We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cece Alaniz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cece thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

Currently, I am managing my own social media with my music for the most part on Youtube. I also stay active on Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, Spotify, and Reddit. I choose to manage my own social media, because I am able to do things on my own time, and maintain creative freedom while also maintaining my job, relationships, and other responsibilities/hobbies. The biggest advice I would give to new creators posting their content is to stay consistent, and that growth can take time. Especially in the beginning it can be a bit discouraging. The further I go with it the more results I see and I also practice more too, so I have gotten better at the music side of things! So really just making sure to stay consistent, and that also you can start very minimal. When I first started making content, I didn’t have a microphone setup, or even anything to hold a phone/camera, but I still would post by setting my phone up, and recording like that! You don’t need to start out with everything, just the basics is A-OK, as long as you’re having a fun time doing what your’e doing.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Cece (short for Cecelia). I grew up in Michigan, and have lived here my whole life! As far back as I can remember, I had always liked to sing and write songs and poems out of sheer passion for it. I picked up the guitar when I was a kid, and I never put it back down. Once I learned to play the guitar, it was a lot easier for me to write my own songs and I also liked to do covers too! It took me a long time to share/start to post any music as I was pretty shy and introverted. When I was younger too, I had faced discrimination due to my sexuality, as I had known for quite a long time I was a lesbian and was open about that too! Despite that, I always used music as a way to express my feelings, as listening had always helped me get through tough times. After learning guitar, I also have picked up keyboard, drums, bass, and some other recording skills though admittedly I am most comfortable and skilled on guitar and everything else is for recording/writing my songs! I record everything myself apart from when I do collaborations. One of the things I’m most proud of in my work, is the authenticity of it – I think I’ve taken the things that have been vulnerable and they’re all out in the open! I’ve also never hidden nor intend to hide away my sexual orientation nor do I shy away from that in my music ! I hope that by being myself, that I could possibly help others to embrace themselves too/ or to possibly be someone who can help to normalize that a bit more in society. That it’s okay for people to be different, and that love is love, plain and simple. I post both my own songs, as well as some of my version of some of my favorite artists songs on my Youtube Channel, and am very appreciative for the love I’ve received so far!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect about being creative is being able to take an emotion and turn seemingly nothing into something (something internal to something external) by taking different notes, instruments, arrangements, vocals, etc, all to paint a picture of a feeling. The feeling then becomes eternal in a sense, as every-time you hear the music, there the feeling is again! Music connects us from all over the world. I’ve listened to so many songs and empathized with artists from overseas, but also I’ve met so many cool people from Canada, the UK, Spain, Brazil, different states in the US that are like-minded, and because we all share a love for music. I feel that by listening, we connect to the artist, and vice versa. I think that is a beautiful thing to connect through feeling and through art.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When it comes to my creative journey my biggest goal is to have a positive impact on others/give others someone or something to relate to. I want to be so authentic within myself, and my creations, that possibly it helps others to do so too! I want to share my music, my love, and sadness with others as I know I’ve used music (listened to it) in the past as a way to get through hard times and as a means to relate, I would love to be able to do that for other people. Give others something to relate to, or to look forward to, or to make them feel less alone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youtube.com/@cecealaniz1017
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceces.music/?igsh=dmdhbm1tNXR4dXRs#
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cecealaniz1017
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3D3cjIlmXdnZchg4cHnlDN

Image Credits

Abbie Sabados