Alana Grace is the 21 year-old solo pop/rock artist from Los Angeles California. When she was here recently for the 2009 Warped Tour concert, we had a chance to talk to her.
The Current: Who do you consider your biggest influences to be?
Alana Grace: I would say Alanis Morissette is probably one of my really big ones and bands kind of like Styx and Queen and Aerosmith. . The Current: Is that what you like to listen to when you are just driving somewhere or relaxing?
AG: Actually, you know what, lately I'm obsessed with [Frou Frou]'s album and I just love that singer and I've been obsessed with Hide and Seek, the Imogen Heap one, it's the same singer. I just love her voice.
The Current: Where are you from?
AG: I actually was born in Los Angeles but I grew up in Nashville Tennessee. But we're all based out of Los Angeles now.
The Current: As far as instruments, is there one particular brand that you prefer?
AG: It varies. For me, I don't generally play guitar onstage unless it's an acoustic show, so I kind of always go with Taylor for acoustic. But for electric, pretty much everyone goes with Gibson. And I love Yamaha pianos.
The Current: Where else have you performed?
AG: God, you know we've done a lot. Or I have. I don't know about the rest of the band. I've done a lot of like club dates in L.A. so our last show in L.A. was the House of Blues which is a really cool show. I've done a lot of fair things, so like Minnesota State Fair, we actually did four days last year, and then different fairs around California…we did the Ventura County Fair, and [the] Sacramento Fair, and stuff like that.
The Current: Where is your favorite place that you've performed?
AG: My favorite? Actually, you know, House of Blues is a really awesome venue, so probably that would be my favorite so far. But I'm performing at the Ryman [auditorium] after this tour in Nashville and I'm pretty stoked about that. It's such a famous venue.
The Current: Do you have a least favorite place that you've had to perform?
AG: I've had a lot of really bad places. Anywhere that they have to bring in and set up a really crappy sound system, it's probably not going to be the best show…I do a lot of benefits and like we do it in big banquet halls and they won't spend any money on the sound system and so even if you are doing a good job you can't sound good [because] you have a bad sound system. Anywhere like that would be my least favorite.
The Current: Do you write your own songs?
AG: I either write or co-write all of them. So it depends on the song. I like co-writing better than just writing by myself, just 'cause I like having another person to bounce my ideas off of.
The Current: Do you have a favorite song?
AG: A favorite song of mine or just in general? My favorite song of mine is actually a song called "Where are you now." For me, it's about something that's gone on through my entire life. So it's kind of a timeless song in my mind. My favorite song of all time right now, or actually for the last few years, is a song called "Title and Registration" by Deathcab for Cutie. I don't know why I just have this odd attachment to that song, and I have since I was like fifteen.
The Current: How many albums do you have out?
AG: Two. The first one is called "Break the Silence" and the new one is called "With One Word."
The Current: Do you think that the two albums are very different from each other?
AG: They are different, you know. "Break the Silence" was actually a more "rock" album than "With One Word." I kind of got out of my, like, angry phase because I wrote "Break the Silence" when I was, you know, thirteen, fourteen years old. So this new one is much more about the lyrics, and actual melodies of the songs rather than just heavy guitars, yeah!
The Current: How long have you been working on your music career?
AG: Well, I started being a demo singer when I was like eleven actually. I had a really mature voice for my age. And then I really didn't start writing until I was thirteen and basically, ever since, I've been writing my own stuff. But you know, I got really, really serious and, like, sat down and made the first record when I was fifteen from the songs I'd written since I was like thirteen.
The Current: Do you play any other instruments besides the piano and acoustic guitar?
AG: I haven't tried any others! I'm trying to get brave enough to play electric guitar, I actually have an electric guitar now but you can hear every mistake, so I feel like Warped Tour isn't the place to experiment for that.
The Current: Do you have any upcoming tours?
AG: We're trying to get on one actually. Right now I'm opening up a few dates with Heart, which is going to be really exciting after this tour, and then we've got some with Shiny Toy Guns but that's about it for right now. I think we're actually going to end up going to Europe in the fall, so we'll see.
The Current: What is the ultimate direction you are going for with your career?
AG: Well, I'm shooting for the stars, like anyone would say. My ultimate goal, if possible, I don't really know what I would be this for, [but] I really want to be [a legend], so my ultimate goal would probably be to be headlining my own world tour. I'm also an actress so I'd like to be in a few feature films. It's definitely something I'd do on the side rather than [focusing] on it.
The Current: What do you think has been your biggest challenge? Or has it all been smooth sailing?
AG: You're in the music business, nothing is smooth sailing! I guess it's actually keeping the faith and keeping the confidence in yourself. Because I mean I get turned down for basically everything, I get turned down for about 95% of things and 5% [I] get. And so I think keeping the belief that you will make it and that you know you are good enough and that the cream rises to the top and all that stuff is probably my biggest challenge in all of this.
The Current: Do you have any advice for anyone else who is hoping to start a career in music?
AG: Don't do it! Basically I think unless you believe 100% that this is your destiny, you will not be happy doing anything else, don't do it. Because there's enough of us that feel that way, honestly. It's a lot of hard work and a lot of luck, and you just gotta keep going, even when times get really hard, you just kinda take it day by day, every little success, or else it won't be worth it. Make sure that you enjoy every little thing and you really, really love what you're doing and believe in yourself 100% or else it won't work.
The Current: Do you have anything else that you want fans or potential fans to know?
AG: Not really, I mean check the MySpace, myspace.com/alanagrace, that has pretty much all my new updates. Also I have a free phone application for iPhones, SmartPhones, and FuturePhones. It's kind of a behind the scenes look at my life on the road and being a new artist…I don't know…check out those things. It's why we have them!
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