Review Fix chats with Los Angeles pop/rockstress Alexa Villa, who discusses her origin in music and goals for the future.
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
About Alexa Villa:
Alexa has been described as “a cross between Gaga and Joan Jett, grunge pop/ bubble rock with a little blues feel and a whole ‘lotta attitude.†Don’t let her colorful, and unique style fool you, she’s a talented songwriter and classically trained pianist who’s been performing from a young age – playing clubs with her parents’ band and then, her brothers band in San Diego before developing her own sound.
Alexa Villa: I grew up in a musical family so music was always present. My parents actually met in a band and so my brother and I grew up going to all of their rehearsals and shows. I remember going to our local music store for my brothers guitar lessons and always tinkering on the pianos in the room. It was probably there that I chose piano as my instrument and ultimately started my piano lessons at age 7. Later, I started singing with my parents band and my brothers band and in recording studios. I would skip parties and school dances to stay home and rehearse. My dad would have me learn a lot of classic rock songs and he’d play them on guitar while I sang to get my chops up. And it evolved from there. I eventually started my own band around 15, we played warped tour and did that whole thing and then I ended up starting my solo project which brings us to now.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Villa: My creative process is always different. I could be sitting in a room full of people and hang on to someones words which then become a song title, or at my piano and start with chords or a melody. I’ve even dreamt songs before and woken up in the middle of the night to write it. That was actually the process for one of my songs off my last EP. Or start with a beat, or with a mood I’m in. If I’m in a session with someone it might start with an honest conversation.
Review Fix: What inspires you?
Villa: I’m so inspired by everything around me. I’m inspired by the vastness of our universe and the wonder it holds, by strangers and human connection, by love and heartbreak, the highs and lows in life, God, colors, big cities and small towns, my insecurities, new adventures and old memories, a phrase I read on t shirt while shopping at target. I try to see life as art and that way its always beautiful.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Villa: I’d say my sound is a cross between Joan Jett and Gaga. It’s sweet and salty, cotton candy bubble rock. It’s an organized picture of all the messy goings-on in my head.
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Villa: I think my live shows are always more energetic. Music is just that way in person. I think the live shows also create a space for everyone to come and be themselves and make friends.
Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?
Villa: I wrote this song about taking ownership of a situation and taking charge of your life regardless of circumstance or pushback. It’s also a nod to how much goes unseen behind all of the glamour we see on social media and what we choose to show and it’s about using that to your advantage. I really feel that attitude is everything and can get you far. This song is a reminder to myself of just that.
I was inspired by the Steven Spielberg story and how he supposedly got his start by sneaking into Universal and commandeering an unoccupied office.
Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2019?
Villa: I’m spending a lot of time finishing up new music and getting it ready to go for 2020.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Villa: I’ll be releasing lots of new music and will have lots of shows to go with!
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Villa: Just that I hope to inspire with my music and let the listeners know that its more than okay to be different!
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