re exciting and completely weird. I’d definitely love to work with them some day. I’m also a big fan of Radio Vine and I’d love to work with her someday.
Rolling Stone: Question 5: How much do you love being a famous musician? Alicia Lena: I love it so much. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I love the fact that I get to do the thing I love the most and people a very supportive of my music which is great. I couldn’t be happier.
Rolling Stone: Question 6: Do you smoke? Alicia Lena: No not at all. It’s a bit of a weird question to ask but the answer is a definite no. I have one or two friends that smoke and it’s not very pleasant. I try to live a healthy lifestyle and I think that would just be a really terrible idea for me.
Rolling Stone: Question 7: Do you ever wake up and think, “God I’m so beautiful.”? Alicia Lena: haha, you’d know the answer if you saw what I look like when I wake up. It ain’t a pretty sight. So no I don’t ever think that. I put effort into my appearance but I never think that, certainly not when I wake up, it’s a scary sight, believe me.Part 2: Coming Soon Edited by user 02 April 2011 05:31:36(UTC)
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