Alita
Interview conducted on February 22, 2021
By Dan Locke
Description Blending vibey synths and silky vocals with uniquely candid lyrics, Seattle born and raised ALITA is bringing the honesty back to today’s pop music scene. Taking influence from artists ranging from India.Arie to LEON and Julia Michaels, ALITA’s songs share personal stories of navigating young adulthood, feminism, love, and loss through her own unique lens. Growing up in a musical family, ALITA has been writing and performing from an early age, and that experience has both made her a confident songstress and a writer who is constantly evolving her sound and helping redefine what it means to be a pop star in today’s world. With early features from outlets including American Songwriter, Hidden Hits, and Popmuzik, ALITA’s refreshing alt-pop sound is already making major waves.
Describe your music.
I think my new music is a bit of a genre blend. It’s got pop-leaning, R&B, soul influences. It doesn’t perfectly fit in any box, but I’d much rather float on in my own world than continue making music that fits a mold but not me. In terms of storytelling and writing, all my new stuff is an exploration on my own coming of age. It’s taking popular topics like love and heartbreak, and flipping the usual approach on its head. I think this coming of age theme will solidify even more as the new songs come out, but overall, my music is about growing up and gaining some perspective.
How are you bringing the honesty back to today’s pop music scene?
I’m attempting to by being more honest with myself, which in turn affects how honest I am in my own writing. Radio and chart-topping music is always a balance between being both commercial and authentic. Sometimes one wins out over the other, and it’s a breath of fresh air when authenticity is it. I think we’ve seen a lot of major artists breakthrough with being nothing but themselves. Billie Eilish for example. Her music doesn’t sound like any other massively successful artists out there, and that’s really worked for her. She’s built a cult following around being unapologetically unique in sound and visual presentation. My only goal is to find my own version of whatever that is, and that can only come from a place of raw honesty. And raw honesty can only come from getting to know me. So that’s what I’m trying to do.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
I have no idea what the very first one was called – I wish I could remember! But my first original song I performed at shows was called ‘I’m Not Missing You’. I didn’t record it. It was just me and my guitar. I filmed it for YouTube, but it only exists as an acoustic version.
Tell me about your single “Bodies”?
Sure! Bodies is a song about owning your sexuality and pleasure as a woman. It’s very pop, it’s upbeat, it’s sexy. It was a ton of fun to write & it’s been amazing seeing people’s reactions to it since I released it last summer. I actually wrote it more than 2 years ago, and it sat on the shelf for a long time. But I knew it was catchy and that I wanted to do something with it, it just took some extra time to get it there.
Tell me about “I’m Not Your Mother”.
“I’m Not Your Mother” is an incredibly important song to me, because it’s the reintroduction into who I am as an artist and how my music is evolving. It’s a song about resistance & self-discovery in the face of modern romance. It explores the implicit & explicit expectations placed on women throughout history, and it was inspired by my own previous relationships and the relationships my friends are in. I’m really proud of this song and the message, and I believe it’s the start of a whole new journey for myself and my listeners.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash,[ or (in North American usage) pound sign. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
I think like so many words or symbols, meanings evolve over time. And the meaning we place on # in particular just depends on who is using it and in what context. I don’t think anyone’s forgetting the # symbol as a musical symbol for sharp, I just think it’s taken on new forms in the world of social media. And that’s fine.
Did COVID kill live music? How is COVID going to affect music in the future?
It’s definitely stopped live music in most parts of the world for the foreseeable future. It’s heartbreaking, really. But no, I don’t believe live music is dead. It’s in hibernation until we can get our shit together.
I think it’s pushed people’s music careers even MORE online. We’ve known how important building an online presence and brand is for musicians and artists – that’s the primary way people discover music these days. But with Covid, that’s it. That’s the only way artists can build a bridge to their fans. It’s also made the industry get more creative with how they can host shows virtually. I don’t know what all the lasting impacts of this season of history will be, but I can say with confidence we’ll never go back to the way things were fully.
Why was the Dear Christmas video so short?
I write a lot, and most of what I write won’t be released. Sharing one-minute demos online is a way I stay connected to my listeners as I work on the larger, broader releases. I want to write a full-length Christmas song in the future, but I wrote Dear Christmas early in December when I got a random burst of inspiration on the topic, and just wanted to share a snippet online.
What is your feeling about climate change?
Climate change is real, and it’s caused by humans. The science is undeniable, and we’re seeing the impacts more and more with “once in every 100 years” extreme weather events happening every other week. If we don’t collectively and rapidly move away from fossil fuels, start centering science in our policies, and make greener living accessible, then it’s only going to get worse and it could easily wipe us out as a species. That’s the harsh reality of what we’ve done to our planet, but there is hope. There’s always hope. We just have to back that hope was action, and fast.
I love your version of “Yesterday”. Are you thinking about releasing it as a single soon?
No plans for that, no! But thank you. I think that’s my favorite cover I’ve done. I do want to reimagine a popular song and release it this year, but I haven’t landed on which one yet.
