The
Anna Nalick Interview
Yahoo! Music described her smash CD "Wreck of the Day" as both "brazenly commercial and exceedingly personal" - uniquely capturing the essence of a first effort that included the runaway hit "Breathe (2 AM)". Since then, Anna, (all of 22 at this writing) has been honing her writing skills, putting in serious studio time and picking up awards, including ASCAP's Most Performed Song (for Breathe) this April.
What's it like being a Girl Wonder? What challenges does she face in recording her sophomore effort? She shared her thoughts with us one spring afternoon.
Your grandparents performed onstage with the Marx Brothers. Your parents introduced you to rockabilly and the British Invasion. Lots of influences. What were you listening to?
I listened to everything that all of them listened to, including the old standards. I realized only recently that I was also influenced by a lot of the music that was popular when I was growing up in the 90s – bands like Blind Melon, Nirvana, Oasis, Third Eye Blind.
So, with all that – is there one that dominates?
A good song is a good song. It's the vocal and the melody and the lyrics – that's what really important to me.
We're talking about vocal miking, so let's start with a gear question. Is it really true that you were using a Rainbow Brite tape recorder in college?
That's all I had — but by then, it didn't have the Rainbow Brite sticker on it anymore. I didn't think to get anything better and even now, I use a little tape recorder — it's not even digital – that I keep with me to remember song ideas.
Do you remember what your first microphone was?
It was a Shure microphone and it was kind of an all-in-one thing that came with its own little PA. I used it in my high school rock band. And I think it was something that our guitar player found.
It was a wireless mic, so if I got mad at the band, I'd go upstairs with it. I could hear them through the floor and I'd just stay in my bedroom and sing along with the songs.
How old were you?
I was about fifteen. I quit my band when I was about eighteen and six months later, started working with record companies on my own. I had songs that I was writing all along that wouldn't have been right for the band.
Where was your band playing back in those days?
Parties, bars … coffee houses. We were pretty loud. We'd play in Anaheim and Long Beach – they weren't always the nicest places.
Did you get paid?
Rarely. Usually, we'd have to sell a certain number of tickets and we generally didn't sell enough. Sometimes we had to pay them for the tickets we didn't sell. (Laughs)
In high school you said had to get mad to prepare for your band's loud performances. Now that you're in a mellower mode, what do you do now?
I'm not Kelly Clarkson. I don't have a five-octave range. For me, it's really the emotion that makes my music what it is.
But I sing every day. The voice is an instrument and vocal cords are muscles, so you have to use it and exercise them. I live pretty far from Hollywood where I'm recording right now, so I sing in the car on the way there. I make sure I'm breathing correctly.
Any mic tips you've learned on the road?
If you wear gorgeous high heels onstage, it's better to use a wireless mic so that you don't trip over the mic cord. Also, my sound guy has taught me not to use the mic like a drumstick. It isn't a good idea to use it on the cymbals.
What about your next project? Can we talk about that?
I'm having a lot of fun but it's also a lot more difficult than the first one. But not for the reason that everyone says, you know – "you've got your whole life to write your first record and six months to write your second." I've got a lot of songs. It's a matter of deciding if these are better than the last batch.
And that's setting the bar pretty high.
The biggest thing is, I wrote a hit song pretty much by accident. I'm trying to figure out what it was about that song. It meant something to people and I'm trying to figure out what it meant to me – and channel that. That's just the greatest honor - that people all over the world were touched or inspired by it.
How much material are you working with right now? How many songs?
Right now, about thirteen and there are five that I really love. The record won't come out until next year, so I have time. And I'm going to use that time. On the first album, there were two songs I never got tired of. For this one, my goal is eleven.
If you put out a record with two good songs on it, people are just going to download those and never hear the rest of the record. So that has to be the goal and it has to start with me. You have to make a record – not just cut a few singles.
What about touring?
I toured a year before my first CD came out, then for the two years or so after with Rob Thomas, Five for Fighting, Dixie Chicks, Sting and Chris Isaak. I do miss it sometimes.
Any preference? Recording? Touring?
I love all of it. I like the diversity. I'm in the studio now, but there will come a time when I'm finished here and it'll be time to finalize artwork for the album and do a little promotion …
Speaking of that let's talk about the guitar string bracelet fund-that Relix Magazine does. Your bracelet is right up with John Mayer's and Les Paul's. In fact, yours is only $25 less.
That's a pretty amazing project. It's a great charity and that's where all my old strings go. I wonder whose bracelet I would wear? I'd wear one.
I should have asked that question.
Maybe Sheryl Crow's.
I guess you parents don't ask you anymore if you're going back to college, right?
You know, they don't. In fact, they've always been very proud of me and they're very supportive. They know I'm happy and they wouldn't have it any other way.
Gear Check
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Anna & The KSM9 |
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While Anna Nalick logs studio time in the next few months, you can hear her music, read her diary and keep up with news at www.annanalick.com. You can also find her on MySpace. If you live in or around L.A., you may be lucky enough to see Anna and her band popping up unannounced, at local clubs, performing new material for her second CD. And if you want to wear Anna's guitar string bracelet, visit the Relix Magazine website.