While pop convention suggests every evening will be the best night of your life, it takes a true talent to release a great single about feeling awkward at a party. Alessia Cara, a 19 year old Canadian singer, recently unveiled 'Here', a languid R&B gem that samples an Isaac Hayes song 25 years older than she is. It perfectly captures the trickier side of any teen gathering and will speak to anyone who has spent hours hanging around the drunkards, gossips, pervs and stoners, waiting for their friends so that they can go home.
<p class="normal">Signed to Def Jam after posting Youtube covers of
unlikely tracks (at her recent show at London's Barfly she
performed a great take on Drake's 'Hotline Bling'), Alessia looks
set to have a very good autumn. Not only has she got across the
board support from BBC Radio One (Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Clara
Amfo all love her) but no less than Taylor Swift recently tweeted
that Alessia was "AMAZING". To mark the release of her debut EP
Four Pink Walls, Alessia sat down with GLAMOUR at London's K West
Hotel to discuss the influence of her idol Amy Winehouse,
inappropriate literature and why her confidence began when she
started representing the introverts of the world.
Who is your style icon?
<p class="normal">Ed Sheeran. I always say this as a joke but I'm
kinda serious. We wear the same clothes. Flannel shirts, denim,
Converse, a guitar, messy hair? That's literally me.
You've talked before about how you'd like to wear one pair of jeans for the rest of your life. Which pair would you pick?
Wow. I haven't owned a pair but they are these jeans from 7 From All Mankind. If I could buy a pair for myself I'd probably never stop wearing them - they just adjust to your body and they are the most comfortable jeans ever. The ones I would always try on were my Mom's: plain, regular wash, dark blue denim and they feel like sweatpants. I need to find myself a pair of those - maybe the skinny version.
Taylor Swift loved your 'Bad Blood' cover. What particularly impresses you about Taylor?
<p class="normal">Just the fact that she's so sure of who she is.
As a young woman in the industry, that's so important and that's
such a good thing to look up to. Every time she does interviews I'm
just so intrigued - she's just so sure of her music and confident
in herself. That's a great thing as a female artist. Her
songwriting is great - and she's just a leader.
One of the highlights of your Barfly gig was 'Scars' which discusses learning to love yourself. What has been your experience so far regarding body image in the industry?
<p class="normal">With life in general I go through things all the
time, like every young woman goes through. You just feel pressured
all the time: you see things on TV, you see other people, and you
constantly feel pressured to look a certain way. I look at
myself and go "I hate this and I hate that." But in the industry
when you have a spotlight on you, and you look at pictures that you
didn't even know were taken, you get really self conscious, it's a
scary thing and it sucks.
<p class="normal">You shouldn't have to feel that way, especially
because I dress the way I dress and it's not very extravagant and
not very girly. A lot of the time people have things to say about
that. It's not difficult for me to stick to that because I know who
I am but at the same time there's all these pressures coming from
everywhere: the music consumers themselves saying things like
"Shouldn't you dress a little bit more dressy?" No I shouldn't! The
music is still the same whether I'm wearing a dress or wearing
pants y'know? There are pressures but I'm not going to give into
them because I know who I am and know who I want to be. This is
it.
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What have you found helpful to increase your confidence?
<p class="normal">Other artists who've had songs or who speak about
certain things are always helpful. But I definitely had to do it on
my own because the spotlight was put on me all at once. You have to
force yourself to feel confident just to do it. They put this label
on me: "Now you're representing the introverts of the world!" So
you have to be like "OK! I'm confident now. Yes. I can do this!"
How am I going to sing a song about body image and loving yourself
if I don't love myself? Every time I sing it it's a reminder to
myself that I have to be confident.
What's your survival technique for when you feel awkward at a party?
<p class="normal">Before the song came out I would use my phone as
a strategy - just pretend that I was texting. I would look at the
time every five seconds. If you look occupied, then people think,
"OK, she's not weird she's just looking at her phone it's fine." I
would do that or just go to the food table or the drink table and
keep pouring myself things and keep eating - just to do something
with my hands!
You used to spend your free time hanging around the mall in Brampton in Ontario. What was the highlight?
<p class="normal">Other than the food court, it would just be me
and my friends going into random stores. There's this one store
called Spencer's: it's a random place of knick knacks and weird
things, prank stuff, weird objects. We'd go in there and try on all
these weird hats and read all the inappropriate books. There was
one book that was written like a children's book, where you put
your finger in it and it was supposed to be a penis. You open it up
and it's like "Little penis did this..."
You first heard Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' when you were nine years old. Did your mother care that on the same album is the sweary 'Me & Mr Jones'?
<p class="normal">She was cool with it. I don't know if she hadn't
heard it or that she didn't care. Both my parents have been really
open with what I listen to and they don't really say much - of
course if it have excessive swearing or anything but because her
music was so good and real it didn't matter.
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You've obviously watched Asif Kapadia's Amy documentary...
<p class="normal">Twice. I think the second time there's little
things you notice more. I knew the story before as I'm such a crazy
fan of hers but still seeing all these interviews and behind the
scenes stuff from when she was younger, you see the pain in her
interviews and performances. You never knew what went on and you
didn't know what she was going through sometimes. I really notice
the pain behind what she was singing the second time round.
Can you recommend a good book?
<p class="normal">A: Looking For Alaska by John Green is a very
great book. I feel like every teenage girl says John Green's Fault
In Our Stars but Looking For Alaska is better. I'm obsessed with
philosophical things and also there's true facts in there. The main
character in the book is obsessed with famous people's last words
and featured in the book are real famous people's actual last
words.
Your 'Hotline Bling' cover is ace. Do you ever think Drake gets a little too emotional?
<p class="normal">No! You can't be too emotional in yourself. If
there's a place to get too emotional, it's your music. At least
he's not crying all the time in person. I don't think his music is
that emotional: 'Ten Bands' is not emotional. People exaggerate
just because he's deep. I think he talks about relationships a lot
but that's just what he goes through.
What's the worst thing and best thing about touring with your dad?
<p class="normal">The best thing is to have someone there for you
that has your best interest, always. It's good to have a familiar
face. The worst thing of course is the protectiveness. My Dad
thinks I'm such a clumsy person he doesn't trust me with anything -
he just does it. He doesn't let me touch my passport, he carries my
backpack most of the time and my guitar. I'm like "Dad, chill. I
got this."
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
<p class="normal">Leona Lewis gave me a really great piece of
advice: "Always trust your sound guy." Alicia Keys told me "When
you go on stage, just be you, don't worry about who is watching
just do it." I complimented her on her performance as I got to
watch her and I was going on after her and I'm like "How am I
going to follow you?" She was like "Give your everything. Show them
who you are." That was really awesome.
You said Kanye running for President was "the best thing since sliced bread". Would you vote for him?
<p class="normal">I'd vote for him! I think he'd probably help us
more than a lot of people who are running would. He just has
people's best interests and he's a good person. I feel people
misunderstand him a lot of the time. He's not a motivational
speaker, he may not say things "properly" sometimes or say things
"professionally" but he makes a lot of sense. It's easier for
people to say "Oh that's just Kanye being Kanye" rather than paying
attention and saying "He makes a lot of sense. We should probably
change that."
What's the biggest misconception about you?
<p class="normal">That I'm a girl who is really introverted and
quiet all the time. In that party situation I very much am but not
in life in general. I'm not extremely outgoing but I'm average I
think. When people meet me they'll say, "Oh you're not that shy..."
I never said I was! I see where they're coming from because
my biggest single was about being shy at a party - I get it. But
it's not 100% accurate.
<p class="normal">Alessia Cara's Four Pink Walls EP is out now.
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