Meet Philadelphia Native Aleana
- bkingangelica
- Feb 13, 2018
- 2 min read
In November, I had the pleasure of meeting Aleana and interviewing her. During the interview we discussed her previous music project, Chemical XXI (21), her musical background, live performance experiences, future collaborations, Chapter 22 Ep, developing her sound, inspirations and more.
Lately Aleana has been drawing inspiration from many artist like Daniel Ceasar and Solange. I asked the "S.O.S" singer who is inspiring her on the music scene lately. “Definitely Daniel Ceasar, I got to see him in concert and it was so awesome...,” she said.
We also discussed what it's like performing live and songs that are her favorite to perform. The 22 year old singer and songwriter expressed that her Favorite song to perform is "What Feelings". Aleana also explained that "What Feelings" was her very first song she wrote as an artist.
"I feel like the stage is my place to be... when I get up there I know that i'm like.. home"
When performing live, Aleana has her own band accompanying her. Guitar player, Charley Coin and Aleana together live, is pure magic. The pair do a beautiful job at entrancing the audience . Aleana surprisingly shared that she used to have stage fright. Now she has more performing experience and described the stage as her home. "I feel like the stage is my place to be... when I get up there I know hat i'm like home," she said.
During the interview I also inquired about what can be expected from Chapter 22. In response Aleana stated, “Overall from the project you can expect projected self love, projected resiliency, and overall just getting through stuff and not being broken. Its whatever you want it to be, its your story, its my story, its whoever story it sounds like when you hear it”
The anticipation was over February 2nd when Aleana announced, via Instagram, that Chapter 22 was available on all platforms. The 6 track EP is full of love, heartbreak, hurt, and vulnerability. Since it’s release, I’ve been swooning over each track.
“Dear Darla”, which is a personal favorite, opens the EP. In “Dear Darla”, she finds herself loving someone who hasn’t moved on from there ex and isn’t ready to commit. As she sings, “how you gotta taste for another girl? Going out the way for another girl, now I’m trading places with another girl”. “Divine Creatures” touches on honoring love and is reminiscent of early 2000’s Alicia Keys. With velvet vocals, Aleana sings of questioning love and addresses what love feels like.
Chapter 22 is an impressive body of work. The EP was fully produced by Esquire (@esqsound). If you have not heard it yet, take a listen below.
Watch the full interview with Aleana below
Photographer of featured photos: Brian Carroll