Face the Music: Artist Interview: Anna Nalick
MIDDLETOWN - Anna Nalick is a platinum selling singer and songwriter from Temple City, Calif. She’s best known for her top 10 Billboard hit â€"Breathe (2 a.m.).” In addition to writing all of her own music, Anna has been writing for other artists since the age of 15. In 2006 she beat out Sheryl Crow as AC Female Artist of the Year at the New Music Awards. I caught up with Anna via phone while she was traveling with her band between gigs.

      

       It’s pop lore that you started writing and recording on a Rainbow Brite Cassette recorder and one of these tapes ended up in the hands of former Blind Melon members Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith. How did it get from a Rainbow Brite toy into the hands of rock stars?

       Yes, It’s all I had (laughs). It was old and the stickers had fallen off. I didn’t know you were supposed to use CD’s at the time. All I had was the cassette recorder that my mom bought me. The tapes found their way from a photographer friend of mine who taught a photography class and one of her students’ mom was the manager of Blind Melon.

      

       Your grandmother told you stories about dancing with Fred Astaire that gained your interest in showbiz. Is there a dancer hidden inside of you?

       Yeah, actually, that’s funny. I did ballet from the time I was five until 17 and then I got involved in music and it kind of tapered off. I don’t know if I was very good at it because I’m not very coordinated. I thought of getting back into it to remind myself to stand up straight.

      

       â€"Breathe (2 a.m.)” plays as a pensive yet revealing tale about learning to handle everyday problems while remembering to just breathe during the process. Was this song meant as a cautionary tale or based on a real experience?

       I never thought that anyone was ever going to hear it. It was about experiences that my friends and I were having. It’s a series of vignettes. We were kids and had these adult responsibilities and our minds weren’t developed enough to deal with them. It’s about that transition from adolescence into adulthood and the realization that there is no turning back. It’s less cautionary and more of a reminder that everything is going to be okay.

      

       In my opinion, the prophetic line, â€"Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table,” is one of the most profound lyrics in recent pop music history. Where did that line come from?

       Oh, thank you! It probably started with a feeling of what it means to not be able to go backwards and undo something. Then I take that feeling and turn it into an image.

      

       You feel that songs should reflect on common human emotions. Is it the commonness in people that drives your songwriting?

       I’ve never thought of it that way. Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’m very self aware of what I’m dealing with, sometimes a little too aware. I try to write about what I’m going through emotionally and spiritually.

      

       Where do you think you gained the ability of storytelling in your lyrics?

       I have some really good story tellers in my family. We came from Broadway, so one side of the family is dramatic. I lived with my grandmother for six years and I always listened to her touring stories and she kept journals. My dad writes short stories and poetry and I worked on novels when I was a child. I was an old soul.

      

       You’ve stated that your song â€"Citadel” is the song that is most autobiographical. How so?

       I wrote that while I was feeling like I was still just a kid and was in over my head. It’s about being up high and looking down on these people who seemed to know what they were doing and I just wanted to be a part of that process.

      

       Who are your top three influences?

       Oh my gosh, that’s hard. My grandma is number one. For writing, Dr. Suess (laughs). There are so many, Leonard Cohen, F. Scott Fitzgerald are up there. Eddie Murphy (laughs). We’ve been listening to his songs in the car.

      

       That’s funny. Have you ever heard his duet with Michael Jackson, â€"What’s Up With You”?

       He did a duet with Michael Jackson? The guys in the car are googling it right now.

      

       What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?

       I went to Tower Records with my uncle and bought Rubber Soul by The Beatles and Nirvana’s Nevermind.

      

       What was the first song you ever learned to play?

       Wow, these are good questions! I haven’t thought about this stuff in a long time. It was â€"Doe, a Deer” on my grandma’s piano.

      

       What is the greatest opening lyric of all time?

       Oh my goodness (laughs). I’m in the car with my band and they’re all throwing out great funny suggestions. My bass player just said â€"I Like Big Butts.” That’s not mine, though. The first one that comes to mind is, â€"I’ve heard there was a secret chord

       That David played, and it pleased the Lord

       But you don’t really care for music, do you?” from Hallelujah.

      

       Who would you collaborate with if you had the chance?

       Danny Elfman (of Oingo Boingo) is like my Elvis. I think he is a brilliant composer.

      

       Which is the most / least rewarding part of your job?

       The experiences I get to have in a room full of people every night and that energy--how we all get to connect to people that were strangers just an hour earlier. I get to see the world. I get to witness the effects my music has on people. The feeling that my work has a purpose.

      

       What advice would you give your younger self about getting into the business?

       Hmm, I would tell myself to make sure I know who I am before anyone else can tell me who I am. And don’t sign anything (laughs).

      

       What skills/personal attributes are most important to being a successful artist?

       I take in a lot emotionally and I use to think that that was a curse. Now I’m starting to think that maybe it is more of a gift that does work its way into everything I do so now I protect it.

      

       What is your go-to Karaoke song?

       I Karaoke’d for the first time in Japan and it was to â€"Breathe” and â€"No Rain.” But I guess it would be â€"Breathe,” which is kind of cheap cause it’s my own song (laughs).

      

       What is something about you that would surprise your fans?

       People don’t realize that I grew up on the road and that there’s a personality that grows from that that is completely â€"road dog.” I’ve been in bands since I was 13.

      

       On this leg of your tour will you be playing any unreleased or first time live cuts?

       Actually about half the set will be new material. This tour is for people to get to know the new songs--and for me to get to know them, too.

      

       Follow Anna Nalick online at www.annanalick.com

       Twitter: @realanna_nalick

       Facebook: www.annanalick.com
MORE MIDDLETOWN NEWS  |  STORY BY JOBY ROGERS  |  Feb 04 2015  |  COMMENTS?