Upcoming musician Alba has been sharing her unique musical creativity through a variety of charismatically distinctive tracks, which has swiftly accumulated over 20,000 streams on Spotify alone.
Alba is also a passionate environmental campaigner & likes to use her music to help create a difference within the world & speak up about issues important to her heart.
Recently, Alba released the official video for her latest single “Child Of The Stars” & has kindly spoken to Fierce & Fabulous Revolution about her latest musical piece. Check out what she had to say below.
Hey Alba, thank you for this interview. Can you start by telling the readers a little bit about yourself?
Alba: Hi Jess, thanks for having me. For anyone who might be hearing about me for the first time, I am singer, guitarist, and songwriter, originally from Spain and currently based in London.
When did you first discover your passion for music?
Alba: I discovered my love for music thanks to my parents. They encouraged me to take piano and guitar lessons while growing up in France and Spain. My mum played guitar a little bit and was my first guitar instructor. We used to play songs by The Beatles together, which was really fun. When I was 10, I got my first electric guitar, which changed my world. I began playing with different bands throughout my teenage years and writing my own songs when I was 14 (there had been attempts before though!). I started my own band when I was 16 and named it “Sons of Rock”. Things took off from there, as we won a number of battle-of-the-bands and contests and got to play all around Spain including top festivals like Rock in Rio Madrid, and recorded three EPs and one studio album.
When was the first time that you can recall performing in front of a live audience?
Alba: Before I was ten, I had received classical music training and performed at the music school’s annual showcase, but the first gig I have an actual memory of is when I was ten in Tres Cantos auditorium in Madrid, Spain. I played two songs: Layla by Eric Clapton, and Europa by Santana. Before going onstage, I was completely terrified because it was the first time I sang and played electric guitar in front of a live audience. I somehow gathered all my courage and went onstage. The audience really enjoyed my performance and afterwards I got praise and comments from people who said I didn’t seem nervous at all. That evening I learnt that it doesn’t matter how nervous you are, it just matters how much you let it show! Apparently I have some innate ability to appear less terrified than I actually am.
Did you know that a career within the music industry was something that you wanted to pursue?
Alba: At the time I was playing my early gigs I really didn´t think that much of it, I was just concerned about getting better at my craft, studying music, writing songs, taking guitar and singing lessons and playing live as much as I could. The rest came naturally. Once you have a bunch of original songs you start thinking, hey wouldn’t it be cool to play these live? And after you’ve played them to an audience, you think wouldn’t it be nice if we recorded them and put an album out? Even now, I still follow the same approach. I like writing music, recording and playing it live. I enjoy the whole process and love meeting and hanging out with interesting people.
How would you describe your musical style to someone unfamiliar with your music?
Alba: Sort of a John-Mayer-meets-Joss-Stone type of deal…
My music has evolved a lot over time. I started playing Rock & Roll and Blues with Sons of Rock, but I was always naturally drawn to Soul and Funk. With time, my music ended up being a mix of my “old soul” love of the classics from the 60s and 70s and my attraction to more modern sounds and production styles, predominantly in the R&B and Neo-Soul space. I’m talking about artists such as Tom Misch, Alicia Keys, Lianne La Havas, Paolo Nutini, Lauryn Hill, Laurence, etc.
You recently released the official video for your latest single “Child of the Stars”. How did the idea for this song come together?
Alba: I wanted to write a song about a little girl asking big questions to her dad. If we only have one planet, why do we spend so much time, money and effort destroying it? Either through absurd wars and conflicts, or using this planet like resources were limitless? What does that say about our supposed ingenuity?
I was inspired by the brilliant work of Carl Sagan, a well-known American astrophysicist, mainly his educational TV series “Cosmos”. I was struck by the famous picture taken from the Voyager right before it left our solar system, and into deep space. From that huge distance, Earth is but a tiny little dot in the middle of a sunbeam. Sagan called it “the pale blue dot”, because that’s exactly what it looks like from that far away.
I think it is such a powerful image. It puts everything into perspective. From that vantage point, there are no borders, races or divisions, just one minuscule planet in the middle of nowhere. This image sends a very important message: we are all in this together. There is just one human race, and the key question is whether we will be smart enough to learn to live together, embrace the planet and its finite resources, or lead ourselves to self-destruction. I really hope it’s the former!
How would you compare the creative process to your previous releases?
Alba: My creative juices usually get brewing when I’m in my room just messing about with my guitar. In this case I came up with a riff (which funnily enough didn´t make it into the final cut) that inspired the whole chord progression and harmony. I knew I wanted to talk about this subject and wanted to use the third person to give it more of a storytelling feel.
What does this song personally mean to you?
Alba: I care deeply about the environment, peace and progress. They all need to come hand in hand, in my view. I hope that listeners can connect with the message of this song and the video, in the same way that I do. I am really proud of the hand-drawn animated video, created by Italian artist Sara Soncini. It beautifully narrates the story of the song and elevates its message, so I want to encourage everyone to watch it and share it with others.
If listeners could take one thing away from this song, what would you like it to be?
Alba: I hope it can help them see things differently, with a little more perspective, and share a message of optimism, which we all need desperately in these crazy times we live in.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the listeners of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
Alba: If after reading this you are curious to learn more about me and my music. I would like to invite you to join my mailing list on www.albasmusic.com (it’s free and you will get updates first hand and access to exclusive content) and connect with me on my socials and Spotify. Stay safe!
You can check out the official video for “Child Of The Stars” below.
Fierce & Fabulous Revolution 