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Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
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Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Coming into music as a percussionist, Paige Alyssa played drums in church settings and in her school marching band. Eventually, at Webster University, she studied piano with jazz musician Carolbeth True. Though Alyssa has moved beyond her collegiate years, she maintains a band comprising recent Webster grads. The vocalist’s producer, Sam Maul of Shock City Studios, and publicist, Darren Lewis, studied there, as did many of her fans. Moving on from that environment has provided some of the material featured on her newest EP, “Songs for Myself,” available as a streaming album online.
“At first, I wasn’t going to come out with an EP,” she says. “There was that postgraduate lull, personal things going on in my life. I had to work through all the negativity in my life and had songs lined up; I didn’t want to rush through them, so I started writing the EP in June and finished in late November. It’s kind of a diary for me. It helped me work through some issues, and I was trying to get back to being myself. I needed to get this music out into the atmosphere to move on.”
To date, she’s played live sets in smaller venues, such as coffeehouses and wine bars, and hopes to continue working on keys to the point that she’s comfortable accompanying herself in live settings. “I love the intimate vibe, a bright, positive vibe,” she says. “I love having 15 or 20 people there, vibing with the audience, having a great time. I like having people sing along and allow me to tell corny jokes. I love having that intimacy and being able to connect with people I’m singing to.”
Though she’s feeling low-key in regard to club dates, she’s got big plans for recording, having already established herself as a client at Shock City. The idea to go for the full studio experience, she says, comes from wanting to record “at ones that have that professional atmosphere. I know the type of artist I want to be, and I need to start investing in great studios now. I like that professional vibe, a space where you’re about to get work done.” The work she produces there, well, she needs a moment to discuss all the influences.
“I’ve been going back and forth on that,” she says. “I usually pull from names like Stevie Wonder, Janet and Michael Jackson. Pop, jazz, and gospel are my three main influences. I pull from all sorts of things: pop fusion, R&B, church music, ’80s, even video game soundtracks. I’ve managed to put all of it into a pot and pour that into my own mold. It’s all still me.”
Alyssa's Collaborators on her work:
- Sam Maul: “She’s a fantastic singer with creative harmonic ideas, so there’s no filler…I’m excited for the jazz–meets–urban pop lane she’s carving out for herself.”
- Jesse James Gannon, keyboards: “She puts her ego on the back burner and goes for truth in texture and expression.”
- Jake Stergos, multi-instrumentalist: “She has the versatility and range to pull almost anything off, from Stevie Wonder to Charlie Parker to Erykah Badu and Hiatus Kaiyote.”
Catch Paige Alyssa at St. Charles Pride on June 18 and hear “Songs for Myself” at soundcloud.com/misspaigealyssa.
